Ivan Massie "Ivy" Olson (October 14, 1885 – September 1, 1965) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

. He played fourteen seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) from 1911 to 1924 for the

Cleveland Naps The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, and Brooklyn Robins."Ivy Olson Statistics and History"
"baseball-reference.com. Accessed June 8, 2017. His best season was in 1919 when he played in all 140 games and would lead the NL in at bats (590), plate appearances (635), hits (164), singles (140), and at bats per strikeout (49.2). In 1921, he would also lead the NL in at bats (652). He currently ranks 84th on the MLB all-time sacrifice hits list (198) and ranks 73rd on the all-time at bats per strikeout list (23). He also holds the Los Angeles Dodgers single season record for at bats per strikeout (55.1 in 1922) and is the Dodgers all-time at bats per strikeout leader (26.8). In 14 seasons, he played in 1,574 games and had 6,111 at bats, 730 runs, 1,575 hits, 191 doubles, 69 triples, 13 home runs, 446 RBI, 156 stolen bases, 285 walks, .258 batting average, .295 on-base percentage, .318 slugging percentage, 1,943 total bases, and 198 sacrifice hits. After his playing career ended, he was a coach for the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

and the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. He died in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

at the age of 79.

References

;Specific 1885 births 1965 deaths Major League Baseball shortstops Baseball players from Kansas City, Missouri Cleveland Naps players Cincinnati Reds players Brooklyn Robins players Brooklyn Dodgers coaches New York Giants (NL) coaches Webb City Goldbugs players Hutchinson Salt Packers players Portland Beavers players Sarasota Gulls players Pocatello Bannocks players {{US-baseball-shortstop-stub

See also

References