It was 29 years ago this month that Cal Ripken Jr. showed us what a 20th-century Iron Man looked like. By which we mean this.
OTD in 1995, Cal Ripken Jr. took a victory lap for the ages after playing in his 2,131st consecutive game and officially breaking Lou Gehrig’s historic streak đđ§Ąđ€ pic.twitter.com/hzfFD2ciNz
â MLB (@MLB) September 6, 2024
But in case you hadnât noticed, itâs a very different time to be a baseball player in North America. So on that note, hereâs what a 21st-century Iron Man looks like.
Matt Olson is closing in on his fourth career season of 162 games played. (Dale Zanine / USA Today)
Thatâs Matt Olson, who may not be as iconic as Ripken but still is a man with two current Iron Man claims to fame:
1) He has been an Atlanta Brave for three seasons now. You could locate him at first base in every darned game the Braves have played in that span â all 473 of them, the most games played by anyone in baseball since the start of 2022.
2) But thatâs not all, because if you roll the Iron Man clock back to his time in Oakland, Olson just blew past a very cool round number: 600 games played in a row.
So ⊠only another 2,000, and heâll be breathing down Ripkenâs neck hairs. Right? You think heâll take one of those Ripken-esque victory laps when he breaks the Iron Man record ⊠in 2037?
âWhat is that â like, 18 years?â Olson said, with a mathematically incorrect chuckle. âYeah, if Iâm playing when Iâm 48, Iâll take a victory lap.â
Aw heck, itâs only another 13 years. So heâs almost there. Or not. But forget that Ripken stuff. Weâre actually calling your attention to Olsonâs streak because he is about to pass another legendary name. And once he does, heâll carve out a slice of Iron Man history that will be all his.
This Thursday, according to STATS Perform, Olson is in line to play in his 477th consecutive game as a first baseman. And why is that so special? Because he will tie Pete Rose that day for the longest streak of games played at first base in the last 80 years.
Once Olson passes Rose, heâll own the second-longest streak at first base since Lou Gehrig â behind only Frank (Buck) McCormick of the 1938-42 Cincinnati Reds (652 in a row). And it will give Olson the fourth-longest streak at first of anyone in the modern era not named Gehrig, trailing just McCormick, Fred Luderus (533) and Gus Suhr (505).
âThose are some cool names for sure,â Olson said. âEspecially nowadays.â
Fortunately for us, he then helpfully supplied his own definition of ânowadays.â
Nowadays, load management has become a thing in this sport, even though, in Olsonâs eyes, âweâre not full NBA.â And nowadays, matchups have also become a thing. Never in history have there been fewer true everyday players, as more teams play platoon-advantage, mix-and-match lineup bingo all over the diamond.
So letâs think about this. Will there ever be another Ripken? Will there ever even be another Matt Olson? Is the whole Iron Man concept dying before our eyes? And if it is, is that a good thing â a smart, scientific, health-driven thing? Or is it another once-romantic baseball phenomenon that is being driven out of the sport by the new wave of deep, analytical thinking?
All Olson set out to do when he began this streak was play, and be there for his team. But his streak has also given us a reason to dig in on what this all means. So letâs do that, OK?
Letâs talk history
Before we get into why Matt Olson does what he does â and why the Braves are all-in on him doing it â letâs look deeper into just how rare this is.
Life after Ripken â Did you know that since Ripkenâs streak of 2,632 consecutive games played ended in 1998, Olson is only the second player to have a consecutive games streak of 600 games or longer? The other: Miguel Tejada, who played in 1,152 in a row from 2000-07.
Heâs well positioned â But itâs the number of games Olson has strung together, while playing defense at his position, that truly separates his streak from almost every other recent Iron Man streak.
Even Tejada played âonlyâ 807 consecutive games at shortstop (from 2000-05), according to STATS. So Olson could pass him, for the longest streak at any position since Ripken, by April 2027.
