Three-time Gold Glove winner to face Bulls
Published on May 26, 2005 under International League (IL1)
Durham Bulls News Release
Durham, NC - John Olerud, a three-time Gold Glove winner and two-time Major League All-Star, will face the Durham Bulls at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in a four-game series May 26th-29th as a member of the Pawtucket Red Sox.
Olerud, who was signed to a minor league contract by the Boston Red Sox on May 1st, is one of the best fielding first basemen in major league history. He is a three-time Gold Glove winner (2000, 2002, 2003) with a .995 career fielding percentage (81 errors in 17,211 total chances). Olerud won his first Gold Glove in 2000 with the Seattle Mariners after leading all American League first basemen in fielding percentage (.996) and assists (132). His second Gold Glove came in 2002 when he finished the season ranked third among AL first basemen with a .996 fielding percentage while his third Gold Glove award came the following year when he placed third among AL first basemen with a .998 fielding percentage.
Along with being a two-time Major League All-Star (1993, 2001), Olerud is also a two-time World Series champion with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2002 & 2003. He was a member of the back-to-back World Series Champion Toronto Blue Jays teams that defeated the Atlanta Braves for their first world title in 1992 and the Philadelphia Phillies for their second consecutive championship in 1993. In nine World Series games, Olerud is a .267 hitter with one home run and five RBI.
Olerud was named to his first American League All-Star Team in 1993 on his way to becoming the first Toronto Blue Jay in team history to win a batting title with a .363 average. He was named to his second AL All-Star Team in 2001 before finishing the season with a .302 batting average, 21 home runs and 95 RBI. Olerud became just the second player in major league history to hit for the cycle in both the American and National Leagues when he accomplished the feat on June 16, 2001 at San Diego. His first career cycle came as a member of the New York Mets on September 11, 1997 against the Montreal Expos.
Olerud comes to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in his first season as a minor league player. He is one of 17 players since the start of the amateur draft in 1965 to make his professional debut in the major leagues and was one of three who had never played in the minor leagues. In his first minor league game of his career on May 23rd at Norfolk, Olerud went 1-for-4 from the plate, hitting his first minor league home run, a two-run, sixth-inning homer off the Tides' Mike Matthews.
The Durham Bulls (21-26) will host the Pawtucket Red Sox (22-23) for a four-game series beginning with tonight's 7:00 p.m. game. Tickets are available at www.durhambulls.com or by phone at (919) 956-BULL.
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