John Olerud is flat-out under-appreciated. The first baseman had a 17-year big league career that featured just two All Star selections. He is rarely mentioned as a Hall of Fame candidate.

A closer look at his overall body of work shows a career worthy of consideration for Cooperstown.

Olerud made his debut three months after the Toronto Blue Jays selected him in the third-round of the 1989 draft. The Seattle-born Washington State University product was the Jays regular first basemen in 1990 and finished fourth in Rookie of the Year balloting.

In 1992, Olerud his his stride. He tallied a 127 OPS+ and a 3.4 WAR to help push Toronto to its first World Series title. The following season, the left-handed hitting Olerud was at his best, leading the league in doubles (54), batting average (.363), on-base percentage (.473), OPS (1.072), and intentional walks (33). He also posted career-bests in hits, runs, homers, and RBI. The performance helped give the Jays back-to-back Fall Classic triumphs.

During his time in the majors, Olerud played 8 years in Toronto, 6 in Seattle, 3 with the Mets, and one each with the Yankees and Red Sox. He had six campaigns with an on-base percentage of .400 or better. Olerud played in 135 or more games in 11 of his 17 seasons and had an OBP of at least .372 in all 11 of them. Not remembered as a big run producer, Olerud nonetheless had seven seasons of at least 93 RBI, four of them topping the century mark.

By the time he hung up his spikes in 2005, Olerud totaled 2,239 hits. Buoyed by 500 doubles, and 255 homers, more than 1/3 of his knocks went for extra bases.

Olerud’s .398 on-base percentage and 129 OPS+ are likewise impressive. The OPS+ figure is higher than that of fellow first baseman and Cooperstown candidates Keith Hernandez and Don Mattingly. It also ranks above many already-inducted men. Among them are Rickey Henderson, Jim Rice, Goose Goslin, Johnny Bench, and Charlie Gehringer.

According to BaseballReference.com, Olerud’s career 58.2 WAR puts him ahead of Cooperstown first sackers Bill Terry, Hank Greenberg, George Sisler, Tony Perez, Fred McGriff, Orlando Cepeda, and Gil Hodges. Olerud also outpaces popular candidates at his position including Will Clark, Carlos Delgado, Mattingly, and Steve Garvey.

The failure by many to include Olerud in the Cooperstown conversation remains a mystery.

In the collection is this John Olerud autographed Strat-O-Matic card from his finest season of 1993. Bucknell University math major Hal Richman originated the Strat-O-Matic game in 1961. Advertised in Sports Illustrated and sold out of Richman’s basement, Strat-O-Matic gave its players the ability to make managerial decisions based on MLB statistics.

The 1993 Toronto Blue Jays had the top three finishers in the race for the batting crown,. John Olerud took home the title with a .363 average. Paul Molitor finished second at .332 with Roberto Alomar right behind him at .326.

It marked the first time in baseball history that one team featured the top three performers in batting average. The regular season offensive explosion helped the Jays to 95 wins and the Eastern Division championship.

In the six-game triumph over the White Sox in the ALCS the trio continued their hitting dominance. They combined to hit .343 with a .445 on-base percentage, 4 doubles, a triple, and one home run. The triumvarite scored 15 runs and drove in 12 more.

In the Fall Classic, Olerud’s sixth-inning solo shot put Toronto ahead to stay in the Game 1. Alomar and Molitor starred throughout the Series. By the time the Blue Jays dispatched the Phillies in Game 6, Alomar had a gaudy .480/.516/.640 slash line. World Series MVP Molitor went 12-for-24 with pairs of doubles, triples, homers. His 8 runs batted in were complimented by a .571 on-base percentage and an other-worldly 1.000 slugging percentage.

The Toronto trio of Olerud and Cooperstown men Alomar and Molitor helped give the Blue Jay faithful as season to remember in ’93.

Shown here is the autograph of Hall of Famer Paul on a ticket that allowed a lucky fan to see his 3,000th hit on September 16, 1996.

Of the 1,083 pitchers John Olerud faced during his 17-year big-league career, none matched Roger Clemens for familiarity. Olerud faced the Rocket in 102 plate appearances, while the next-most-familiar pitcher, Kevin Appier, faced him 78 times. Olerud drew more walks and drove in more runs against Clemens than any other pitcher.

Yet their frequent matchups rarely favored Olerud at the plate. Clemens struck him out and hit him more often than any other pitcher. The Rocket held Olerud to a .203 batting average and a .353 on-base percentage, well below his career marks of .295 and .398. Clemens also limited Olerud to a .380 slugging percentage, far below his career mark of .465.

On June 8, 2004, Olerud faced Clemens three times for the final time in their careers. He drew a walk in one plate appearance and grounded out in another before Clemens struck him out in their last encounter.

Shown here is Clemens’ autograph on a Houston Astros lineup card from May 5, six starts earlier. That night, the 41-year-old right-hander passed Hall of Famer Steve Carlton for second place on baseball’s all-time strikeout list.

Clemens entered with 4,131 strikeouts, five shy of Carlton’s 4,136. He passed the Phillies legend by striking out Pittsburgh’s Raúl Mondesí in the fifth inning for his 4,137th career strikeout. Both Clemens and Carlton signed the lineup card, commemorating the historic milestone.

In 79 career at-bats against Roger Clemens, John Olerud struck out 17 times while collecting just 16 hits. One of those strikeouts carried special significance for Clemens and baseball history. On June 6, 1999, the Yankees right-hander faced the crosstown Mets at Yankee Stadium with 3,191 career strikeouts. He needed two more to pass Fergie Jenkins, who ranked ninth on the all-time list.

Clemens struck out leadoff hitter Roger Cedeño to tie Jenkins, then a batter later caught Olerud looking at strike three. That second strikeout gave Clemens 3,193 for his career, moving him past Jenkins. The milestone came early, but the rest of Clemens’ night quickly unraveled.

The Mets seized control in the second inning when Bobby Bonilla doubled with the bases loaded, bringing home three runs. Benny Agbayani followed with a single that scored Bonilla, putting New York ahead 4–0. Olerud then opened the third inning with a single, setting the stage for Mike Piazza’s two-run homer. Four batters later, Agbayani singled home another run, ending Clemens’ outing after just 2⅔ innings. The Mets scored six runs against him and won 7–2.

Shown here is the ticket from that historic contest. It marks the night Olerud became Clemens’ 3,193rd strikeout victim to pass Fergie Jenkins on the all-time list. Gracious as ever, Jenkins signed the ticket, added his Hall of Fame induction year, and inscribed, “Roger Clemens passed me 3,193 Ks,” commemorating the moment in his own words.

In 2016 the Pac-10 Conference named their All Century team for the 1900s. Washington State’s John Olerud was named the Player of the Century as the top performer. In 1988 he became the only pitcher in NCAA history to win 15 games and hit 20 home runs. On the mound he went 15-0; at bat he slammed 23 bombs.

While playing for the Cougars, Olerud established records for highest batting average both in a single season (.464) and career (.434). On the mound he went 26-4, tossing 241 1/3 innings during his time in Pulman.

Shown here is a check signed by UCLA shortstop Jackie Robinson, himself a member of the PAC-10’s All-Century team.