And by the end of this season, only six men would rank ahead of Olson for the longest streaks at any position in the last 80 years:
|
SS Cal Ripken Jr. |
2,216 (1982-1996) |
|
SS Miguel Tejada |
878 (2000-2005) |
|
2B Nellie Fox  |
798 (1955-1960) |
|
CF Richie Ashburn |
694 (1950-1954) |
|
SS Roy McMillan |
583 (1951-1955) |
|
3B Eddie Yost |
576 (1951-1955) |
|
1B Matt Olson |
481* (2022-24) |
(Source: STATS Perform; *projected total at end of season)
A relevant side note about that list: Just two of those six players (Ripken and Tejada) compiled those streaks in the 162-game era, now six decades old.
Cal Ripken Jr. jokes with Miguel Tejada during the 10th anniversary celebration of his record-breaking 2,131st consecutive game. (Matthew S. Gunby / Associated Press)
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Whereâs Garvey? We know what youâre thinking: What about Steve Garvey, who famously strung together a 1,207-game streak from 1975-83, as the first baseman for the Dodgers and Padres? Excellent question!
Garveyâs streak is one of three 1,000-gamers (or longer) in the last half-century. But it didnât make the list above because he extended it seven times with pinch-hitting appearances. Therefore, it doesnât qualify for the leaderboard of longest streaks playing first base. And thatâs an important distinction.
Whoâs on first â Would it shock you to know that itâs not out of the question that Olson could catch Gehrig himself? It stunned us. But weâre not talking about Gehrigâs fabled 2,130-game streak that Ripken passed. This would be only his longest streak while playing first base.
Did you know that Gehrig occasionally wore an outfield glove when the Yankees needed him to? Look it up.
And because he did, his longest consecutive-games streak while playing first was âonlyâ 885 games, from 1925-30, according to STATS. That means that if Olson can keep going, he could grind past that Gehrig streak in July 2027 ⊠and (amazingly) rank No. 1 in the modern era. That could actually happen.
At that point, only two men in the modern era would stand in front of Olson at any position:
|
Cal Ripken Jr. |
2,216 at SS (1982-1996) |
|
Everett Scott |
1,307 at SS (1916-1925) |
(Source: STATS Perform)
Are we getting ahead of ourselves? Of course we are. But what the heck. Olson has no intention of pulling the plug on this streak any time soon. So heâs closer to big-time Iron Man history than anyone seems to have noticed. Now letâs look at what drives him.
Why Matt Olson just keeps on posting
Long before Matt Olson began streaking toward Rose and Gehrig, he played all 162 games for the Aâs back in 2018. He was 24. It was his first full season in the big leagues. But he didnât join the 162-Game Club just because the Aâs had no one else to play first. No, even back then, Olson was a man with a purpose.
âItâs kind of how I was wired, growing up, a little bit anyway,â he said. âBut when I got to the big leagues, Marcus Semien was there in Oakland. And he was adamant about playing every day.â
You hear Semienâs name a lot when this subject comes up. Maybe because the Rangersâ second baseman is about to rack up his eighth season playing 155 games or more, in just 10 seasons as a regular in the big leagues. How many other players have done that over these last 10 seasons? Yep, none.
Semien has had three seasons in that span when he played all 162 games. Thatâs tied for the most among all active players. Want to guess whoâs tied with him? Right. Matt Olson.
So even as he was still figuring out how to be an everyday player, Olson had Semienâs voice in his ear, preaching the meaning of literally playing every day. All these years later, that voice is still there. He was so conscious of Semienâs determination to will his way into the lineup every day, it was hard for Olson â and the rest of those Aâs â to envision what would happen if anyone even tried to make Semien take a day off.
âI donât think anybody wanted to find out,â Olson said. âI remember he had, like, a little wrist thing going on one time â some inflammation, that sort of thing. The staff wanted to give him a couple days off. I donât know exactly how it went. I just know there were some words exchanged. Then sure enough, heâs in the lineup that night.
âWhat Marcus always preached was: You owe it to your teammates and the fans (to be out there). And you get paid to play. Youâre not going to be 100 percent every game. But you know, a lot of times, Marcus Semien at 85 percent is better than a lot of other peopleâs 100 percent. So you just have to be able to find how to navigate it, maybe cut some workload down before the game ⊠so you find a way to be out there.â
Now, thatâs exactly what Olson preaches to the players around him. He says that since he arrived in Atlanta, he has never once had to fight his way into the lineup â and has never been physically hurting enough that his health even became a question.
