Ok, this is a pointless question, but does anyone know why John Olerud(1st baseman for the Mariners) wears a helmet while playing in the field? I did a search on John Olerud and read about a dozen articles, but none of them mentioned the helmet.
Usless trivia questions lay heavy on my mind. Please help.
He got a serious concussion from being hit with a ball a few years back, and has worn the helmet ever since.
When Rickey Henderson joined the Mariners last year, he saw Olerud wearing the helmet in the field and said “Hey, there was a guy with me on the Mets last year who did that!”. Rickey didn’t even recognize his own Mets teammate from the previous year.
According this page (a collection of articles), Olerud wears the helmet because of a brain seizure in 1989.
When going to college at Washington state, he had an aneurysm, so he wore the helmet as a protective measure. I don’t know if he still wears it for this reason, or he wears it because he’s always done it that way.
It seems my link’s no good. To see the article, go to http://www.cnnsi.com and search for “Olerud helmet.” It’s the one about the ‘99 playoffs that starts "NEW YORK – Mets’ first baseman John Olerud is a typical New Yorker."
OMG! I laughed so hard I cried! Thanks!
Urban legend. The story was made up as a prank by some of Henderson’s ex-teammates on the Mets. It was picked up by the wire services.
Thanks, thats what I was looking for.