Rookie of the Year: Gregg Olson, 1989

Pitcher, Baltimore Orioles

Age:  22

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’4”    Weight: 210

Prior to 1989:

A native of Nebraska, Olson was the son of a high school baseball coach. He played for his father’s team at Northwest High School in Omaha and produced a 27-0 record over four years with a 0.76 ERA and 276 strikeouts. Moving on to Auburn University he was developed into a bullpen closer and, appearing in a total of 78 games, Olson compiled an 18-4 record with 20 saves and 209 strikeouts. After his junior year the Orioles made him the fourth overall pick in the 1988 amateur draft. Initially assigned to Hagerstown of the Class A Carolina League, he was 1-0 with 4 saves in eight appearances before advancing to Charlotte of the Class AA Southern League where he logged a save and struck out 22 batters over 15.1 innings pitched. Called up to the Orioles in September, Olson appeared in 10 games and was 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA. With his excellent fastball and curve, he took over as the team’s bullpen closer early in 1989.

  

1989 Season Summary

Appeared in 64 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 64 [12, tied with Tom Henke, Rick Honeycutt & Lee Smith]

Games Started – 0

Complete Games – 0

Wins – 5

Losses – 2

PCT - .714 [Non-qualifying]

Saves – 27 [8]

Shutouts – 0

Innings Pitched – 85

Hits – 57

Runs – 17

Earned Runs – 16

Home Runs – 1

Bases on Balls – 46

Strikeouts – 90

ERA – 1.69 [Non-qualifying]

Hit Batters – 1

Balks – 3 [10, tied with six others]

Wild Pitches – 9 [11, tied with Charlie Leibrandt & Mark Gubicza]

Midseason Snapshot: 3-0, ERA - 1.89, G – 35, SV – 14, SO - 50 in 47.2 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 4 (in 3 IP) vs. Minnesota 4/22, (in 2 IP) at Oakland 4/26

Fielding

Chances – 18

Put Outs – 5

Assists – 12

Errors – 1

DP – 0

Pct. - .944

Awards & Honors:

AL Rookie of the Year: BBWAA

12^th in AL MVP voting (35 points, 9% share)

6^th in AL Cy Young voting, tied with Jeff Ballard, Balt. & Dennis Eckersley, Oak. (3 points, 2% share)

AL ROY Voting (Top 5):

Gregg Olson, Balt.: 136 pts. – 26 of 28 first place votes, 97% share

Tom Gordon, KC: 67 pts. – 1 first place vote, 48% share

Ken Griffey Jr, Sea.: 21 pts. –  1 first place vote, 15% share

Craig Worthington, Balt: 16 pts. – 11% share

Jim Abbott, Cal.: 10 pts. – 7% share

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Orioles went 87-75 to finish second in the AL Eastern Division, two games behind the division-winning Toronto Blue Jays, which was the club’s best performance since it won the AL East and World Series in 1983.The Orioles, who had been a last-place team in 1988, benefited from an infusion of youth, including Olson, and led the division for 98 straight days, opening up a lead of 7.5 games in mid-July. They fell behind the Blue Jays in September, who eliminated them in a season-ending series at Toronto.

Aftermath of ‘89:

The Orioles dropped back to fifth in the AL East in 1990, but Olson had another outstanding season, posting a 6-5 record with 37 saves and a 2.42 ERA. He was also an All-Star selection for the only time in his career.  The pitcher nicknamed “Otter” was solid again in 1991, going 4-6 with 31 saves and a 3.18 ERA. One save came as the result of pitching the last inning of a combined no-hitter with three other pitchers against Oakland. It was more of the same in 1992 as Olson compiled a 1-5 tally with 36 saves and a 2.05 ERA. Off to another fine start in 1993, he suffered a torn ligament in his right arm at the end of July. Seeing little action in the final two months of the season, he finished at 0-2 with 29 saves and a 1.60 ERA. While the injury seemingly healed without surgery, the Orioles allowed him to depart as a free agent in the offseason. Signing with the Atlanta Braves in 1994, it quickly became apparent that he had not fully recovered from the arm injury and was no longer as effective as he had previously been. Spending time on the disabled list and in rehab assignments with Class AAA Richmond, Olson appeared in just 16 games for the Braves in the strike-shortened season and was 0-2 with one save and a 9.20 ERA. Signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1995, he started the year with the Buffalo Bisons of the Class AAA American Association where he saved 13 games in 18 appearances. Called up to the Indians, he was ineffective in three games. The Kansas City Royals purchased his contract in July and he went 3-3 with three saves the rest of the way. Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1996, he was released when he was injured during spring training. The Cincinnati Reds signed him next and after saving four games for Indianapolis of the American Association, Olson was dealt to the Detroit Tigers where he appeared in 43 games and produced a 3-0 record with 8 saves and a 5.23 ERA before being traded once again to the Houston Astros in late August. His combined major league record for the year was 4-0 with 8 saves and a 4.99 ERA. He next signed with the Minnesota Twins in 1997,  who released him in May after posting an atrocious 18.36 ERA in 11 appearances. He returned to the Royals next, who farmed him to Omaha of the American Association, where he saw action as a starter as well as reliever, before being called up to the Royals where he went 4-3 with one save and a 3.02 ERA in 34 games as he began to regain effectiveness. Released after the season, he joined the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks in 1998. Expected to be a setup man in the bullpen, he took over the closer role in May and went on to accumulate 30 saves in 34 save situations. He also hit the only home run of his career during a rare plate appearance. Olson spent another year with the Diamondbacks in 1999, when he returned to a setup role after struggling early in the season and having back problems. He still compiled 14 saves with a 3.71 ERA while appearing in 61 games. Olson moved on to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2000 and 2001 where he was hindered by a sore arm and was released at the end of June in ’01, thus ending his career. Overall, Olson produced a 40-39 record with a 3.46 ERA and 217 saves. He also recorded 588 strikeouts over the course of 672 innings. With the Orioles he was 17-21 with 160 saves and 347 strikeouts. He has been inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame as well as the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame (along with his father).

  

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Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major league.