Countdown to Spring Training - 33 Days
He led the Blue Jays in a number of offensive categories in 1993, including batting average (.363), Slugging percentage (.599), on base percentage (.473), and OPS (1.072). His .363 batting average and .473 on base percentage are both single season franchise records, as are the 33 intentional walks he received in that historic 1993 campaign.
Olerud was selected by the Blue Jays in the third round of the 1989 draft out of Washington State University, and he immediately joined the big league club for the end of the '89 season. Olerud never played a single game in the Blue Jays minor league system, and appeared in 111 games in his rookie season in 1990. He never actually appeared in a minor league game until his 17th, and final season, when he played three games with the Pawtucket Red Sox, Boston's AAA affiliate.
In his 17 year career, the first eight seasons came with Toronto where he compiled a .293 batting average and 109 home runs over 920 games.
Of the 200 hits Olerud collected in 1993, 54 were doubles, which at the time was the franchise record. He also put together a 26 game hit streak, which was also a franchise record at the time. Both of those numbers have since been bested - 57 doubles by Carlos Delgado in 2000, and a 28 game hit streak by Shawn Green in 1999 - but Olerud remains second in both categories in the franchise single season record books.
Despite his incredible season, Olerud finished third in the 1993 MVP voting, and he even finished behind fellow Blue Jay Paul Molitor, who was second in the voting behind Frank Thomas.
Though he didn't win MVP honors, Olerud was named American League Player of the Month twice in 1993 (April, June) - posting a .450 batting average in April, and a .427 mark in June. The only other Blue Jay to ever win Player of the Month honors twice in one season is Jose Bautista, who did it in 2010.
In addition to being a great hitter, Olerud's outstanding defense has always made him a versatile weapon. In his career, he won three Gold Gloves (2000, '02, '03) and though none of them were with the Blue Jays, he never finished a season in Toronto with a fielding percentage lower than .992. As a result of his versatility, Olerud made two trips to the All Star game in his career, first as a member of the Blue Jays in 1993, and later as a member of the Seattle Mariners in 2001.
Olerud retired following the 2005 season which he spent with the Boston Red Sox, and finished his career with a .295 batting average, 255 home runs, 1,230 RBIs, and the aforementioned Blue Jays single season franchise records from that incredible 1993 season.
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