Later, after we each went off to college I realized he had qualities I liked in a man. Kelly's team was at WSU for a match a year later when the two talked and clicked. Expectations locally were that Olerud obviously would come back to play, where he had left for the Blue Jays after the June draft in 1989. There was geography and familiarity, not only with the area but with Gillick, the former Toronto GM who became a friend and signed him more than a decade ago. But most of all, there was family.
Northwest roots run deep.
It's a little bittersweet, since there are disappointed people back in New York. But this is a great moment for us. Lynda Olerud had been home babysitting Garrett John. John smiled at the thought of his mother's joy. But there were great reasons on both sides of this decision.