Comments on: John Olerud has retired from baseball

By: arno belmer

arno belmer — Fri, 19 May 2006 09:39:36 +0000

sorry to hear that he retired, a decent player, a great hitter, i just loved the man and his career. i remember the great series with the phillies and of course we rooted lenny, his dutch roots gave him tremendous credit over here, of course. still those jays were a great team and john olerud was a proud member. Did you know Dave Winfield played a dutch tournament in his youth, back in the early seventies, another of those proud guys.

By: Paul West

Paul West — Tue, 02 May 2006 04:29:17 +0000

I’ll miss big John. Few know or comment on his defensive ability. He would still be one of the three best defensive first basemen in the American League if playing today. Look at his batting percentages last year – how many first basemen can hit like that? He was not given the chance he should have had the last 2 years in New York or Boston. A quiet man, he did not attract the attention of fans of these cities who have egos just short of the players these teams seem to attract.

By: chris

chris — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 19:37:18 +0000

Everyone always forgets the year John had in 1998 with the Mets. He hit .354 at Shea Stadium which is not the hitters park that Skydome is. He lost the batting title by a few to Larry Walker of the Rockies.

By: Andy

Andy — Sun, 15 Jan 2006 05:16:52 +0000

No doubt those Blue Jays were my choice that year. I remember watching the series in the TV lounge on my ship. I felt like that lone Jazz fan you and I saw when we went to Lox, Stock, and Barrel to watch a Sonics playoff game in ’96: A definite minority. I had to hold my tongue when Joe Carter smacked Wild Thing in the mouth.

By: Doug

Doug — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 08:06:11 +0000

For some reason I really liked that Blue Jays team, especially when they faced the Phillies and their “Missouri Compromise” haircuts. I guess I saw Oly as a professional answer to all the toolsy, scrappy, bring-their-lunch-pale to work everymen of the Philadelphia squad. Sort of an anti-Dykstra. Olerud didn’t need to scrap and hustle or whatever to prove his value. He merely got on base a lot, hit a bunch of doubles, drew fistfulls of walks.

By: Andy Welker

Andy Welker — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 10:49:31 +0000

I hated Olerud when he was a Blue Jay and was always reminded of my own medical inadequacies when I saw him wear his batting helmet; regardless, I loved Ole as a Mariner and was proud of his accomplishments at first base and at fifth or so in the lineup. Good on you, Ole, for a serviceable career.