June 19, 2023

By J.P. Antonacci

Canadian Baseball Network

Having a professional baseball player for a father sparked young John Olerud’s passion for the game. But his mother also had an instrumental role in the Blue Jay great’s future success.

“I fed him well,” said Lynda Olerud, sharing a laugh with her husband, John Sr., before watching their son get inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ont., on June 17.

“She really wants to make sure she gets credit for that,” a smiling Olerud told Canadian Baseball Network in an interview before the ceremony.

Even as a toddler, Olerud had the sweet swing for which he would become famous.

“I was in spring training with the Expos, and he was about three,” said Dr. John E. Olerud, who played seven seasons in the minor leagues – including a stint with the triple-A Winnipeg Whips in 1971 – before becoming a dermatologist.

“And I’d be throwing him these plastic balls and he’d be hitting them out into the surf, and gathering a crowd around him.”

Father and son spent many late evenings practicing all facets of the game at the family home in Washington State.

“We had a little play field outside our house when we were first married, and he was in the play field every day. He loved it,” Lynda Olerud said.

“Baseball was a game that he loved, and that was something we would do for fun together,” Olerud said of his father, who also coached several of his childhood teams.

“He was just a great example and a huge influence on me.”

That beachside batting practice at spring training translated into actual hits once Olerud got a real bat in his hands.

“At every level, he was among the best players,” said Olerud Sr., describing his son as a line-drive hitter in high school.

“By the time he got to be a sophomore in college, then he hit the ball out of the park. He grew into his body.”

The elder Olerud – a catcher who played senior ball until age 75 – admitted to some parental bias in that scouting report, but the numbers bear him out.

Across 17 major-league seasons with five teams, Olerud hit .295 with 2,239 hits, including 500 doubles and 255 home runs.

Playing before the advent of sabermetrics, Olerud was arguably unappreciated in his heyday. He drew 1,275 walks and reached based 3,602 times for a career on-base percentage of .398, which ranks among the top 70 all-time, in a virtual tie with New York Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio.

Many Canadian baseball fans know Olerud best for winning the 1993 batting title, a season in which he flirted with a .400 batting average into August and finished at .363.

“My main focus was doing everything I could to help the team win and put a good year together. Up until that point I hadn’t had a year where I hit over .300, so to be hitting .400, I was thrilled,” Olerud recalled.

“But during the season there’s always ups and downs, good streaks and bad streaks. So I just wanted to keep it going as long as possible.”

What fans may not remember is Olerud also led the league with an eye-popping .473 on-base percentage and 189 OPS+, meaning he was nearly twice as good as the average hitter that season.

He socked 24 home runs and 54 doubles, drove in 107 and topped the 200-hit plateau for the only time in his career.

“It was a magical year for me,” Olerud said.

Hitting in the vaunted WAMCO lineup – which featured future hall of famers Paul Molitor and Roberto Alomar, plus slugger Joe Carter – didn’t hurt.

“To have that kind of offence around you, it’s not like they can really avoid you, because there was somebody else who could hurt them,” Olerud said. “I was fortunate to play with such a good team.”

Despite standing six-foot-five thanks to good genes – Olerud is taller than his parents, but not by much – and his mother’s home cooking, the left-handed first baseman stayed under the radar in the star-studded Blue Jays clubhouse during his eight years with the club, a tenure that famously included back-to-back World Series championships.

“I didn’t compete with any of the bigger personalities,” Olerud said. “It takes all kinds in the locker room, and you need those loud guys, the funny guys that keep everybody loose, and I feel like I was more the fly on the wall. I enjoyed that.”

His parents said their son was born on an even keel and remains there today.

“He’s blessed with a very calm nature, I think,” Olerud Sr. said, noting his son’s comfort with people and aversion to “saying anything inflammatory” came in especially handy during his stints playing in the media spotlight of New York City.

Olerud was a key contributor to the Seattle Mariners team that won an MLB-record 116 games in 2001, quietly posting a .401 on-base percentage while stars like Edgar Martinez and Ichiro Suzuki stole the headlines.

“It was super fun to play with (Ichiro) and watch how he went about playing, and his style of play,” Olerud said.

“I think it’s really hard to appreciate some of these great players unless you watch them day in and day out and see what they do every day. Getting a chance to play with Ichiro was a great experience. He was great to watch.”

Blue Jays fans would echo that sentiment about Olerud himself, a fan favourite in Toronto thanks to his unassuming demeanor and picturesque swing.

He was a two-time all-star and three-time Gold Glove winner, with a career .995 fielding percentage across 2,053 games at first base, and is among three players in MLB history to hit for the cycle in both leagues.

Coming out of Washington State University, Olerud was projected as a possible two-way player after being named Baseball America College Player of the Year and a consensus All-American as both a first baseman and pitcher as a sophomore.

He recalls some talk of his going to the National League as a pitcher whose team could also make use of his batting prowess.

“But nobody had ever done it, or had success at it,” he said.

Olerud had high praise for Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani, who currently leads the big leagues in home runs while putting up ace-like numbers on the mound.

“He’s done an amazing job to be that dominant as a pitcher and the type of hitter that he is. Very impressive,” he said.

Now out of professional baseball, Olerud said the induction weekend in St. Marys was a welcome return north of the border. He was elected in 2020 but unable to attend the ceremony until this year.

“I’ve had a great time,” he said. “It’s been fun to be here and interact with the fans.”