If you have been keeping up with the offseason moves made around the MLB over the last two weeks, then you will likely know that one of baseball’s biggest moves to happen came recently. The Atlanta Braves acquired first baseman and former Georgia prep star Matt Olson in a trade with the Oakland Athletics.
One of the top first basemen in the game, Olson is coming off a phenomenal 2021 season with the Athletics in which he hit for a .911 OPS with 39 home runs and 111 RBIs across 156 games, making his first career All-Star team in the process while finishing eighth in AL MVP voting. Also a two-time Gold Glove winner who has hit a combined 142 home runs across his six-year MLB career with Oakland so far, there is no denying how good Olson has been in the major leagues, but what about his high school days?
As mentioned previously, Olson is a former Georgia prep standout who grew up in Lilburn, Georgia, and attended Parkview High School from 2009-12, the same high school as former Atlanta Braves outfielder Jeff Francoeur. In fact, Olson and Francoeur both have one thing in common at Parkview – each are record holders.
Olson currently holds the Parkview and Gwinnett County career records in a few different statistical categories such as doubles (44), RBIs (168), walks (79), pitching wins (28), and fewest walks per seven innings (1.04), with some of the records that Olson doesn’t own such as home runs currently held by Francoeur.
In addition to that, Olson also is among the top 10 all-time in GHSA history in a few statistical categories that include doubles (tied sixth with 44), home runs (10th with 45), and RBIs (fifth with 168), as well as having won two state championships with the Panthers in both 2011 and 2012 and team MVP from 2010-12. One of the top players in Parkview history, Olson would also have his number retired by the Panthers back in 2019, one of few who have received the honor.
Olson would be drafted out of Parkview by the Athletics back in the first round of the 2012 MLB Draft as well, selected with the No. 47 overall pick. After spending up until last week with Oakland, Matt Olson is now set to take the field this season with his hometown team back in the state of Georgia.
