Gregg Olson
Born: 10/11/1966 in Scribner, NE, USA
MLB Debut: 1988-09-02 | Final Game: 2001-06-22
Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'4" | Weight: 210 lbs
Full name: Greggory William Olson
Biography
Gregg Olson, born in 1966, was a prominent pitcher whose career spanned from 1988 to 2001. He made a significant impact in Major League Baseball during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, a time marked by a transition in pitching styles and the increasing importance of relief pitchers. Olson was known for his power pitching and ability to close games, finishing his career with a record of 40-39 and an impressive 3.46 ERA. He recorded a total of 588 strikeouts and notched 217 saves, showcasing his capability as one of the leading relief pitchers of his time.
In addition to his statistical achievements, Olson was recognized for his talent early in his career when he was named the Rookie of the Year. He was selected as an All-Star once, further solidifying his reputation within the league. Olson's contributions to the teams he played for, including the Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Royals, were pivotal during a competitive era in baseball, where the role of the closer was evolving into a highly specialized position. His performance on the mound left a lasting legacy, influencing future generations of pitchers in the major leagues.
Career Pitching Statistics
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 39 | 622 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 217 | 672.0 | 598 | 258 | 46 | 330 | 588 | 3.46 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Pitching
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | BAL | AL | 1 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 3.27 | -360.5 |
| 1989 | BAL | AL | 5 | 2 | 64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 85.0 | 57 | 16 | 46 | 90 | 1.69 | 2710.0 |
| 1990 | BAL | AL | 6 | 5 | 64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 74.3 | 57 | 20 | 31 | 74 | 2.42 | 2164.4 |
| 1991 | BAL | AL | 4 | 6 | 72 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 73.7 | 74 | 26 | 29 | 72 | 3.18 | 3013.9 |
| 1992 | BAL | AL | 1 | 5 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 61.3 | 46 | 14 | 24 | 58 | 2.05 | 1620.8 |
| 1993 | BAL | AL | 0 | 2 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 45.0 | 37 | 8 | 18 | 44 | 1.60 | 1894.9 |
| 1994 | ATL | NL | 0 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14.7 | 19 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 9.20 | -369.9 |
| 1995 | CLE | AL | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 13.50 | 0.0 |
| 1995 | KCR | AL | 3 | 3 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 30.3 | 23 | 11 | 17 | 21 | 3.26 | - |
| 1996 | DET | AL | 3 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 43.0 | 43 | 24 | 28 | 29 | 5.02 | -1137.7 |
| 1996 | HOU | NL | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.3 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 4.82 | 0.0 |
| 1997 | KCR | AL | 4 | 3 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 41.7 | 39 | 14 | 17 | 28 | 3.02 | - |
| 1997 | MIN | AL | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.3 | 19 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 18.36 | 0.0 |
| 1998 | AZ | NL | 3 | 4 | 64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 68.7 | 56 | 23 | 25 | 55 | 3.01 | - |
| 1999 | AZ | NL | 9 | 4 | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 60.7 | 54 | 25 | 25 | 45 | 3.71 | - |
| 2000 | LAD | NL | 0 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.7 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 5.09 | - |
| 2001 | LAD | NL | 0 | 1 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24.7 | 26 | 22 | 20 | 24 | 8.03 | - |
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 622 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.250 | 0.400 | 1.000 | 1.400 | 0.0 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | BAL | AL | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1989 | BAL | AL | 64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1990 | BAL | AL | 64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1991 | BAL | AL | 72 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1992 | BAL | AL | 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1993 | BAL | AL | 50 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1994 | ATL | NL | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1995 | CLE | AL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1995 | KCR | AL | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1996 | DET | AL | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1996 | HOU | NL | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1997 | KCR | AL | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1997 | MIN | AL | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1998 | AZ | NL | 64 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.500 | 0.0 |
| 1999 | AZ | NL | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 2000 | LAD | NL | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 2001 | LAD | NL | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | NLDS2 | ARI | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Playoff Career Pitching
| W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
Playoff Pitching by Year
| Year | Round | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | NLDS2 | ARI | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 622 | 0 | 44 | 80 | 6 | 3 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | BAL | P | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1989 | BAL | P | 64 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| 1990 | BAL | P | 64 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 1991 | BAL | P | 72 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 0 |
| 1992 | BAL | P | 60 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 2 |
| 1993 | BAL | P | 50 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 1994 | ATL | P | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | CLE | P | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | KCA | P | 20 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | DET | P | 43 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | HOU | P | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 | KCA | P | 34 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 1997 | MIN | P | 11 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | ARI | P | 64 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | ARI | P | 61 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | LAN | P | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001 | LAN | P | 28 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 622 |
Awards & Honors
| Year | Award | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Rookie of the Year |
Salary History
| Year | Team | League | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | LAN | NL | $1,750,000 |
| 2000 | LAN | NL | $1,250,000 |
| 1999 | ARI | NL | $850,000 |
| 1998 | ARI | NL | $650,000 |
| 1997 | KCA | AL | $210,000 |
| 1997 | MIN | AL | $400,000 |
| 1996 | DET | AL | $400,000 |
| 1995 | CLE | AL | $750,000 |
| 1994 | ATL | NL | $1,900,000 |
| 1993 | BAL | AL | $2,300,000 |
| 1992 | BAL | AL | $1,450,000 |
| 1991 | BAL | AL | $505,000 |
| 1990 | BAL | AL | $270,000 |
| 1989 | BAL | AL | $70,000 |
| Total Career Earnings | $12,755,000 | ||
College History
| School Name | City | State | Years Attended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn University | Auburn | AL | 1986, 1987, 1988 |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Cy Young Award | AL | 6th | 3.0 | 140 | 0 |
| 1989 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 12th | 35.0 | 392 | 0 |
| 1989 | Rookie of the Year | AL | 1st | 136.0 | 140 | 26 |