The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
UConn’s Olt still chasing his MLB dream
UConn product happy to be closer to home, given another opportunity
HARTFORD » Mike Olt took a look around the sparkling new Dunkin’ Donuts Park on Monday afternoon and couldn’t believe he was in the same place he saw from the highway a few times over the past couple of winters.
“I love it,” he said of the home of the Hartford Yard Goats. “It’s got a real, stadium feel. It’s always cool to play when you’re downtown. There’s a lot more of a baseball feel. They did a great job here with this ballpark.”
Olt should know. The Branford native and UConn product has played in countless ballparks over the years, from short-season in Spokane, Washington to Wrigley Field, one of three big-league parks he’s called home.
But there was Olt on Monday, playing professionally for the first time in his home state, with the Portland Sea Dogs, the Red Sox’ Double-A affiliate. After a lost 2016 season that saw him play just 52 games — mostly with Double-A San Antonio — due to injuries, and being exacerbated by a true health scare for his mother, Beverly, Olt now sees himself in a reboot phase of his career.
“Definitely,” said Olt, 28. “I finally feel like I’m 100-percent healthy. That’s the biggest thing for me. Right now, I’m just trying to have fun, go out there and compete and enjoy the game that I love. I’m excited for the opportunities that I get.”
Olt is manning the corner infield spots and, as on Monday, playing some DH. He’s somewhat of a mentor to Rafael Devers, the Red Sox’ highly-touted third base prospect. Through 15 games entering Monday night’s action, Olt was hitting .214 with two hom--
ers and eight RBIs. But the numbers aren’t overly important right now. It’s about being healthy again and getting consistent at-bats. Everything else, he says, will fall into place.
“I missed pretty much all of last year,” he noted. “There are some things that are still rusty, but that’s part of the game. I love the challenge of trying to get back on track. Kind of a slow start right now, but that’s part of the game.”
Olt signed with the Red Sox in February after working out throughout the fall and winter at AP Academy in Palmer, Massachusetts, which is run by his former UConn teammate, Pete Fatse. He knew he almost certainly wouldn’t start the season in Boston, that it would likely be either Portland or Triple-A Pawtucket.
“They just want to see me go out, compete, have fun,” he said. “If the timing is right, I’ll be ready, and that’s all I can look forward to.”
One benefit of playing for Portland, in the Eastern League, is that it provides Olt the chance to play a lot closer to home. His parents were at Monday’s game, and he intended to go back to Branford with them afterwards to enjoy some homemade pizza by his dad, George.
More notably, Monday night’s game was the first that Beverly has attended since suffering a brain aneurysm in October, 2015. The past 18 months haven’t been easy for the Olt family. Beverly lost her ability to speak at one point, though she has since regained it. She’s doing much better now, Mike said.
“She’s got some things that she would tell you that she’d like to improve,” Olt said. “But, from what we see, she’s very outgoing and funny. We’re happy to have her here.”
As tough as last season was for Olt — who developed plantar fasciitis early in the season, tried to play through it, but ultimately underwent surgery in August — it was made even tougher being away while his mother battled through rehab.
“I mean, my family kept me in the loop with everything,” he noted. “There were times where she would have good days and bad days, and those were things I had to deal with. But they knew my mom would want me to go and play. So, not being there was always hard, but I got to see her, Facetime her. She got better as the season went on, so that helped me progress and stay a little more focused.”
Longtime UConn baseball coach Jim Penders knew how difficult it was for his former player.
“There’s only so much you can do,” Penders said. “He’s very much a kid who’s familyfirst, no matter what. I know it had to be hell on him. To be away, when she was going through such an arduous recovery, had to be difficult for him. I can’t imagine what he went trough. His three other brothers were close-by, but it was tough on Mike because he wasn’t close-by. He was trying to make a living in this game.”
So there was Mike Olt on Monday night at Dunkin’ Donuts Park. And there was Beverly Olt, too, watching from the stands. She has battled through serious health issues and is doing great. Mike continues to battle through a baseball odyssey that has taken him to ballparks all across the country, at every level.
“I’m way too determined to give up,” he said. “I’ve got a lot left. I think, as hard as I work in the off-season, if I can get back on track, there’s always an opportunity for me to play in the big leagues. It’s one of those things that I’m not gonna give up. As long as there’s an opportunity there, I’ll continue to work. It just takes one swing or one feeling that gets you back to your old self. That’s all you look for.”