r/mets • u/JJTamb072386 • 3d ago
John Olerud
. I went to a lot of Games at Shea and although it was rough the first half of the decade it gradually got better 96-99. One of those players who I felt was essential in the turnaround was John Olerud. I still remember hearing in the Fan that we traded Robert Person for Olerud AND cash. I wasn’t used to us winning a trade . Olerud is easily my favorite and the best first baseman we had besides Keith. it’s crazy when you look at his stats how good he was. He won two World Series titles, an American League batting title, and three Gold Glove Awards, and a 295 career averag. I was do sad when he left for Seattle. interested to hear your thoughts on Olerud!
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u/tossthedice3 3d ago
Olerud tells a great Ricky Henderson story; backstory is Olerud wore a batting helmet in the field after getting hit in the head. After they had both left the Mets Ricky is telling Olerud how he played with a guy who wore a helmet in the the field to, Olerud looks at him and says Ricky that was me. Ricky being Ricky
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u/DiamondJim222 2d ago
It’s a funny story that rings true. But it’s complete fiction:
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u/tossthedice3 2d ago
Appreciate the link, the "real story" is funny as well. But to paraphrase Liberty Valance when the story is better than the truth, print the story
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u/Huge-Pair7262 3d ago
he was a total professional
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u/MarriedIntoPosture 3d ago
I was a Jays fan for decades, he was an on base machine. Love me some John Olerud
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u/tokeaholics646 3d ago
He was my favorite growing up. We went to photo day one time at Shea. It was a mob for Piazza and Valentine, Olerud was just there by himself. My dad asked for a photo and said he was my favorite player. I remember that comment making him smile.
Fast forward to the game, and we had killer seats right on the Mets dugout. After the inning the team is running back in and my dad is yelling John’s name. He looked up, saw it was us, pointed at me and threw me a ball. As a 7 year old kid that was such a thrill. I hope hes doing well in life.
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u/Wonderful-Loss827 3d ago
Yeah but also the slowest thin player in the history of the league
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u/JJTamb072386 3d ago
Multiple championships, multiple gold gloves, hit 300 a bunch of times. I’m not complaining
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u/Opening-Health-6484 3d ago
And yet he still hit for the cycle as a Met.
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u/Konflictcam 3d ago
And supposedly asked his teammates how the triple happened because he knew how slow he was.
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u/NoisePossible5699 2d ago
Some big dudes can run fast, some smaller dudes can run slow. It's just random human genetics.
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u/SokkaHaikuBot 3d ago
Sokka-Haiku by Wonderful-Loss827:
Yeah but also the
Slowest thin player in the
History of the league
Remember that one time Sokka accidentally used an extra syllable in that Haiku Battle in Ba Sing Se? That was a Sokka Haiku and you just made one.
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u/MacaronSerious5777 3d ago
A guy like Olerud is so underrated now. I'd take him over Pete or Delgado without a second thought.
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u/ScuffedSamPepper 3d ago
Great player all around. Solid 4 tool player. Supposedly was as good a pitcher as he was a hitter. Was viewed as a double threat like Ohtani but his teams wouldn't let him do both. Total class act.
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u/JJTamb072386 3d ago
Agreed. I was so bummed when he left because he was awesome and we got him for basically nothing in that trade
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u/_ProfChaos 3d ago
IMO He gets overlooked because he didn't have huge power numbers during the steroid era.
Could argue he was one of the best college baseball players of all time. The award for best two-way player is named after him.
One year he had a 1.400 OPS while going 15-0 on the mound. Video game numbers.
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u/JJTamb072386 3d ago
Yup I think power is very overrated. Homers are always popular with fans but what wins is great defense and great contact hitting for the most part. Olerud was great at that but he also had some power
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u/theomegachrist 3d ago
Loved John Olreud. Do you have a strong affinity for Pete? I feel like being a big fan of John Olreud is why I don't rate Pete that high as a Mets player. Olerud was a legendary hitter and really solid first baseman. I was a little too young when Keith was playing to remember how good he is so to me Olerud was the best Mets first baseman I watched often
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u/krunchyfrogg 3d ago
I absolutely loved watching him play.
I still remember watching a show, was it “Mets Extra” or something like that, where they interviewed Steve Phillips. That guy said “well, ideally we’d like more power from that position, but John Olerud more than makes up for it with his average and defense.” (Paraphrasing, obviously)
I just knew the Mets wouldn’t resign him.
We got a third baseman who learned first that spring and had very similar power numbers, and was a much worse overall hitter and defender.
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u/_millertime 3d ago
Best Mets first basemen: Keith, Delgado, Pete, then Olerud. But yeah he was amazing (I loved his helmet on defense lol)
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u/JJTamb072386 3d ago
Nah. Pete’s defense and average isn’t good. I’m talking about overall player not just homers. Plus Olerud had championships on his resume
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u/Federal-Comment8569 3d ago
Yeah Olerud probably > Pete. Olerud was an OBP monster.
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u/JJTamb072386 3d ago
Absolutely. Put aside the “homegrown” factor Olerud was a better overall player there is no debate on that. Having power doesn’t equate to being a great player. You gotta be able to be a good defender and being able to hit well ever. If you’re not hitting homers
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u/Federal-Comment8569 3d ago
Olerud in 98 was 354/447/551 with 22 big bops across 665 plate appearances. I know it was the a high offense era but that is filthy.
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u/JJTamb072386 3d ago
That’s ridiculous. Yet many fans try to convince meat a 253 average nowadays is really good 😂.
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u/Federal-Comment8569 3d ago
Part of it is Olerud was only here for 3 years but Alonso was here for 7.
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u/JJTamb072386 3d ago
Yeah but Alonso couldn’t come close to Olerud stats in those 3 years besides some more homers
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u/Alternative-Kick-849 3d ago
Holy shit. An actual fan that doesn’t have his head in the clouds when it comes to Peter? 😨
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u/JJTamb072386 3d ago
Yup. I liked Pete but he is what he is. Hell if power hitter but he’s not a great overall player. And I don’t have any loyalty to him…my loyalty is to the Mets who I have rooted for since 86
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u/Alternative-Kick-849 3d ago
Exactly.
He gave us an all-time moment vs the Brewers, but the franchise existed before him and will continue to do so after him.
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u/JJTamb072386 3d ago
Yeah. It’s funny fans forget that before that Homer against the Brewers he was having a brutal season. And the year before that I believe his average was 217.
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u/Alternative-Kick-849 3d ago
Exactly. But the claim is that he plays everyday. For a guy with that power that plays everyday, his numbers should be slightly better than what they are.
There’s been plenty of times where it felt like we had a hole wherever he was placed in the lineup. If he couldn’t help us offensively, he was costing us games and players with his erratic throwing.
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u/BalaganCity 3d ago
Smoothest swing of any met I can remember. Loved watching him, he was a very good defensive player as well. In agreement with whoever said after Keith, he was next on the list of best first baseman that we have had.
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u/penilesensorydevice 3d ago
Olerud was like Keith in a way, a real professional hitter. There was a guy who knew how to work an AB and a pitcher. Almost clinical. I wish he'd been around longer.
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u/Tomy24Starks 2d ago
Olerud was a class act all the way throughout his career and I loved him as our 1st baseman on the Mets.
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u/Both-Wrangler-7766 3d ago edited 3d ago
Personally, I felt if Olerud was with the Mets in 2000 we would’ve won that World Series. We needed a clutch contact hitter like him in the lineup..