When Gregg Olson gives his speech as he’s inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame Saturday, he hopes to get done quickly and without incident.
It’s with that same workmanlike attitude that Olson crafted a career worthy of such an honor — precisely finishing games as the Orioles’ closer for six seasons.
Nick-named “Otter,” Olson holds the club record for saves with 160. He became the first reliever to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1989, when he saved 27 games with a 1.69 ERA, serving as a crucial piece of the “Why Not?” season.
“We had a bunch of young guys and nobody knew any better,” Olson said. “We kind of went out and played. We weren’t really concerned. We weren’t supposed to be that good. I wasn’t supposed to get people out. We didn’t get caught up in anything. It was a great first season for a lot of us.”
For Olson it was the springboard to a 14-year career that included stops with nine different clubs. But chronic elbow injuries curtailed his promising career, robbing a Cooperstown-worthy talent of further glory.
Olson, 42, will be inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame Saturday at Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards. Part of the weekend’s festivities will include honors for longtime traveling secretary Phil Itzoe, the Herb Armstrong Award winner, and Wild Bill Hagy, who will be honored posthumously with an award named for him.
But Olson’s induction will take the spotlight.
“He’s the team’s all-time saves leader, and set the record by saves for a rookie when he came up in 1989. He was real important in a time when he came up, particularly after the Orioles were so disastrous the year before,” Sports Legends executive director Mike Gibbons said. “He was a big, big part of that “Why Not?” team in ’89. I remember as a fan, you just had confidence in him.”
But Gibbons also recalled the blown save on the final day of that 1989 campaign, in which Olson uncorked the wild pitch that sent the Blue Jays on, and the Orioles into the offseason.
Such is the life of a closer. And when he was healthy, Olson was among the best.
Retired since 2001, he continues to watch the game evolve — particularly in the bullpen.
“It’s continued to get specialized and more specialized,” Olson said. “My rookie year I threw 90 innings and threw two innings [per game] a lot. Guys before me threw two innings. Tippy Martinez and Goose Gossage were coming in for three innings. Now it’s pretty much down to one inning.”
Olson resides in California with his wife and four children, and has become an investor in Toolshed Sports, a Huntington Beach-based sports apparel company.
But as much as anything, Olson spends his days coaching his four kids.
“I got over the fact I can’t play anymore,” Olson said. “I’m trying to help the younger kids understand parts of the game. Trying to teach them how to play baseball.”
Olson also returns to Baltimore every fall to play in the Baltimore Celebrity Golf Classic, which benefits cancer research.
Much of the conversations fans and old friends strike up with Olson this weekend will undoubtedly center around the 1989 season. The Orioles finished 87-75 and in second place in the American League East — in contention until the final day despite a small payroll.
That season is reflected upon with high esteem by Orioles fans to this day. And with an organization currently in a rebuilding process, the magical story of that season has become a goal of sorts for the current club.
In many respects, the 1989 season was special — and much of that is due to Olson.
“I don’t know. I’ve never looked at it like it’s something that would never been done before,” Olson said. “If we finished the job, it would be a different conversation.”
