A hold is awarded to a relief pitcher

Relief pitcher

A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...

 who meets the following three conditions:

1. Enters the game in a save situation; that is, when all of the following three conditions apply:

(a) He appears in relief (i.e., is not the starting pitcher); and

(b) He is not the winning pitcher; and

(c) He qualifies under one of the following conditions:

(i) He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning

(ii) He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, or at bat, or on deck

(iii) He pitches effectively for at least three innings.

2. Records at least one out

3. Leaves the game before it has ended without his team having relinquished the lead at any point and does not record a save.

Note that since the hold is not an official Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 statistic, the definition above can vary. One noticeable difference is that while STATS, Inc.

STATS, Inc.

STATS LLC is a global sports statistics and information company – the company name originated as an acronym for "Sports Team Analysis and Tracking Systems". It was founded on April 30, 1981 by John Dewan, who became the company's CEO...

 requires the pitcher to record at least one out for a hold, SportsTicker does not have this requirement. This can result in discrepancies in hold totals between different sources.

Description

Unlike saves, wins, and losses, more than one pitcher per team can earn a hold for a game, though it is not possible for a pitcher to receive more than one hold in a given game. A pitcher can receive a hold by protecting a lead even if that lead is lost by a later pitcher after his exit.

The hold was invented in by John Dewan and Mike O'Donnell to give a statistical measure of the effectiveness of the vast majority of relief pitchers who are afforded few opportunities to close

Closer (baseball)

In baseball, a closing pitcher, more frequently referred to as a closer , is a relief pitcher who specializes in closing out games, i.e., getting the final outs in a close game. Closers often appear when the score is close, and the role is often assigned to a team's best reliever. A small number of...

 a game. While middle relievers

Middle relief pitcher

In baseball, middle relief pitchers are relief pitchers who commonly pitch in the 6th or 7th innings or in situations where several innings worth of work is required . In the National League, a middle reliever often comes in after the starting pitcher has been pulled for a pinch hitter...

 earn their share, holds are most often credited to setup pitcher

Setup pitcher

In baseball, a setup pitcher is a relief pitcher who regularly pitches before the closer. They commonly pitch the 7th and/or 8th innings, with the closer pitching the 9th....

s.

While holds are not an official MLB statistic, they are increasingly visible in many box scores, including espn.com

ESPN.com

ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN and a division of ESPN Inc. Since launching in 1995 as ESPNet.SportsZone.com, the website has developed numerous sections including: Page 2, SportsNation, ESPN 3.com, ESPN Motion, My ESPN, ESPN Sports Travel, ESPN Video Games, ESPN Insider, ESPN.com's...

 and MLB.com

MLB.com

MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. . MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports columns...

. Many fantasy baseball

Fantasy baseball

Fantasy baseball is a game where participants manage an imaginary roster of real Major League baseball players. The participants compete against one another using those players' real life statistics to score points...

 providers also include holds as an optional category which can be included in customized leagues.

Career leaders

Stats updated through June 28, 2011

Key

Player	Name of the player
Holds	Career Holds
Years	The years this player played in the major leagues
†	Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
*	Denotes pitcher who is still active
L	Denotes pitcher who is left-handed

Player	Holds	Years
L	266	1989–2007
L*	221	1991–present
L	157	1992–2009
L*	155	1999–present
	155	2001–2010
*	154	1999–present
*	153	2000–present
	140	1997–2009
L	140	1991–2006
L*	138	1999–present