âThe way I look at it, youâre either hurt hurt, or youâre able to go,â he said. âSo knock on wood, I havenât had a lot of those, like, halfway injuries â you know, something where they tell you rest would help but youâre not totally hurt.â
So heâs a firm believer in the old Marcus Semien adage: If itâs not broken, you can play. But he also has seen enough of his teammates go down around him that he knows how fortunate he is that all that stuff that can happen in baseball hasnât happened to him.
âThereâs a ton of luck involved with that,â he said. âYou know, shoot, just look at our last 30 games, of (all the) guys getting hit by pitches.â
There was one day in September 2022 when his manager, Brian Snitker, didnât start him, on a Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. It was Game 152 of Olsonâs first season in Atlanta. So his streak wasnât a topic yet. And Snitker acknowledged he wanted to give his first baseman some kind of breather â but knew going in it almost certainly wouldnât be for all nine innings.
âI said (to him): âYou know what? Weâve got to win, like 12-0, for you not to play in that game,â Snitker recalled.
So sure enough, he subbed Olson in for defense in the eighth inning. Olson has started every day since. But that can only happen if his team buys into the meaning of that. So letâs look at âŠ
Why the Braves are on board
Matt Olson admires a home run. âThe players are the ones that set the culture,â Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said. (Brad Penner / USA Today)
Is less really more? People may think that way now in the inner sanctum of most franchises. But in Atlanta, they have a different motto:
More is more.
Nowhere else in baseball is the concept of posting up more ingrained in the culture than it is in the heartbeat of the Atlanta Braves. Remember 2021, when their entire starting infield played between 156 and 160 games, missing 13 games combined? That wasnât an aberration. Itâs what they do.
Most seasons of 157+ games, 2018-23
|
Braves |
14 |
|
Royals |
7 |
|
Blue Jays |
6 |
Most seasons of 162 games, 2018-23
|
Braves |
5 |
|
Other 14 NL teams combined |
5 |
So part of why heâs so committed to going out there, Olson said, is that he grew up in Georgia as a Braves fan ⊠âand thatâs just what theyâve done forever. Maybe itâs because maybe I grew up watching the Braves, and I loved seeing the guys in the lineup every day.â
That work ethic was preached by Chipper Jones, back when he was playing more than 150 games in eight seasons in a row. It was passed down to Freddie Freeman, who had six seasons as a Brave in which he missed five games or fewer. Now, itâs Olson ⊠and Austin Riley ⊠and Ozzie Albies ⊠who keep that culture alive, broken bones notwithstanding.
âI donât believe that itâs the organization thatâs setting the culture,â Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said. âThe players are the ones that set the culture. Thatâs impacted by what players we acquire. But look, the âGames Playedâ column is something we looked at with Matt Olson. ⊠Obviously, heâs a very good player, but thatâs part of what drew us to him as well.â
And never have the Braves appreciated that quality more than this year, when it feels as though some sort of freak injury has knocked out everybody on the roster ⊠except Matt Olson.
But it isnât just the Bravesâ injury epidemic that Olson has had to dodge this year. Itâs a force that can sometimes be even harder to avoid:
The Noise.
When you hit 54 homers with a .993 OPS one year ⊠and then sag to 25 homers with a .764 OPS the next, itâs amazing how all those standing ovations can turn into The Noise. When your OPS plunges by more than 200 points, The Noise can turn a guyâs dedication to playing every day into a whole different narrative: Heâs selfish. He needs a rest. Heâs killing that team. Blahblahblah.
That noise is out there. But if the Braves hear it, or care about it, theyâre doing an excellent job of disguising it.
âI hear it,â Snitker said. âBut I donât pay attention to it, because Iâll talk to the player. And if he feels like he needs a day off, then I will. But I never (thought that), watching (Olson) and how he handled everything. It wasnât going like he really wanted. But you know what? He came to work every day, the same guy, and I never saw that he was tired. ⊠So I just never felt like he needed it.â
Olson, not surprisingly, seconds that motion.
âYou never know when your day is going to be,â he said. âYou know, if itâs going bad, sure, I can see the benefit of sometimes sitting back and watching the game. But it doesnât solve the problem. The only thing you can do is go out there and work your way out of something thatâs not going well. So itâs never been something thatâs really crossed my mind.â
But thereâs a bigger question out there â and it isnât only about Matt Olson. So letâs just ask it âŠ
Is it OK to ignore load management?
