Wake Up With John Olerud Hitting A Home Run Off Curt Schilling In Game 1 Of The 1993 World Series
I don’t know why, but John Olerud was the first name that came to mind when I was thinking of whose videos to dig through. This dude deserves more love for the career he had. He played 17 seasons, and he definitely could’ve played even more than that. He walked away from the game after his age-36 season with the Red Sox, and he still hit .289 with a .795 OPS in 87 games. In 1993 when the Blue Jays won their second consecutive World Series title, Olerud won a batting title by hitting .363, while also leading the league in doubles (54), on-base percentage (.473), and OPS (1.072).
Fuckin’ guy got on base almost half the time, and still only finished third in the MVP voting that year. That was the year that Frank Thomas won his first of two consecutive MVP awards after he hit .317, smashed 41 bombs and drove in 128 runs. Since the MVP voters are all about WAR these days, Olerud might’ve had a shot if that season unfolded today. Olerud finished 1993 with a 7.7 WAR compared to Thomas’ 6.2, and runner-up Paul Molitor’s 5.7 WAR. But, to be fair, Ken Griffey Jr. trumped all three of them with an 8.7 WAR, and somehow finished fifth in the MVP voting that year.