Baseball Dinner Profiles - Holt, Stanley, Williams

Each week leading up to the Granite State Baseball Dinner on Nov. 22, we'll take an in-depth look at some of the guests coming to this year's gala. We kick off the series with a look at one of the headliners, Red Sox rising start Brock Holt, as well as 'The Steamer' Bob Stanley and Claudia Williams, author and daughter of the greatest hitter who ever lived.

Brock Holt

If you knew Brock Holt's name prior to 2014, you were one of the few. Acquired as a complementary piece in the Joel Hanrahan trade with the Pirates in December of 2012, Holt actually made his Red Sox debut during the 2013 season. You'd be forgiven if you hadn't remembered that as the utility player hit just .203 over 26 games between July, August, and September.

Fast forward a year and how the script has changed. Holt started the season in the minor leagues playing primarily on the left side of the infield. In late April he was called up for a week to cover an injury, something he did with aplomb, playing third base and hitting in six of seven games. He was sent down again, but it wouldn't be for long.

On May 17 he returned to the line-up and never really left it again. Over the next four months he became one of the faces of the Red Sox 2014 season, playing every position besides pitcher and catcher while hitting above .300 for the majority of the season. Add in his highlight-reel defensive plays and a constantly filthy uniform and the Legend of Brock Holt was born.

He finished the season with a .281 average, missing most of September with injury. He hit 23 doubles, five triples, and four home runs over 106 games. He even added a dozen steals to the mix while committing just seven errors all season. 

Holt's rise to stardom with the Red Sox began when the Pirates drafted him in the ninth round of the 2009 draft out of Rice University. Among his minor leagues stops was a season in Altoona, Pa., with the Eastern League's Curve. He didn't do much against the Fisher Cats during that 2011 season, but his overall campaign landed him a nod in the 2011 Eastern League All-Star Game held here at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium. Holt certainly made his presence felt in that game, earning MVP honors thanks to a first-inning homer against Fisher Cats All-Star Zach Stewart that propelled the West to an 8-3 win.

He is a native of Stephenville, Texas, and attended Navarro College for two seasons before starring at Rice in '09 with a .348 average and 12 home runs. Holt made his major league debut with the Pirates just a year later, hitting .292 over a 24-game tryout.

Bob Stanley

Much like Holt has become a household name in New England, 'The Steamer' is all you need to say when referencing Bob Stanley. The Red Sox' first pick in the 1974 draft, Stanley spent his entire 13-year career in Boston becoming a fan favorite and one of the most reliable bullpen arms for Sox skippers Don Zimmer, Johnny Pesky, Ralph Houk, John McNamara, and Joe Morgan.

Stanley first appeared in Fenway in 1977, three years after signing as the seventh overall draft pick. That rookie season saw him go 8-7 with a 3.99 ERA in a mix of starts and relief appearances. Those 41 total outings would be just a small number by the time he hung up his cleats in 1989. By that point, he had appeared in 637 games in a Sox uniform, still the most in team history.

In addition to the career games record, Stanley held the team's saves record with 132 until a guy named Jonathan Papelbon passed him with No. 133 on July 1, 2009.

Stanley's career saw him earn All-Star nods in 1979 and '83. His postseason resume is just as impressive with a 2.77 ERA, including five scoreless appearances in the 1986 World Series.

Stanley spent the 2014 season as the bullpen coach for the Fisher Cats' parent club, the Toronto Blue Jays.

Claudia Williams

One of the unique aspects of the dinner is that you get to meet folks who aren't necessarily All-Stars or young players on the rise. As the daughter of the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived, Claudia Williams joins the dinner for the first time in 2014.

Williams was in the headlines this summer as she released the acclaimed Ted Williams, My Father: A Memoir. The book goes beyond Williams' life on the diamond and in the military, and focuses on Claudia's life as Ted's daughter.

Williams is a recent graduate of nursing school and currently lives in Florida.

The Granite State Baseball Dinner, presented by Northeast Delta Dental, is Saturday, Nov. 22, at the Radisson Hotel Expo Center at 5 p.m. Proceeds benefit the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock (CHaD), the Ted Williams Foundation, and the Fisher Cats Foundation. To purchase tickets and to check out the entire guest list for this year's event, click here.