Baeball: What the heck is a hold?

[John Corn]

What the heck is a hold?
Anyone have the official baseball definition of a 'hold'?
Before I thought the relievers who came in before the closer came in to get the save got holds.

Here's an example
Russ Ortiz pitches 7 innings, leaves with a 3-run lead for the Giants. Felix Rodriguez comes in and pitches a scoreless 8th. Nen comes in and pitches a scoreless 9th.

Ortiz gets the win.
Nen gets the save.
FRod gets the hold.

On (4/07/02), the Mets pitchers got holds for pitching in a mets loss!

So now i'm stumped, I've been meaning to ask about this.

[Maniacal1]

John, the "hold" isn't an official statistic (yet), so different statistics compilers are using different definitions. But the most common one is that a hold is awarded to a reliever who enters the game eligible to earn a save and leaves the game with his team's lead still intact, without having squandered his team's lead. It's sort of "savus interruptus," if you will.

Holds didn't start appearing until we needed something for arbitration cases for middle relievers, who were hard to differentiate since they had no cumulative statistic to support their role. So, like everything else in baseball, you can blame "holds" on salaries. :)

[Geronimo]

This whole area is oddd. Since you only arn a save if the tying run is on deck some relievers have been acused of allowing runners or even runs just to get the statristic----and sometimes losing the game.

[Maniacal1]

Geronimo, a reliever can never work his way into a save situation. It is wholly based on the situation when the reliever enters the game. His making the situation worse may set up a save situation for a succeeding pitcher, but never for himself.

[Geronimo]

I apologize for my misstatement. Silly me.:o

[John Corn]

Thanks again Maniacal, Your a true baseball guru. :)
In my mind this morning when I made the post, thats the way I was trying to explain it to myself......lol. Although as you can read by my post I was challenging the "hold" concept. :)

Geronimo, I know exactly what you mean.
I can see where this is a salary made statistic. :)