If Cal Ripken Jr. was just arriving in the big leagues in 2024, what would the odds be that heâd be chasing down Lou Gehrigâs record someday? What do you think ⊠10 percent? ⊠5 percent? ⊠0 percent?
I asked that question of one of baseballâs brightest workload-management authorities, Casey Mulholland, the other day. He found it just as intriguing as youâd imagine.
âIt would sort of depend on what organization heâs playing for,â Mulholland said. âIt would depend on how much they value the idea of him being a franchise player for them.â
Would he be playing for a team that didnât believe anybody should play more than 150 games? Or would he be playing for a team that did what Ripkenâs Orioles did back in the day â listen to him all those times when he said: âIâm not really hurt. Let me play. I can do this.â
âPlayers are still having that discussion,â said Mulholland, the founder/lead developer at KineticPro Performance in Tampa, Fla. âJust now, itâs becoming much more scientific, a much more mathematical discussion, versus, âHey, I feel good,â and weâre going to talk (about those) feelings and put them back out there on the field. I think thatâs the difference.â
You probably can guess where the Braves stand on the load-management spectrum. But when Snitker was asked, point blank, whether he believes in load management, he didnât hedge.
âNo,â he replied, succinctly. âI think these guys train to do this every day, right? Because (thatâs) the Bravesâ culture. ⊠Weâve had guys with broken bones and things like that. But (that mindset of playing every day), I think that keeps them from getting the soft-tissue stuff and pulled muscles and everything.
âIâve learned that over the years. I used to think that, but after being with these guys and talking to the guys that are doing it every day, yeah, theyâve made a believer out of me.â
 You should know that even though Snitker is 68 and a baseball lifer, he regularly displays a balance between new-age analytic concepts and age-old baseball wisdom. But which of those is âLess is Moreâ? We ask because thereâs no simpler way to explain the idea behind load management than that: Less really can be more. And the science proves it.
Mulholland often uses the analogy of a guy running a marathon who had never trained to run those 26 miles. We all know how that works out.
âSo then guys get fatigued, and then guys get hurt,â Mulholland said. âAnd thatâs the idea of load management. Weâre trying to avoid fatigue.â
But to be done right, load management needs to be nuanced. Wearable technology can provide important, detailed information on what athletes are and arenât capable of. But Mulholland asks: Are teams actually using that data? Are those athletes even granting them permission to use it? And if not, and teams are just using arbitrary limits â 100 pitches for every pitcher, 150 games a year for every position player â that can create a whole different set of issues.
Or then thereâs the even more basic question: What if this guy has trained to run that marathon?
And thatâs exactly how Anthopoulos looks at Matt Olson â as just the latest star player heâs been around who has devoted his life, on and off the field, to the idea that itâs important to play every day.
âSo if heâs not on the injury report and heâs not complaining of anything,â Anthopoulos said, âweâve just had too many years and too many examples of (what heâs capable of). The guy was a top-four MVP candidate last year, and played every day. ⊠Heâs been an elite player with all those games played. So itâs hard to just all of a sudden point to that and say he needs a rest.â
If fatigue was the problem this year, how do we explain why August was Olsonâs best month (eight home runs, .573 slugging percentage, .912 OPS) of the season?
The Braves have looked long and hard at the concept of load management. But they also believe in the value of a centerpiece player who sends a message to everyone around him that the quest for greatness begins with work ethic.
âItâs all just been a mentality,â Anthopoulos said. âAnd look, obviously, some of it is luck. You can get hit by a pitch, and so on. But those guys that post and play every day, year after year, I donât think itâs a coincidence. I donât think itâs luck. Thereâs definitely a common trait to all these guys.â
And Matt Olson is all about that trait. He knows his streak will end someday, because all streaks do. But when it does, it wonât be because he and his team suddenly have discovered a newfound belief in load management.
âIâm not a fan of it,â Olson said. âI mean, I can see the reasons for it. Itâs a long season. But itâs also a game of rhythm and flow. And I would rather just continue to go.â
â The Athleticâs David OâBrien contributed to this report.Â
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(Top photo: Nick Wosika / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
