Olerud says doing little things well leads to big success.

"Whatever helps you get your timing down at the plate, that's what you have to do every day," says Olerud.

"In batting practice, my first couple of rounds, I hit balls the other way (to the opposite field, left in his case) because that helps me get my timing down," Olerud says. "If I'm pulling the ball too much — pulling outside pitches — then my timing's out in front too much. Later in my batting practice round, if my timing is good, I start pulling inside pitches."

Olerud's philosophy is to hit the ball where it is pitch, i.e., take what he is given. American and National League pitchers have given a lot through his nine big league seasons. A career .293 hitter entering this season, Olerud won the 1993 American League batting crown for the Toronto Blue Jays with a .363 average.

"It definitely is kind of a feather in my cap," John says of his tremendous success in both leagues. "I feel like I'm working hard, as if working for the Lord, and I want to give Him all the glory for all the success I've had, because I've had struggles, too, when I couldn't seem to get turned around. The Lord Jesus Christ is in control of these success, and I'm working to glorify Him — that's the satisfaction I get from this."

The transition was scary for Olerud, who had long been leery of the city of New York.

"We called it New Yorkiva, like Nineveh," said Olerud, making a biblical reference to the wicked city Jonah refused to go before God had him swallowed by a big fish. "It was the one place that I said, if I ever got the chance to put a no-trade clause in my contract, I would name New York. It was a very intimidating place to me.

"It seemed like a very hostile place." Kelly and John grew to love it, however. "We've had a great experience in New York," he says. So much of one that when John could have signed with other teams as a free agent before the ‘98 season, he chose to return to New York.

"If that's not an instance where the Lord has a good sense of humor, nothing is," John says. "It just showed me that if God is with me, I can go anywhere and be all right."