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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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

. He played fourteen seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(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 , the team has played its home gam ...

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

, and

Brooklyn Robins The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brookl ...

."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 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

. He died in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

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