The daughter of former New York Mets and New York Yankees infielder John Olerud suffered from a chromosome disease.
Jordan Olerud, daughter of former New York Mets and New York Yankees infielder John Olerud, has tragically passed away at the age of 19. According to Mets vice president of alumni relations Jay Horwitz, Jordan had been battling a rare chromosome disease her entire life. She possessed an extra second chromosome and was also missing part of her fifth chromosome.
In 2003, Jordan’s parents set up “The Jordan Fund” to help support children with special needs along with their families. Both the Mets and Yankees gave the Oleruds their condolences.
Olerud played with the Mets from 1997-99 and was excellent. He additionally spent part of the 2004 season with the Yankees.
In his 17-year career, Olerud was a two-time All-Star, a three-time Gold Glover, a two-time World Series champion, and was the 1993 American League batting champion. He finished third in the 1993 AL MVP voting as well.
Olerud is famous for his “The Best Infield Ever?” feature on the 1999 Sports Illustrated cover. The feature documented him, Edgardo Alfonzo, Rey Ordóñez, and Robin Ventura, all of whom were with the Mets at the time.
During his time in Queens, Olerud slashed an impressive .315/.425/.501 with a .926 OPS and 142 OPS+. He also finished twelfth in the 1998 National League MVP voting.
Olerud was initially a Toronto Blue Jay. He spent a good portion of his career up North, where he won two World Series titles. Because of what he did with Toronto in his eight seasons there, Olerud is an incoming member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020.
