Dianne’s & my son Alex will soon begin a sophomore year as an Aerospace Engineering major at Texas A&M University. He’s got a place on Wellborn Road south of campus. He’s right down the road from Aggie baseball, in a good location to take in a few games at C.E. “Pat” Olsen Field.
C.E. “Pat” Olsen Field in College Station is the site of this week’s NCAA regional tournament which includes Texas & Texas A&M. The two squads face each other tonight. These two former SWC conference rivals will be SEC conference rivals next year, so Alex can look forward next year to even more “Olsen magic.”
The term “Olsen magic” refers to a UT-A&M doubleheader played at Olsen Field on April 16, 1989. Those two games mean a lot to me. After watching a lot of Aggie baseball in 1988 as a College Station high school senior, I was an Austin College freshman in 1989 when the top ranked Aggies defeated the Longhorns in those two games after two dramatic John Byington walk off home runs.
The college baseball season starts in cold February, and my February of 1989 was full of the cold, challenging activities of a fraternity pledgeship. But winter always gives way to spring; my pledgeship came to an end in April, just days before the “Olsen magic” double header. I celebrated with my AC baseball heavy pledge class by doing something novel at the time. At Luckett Hall, we watched John Byington hit that second home run in game #2 on ESPN live from Olsen Field.
C.E. “Pat” Olsen is a distinguish Aggie Alumni who sits in the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame. Texas A&M baseball presents the C.E. “Pat” Olsen Award every year to the team’s outstanding pitcher. And that makes sense. Because before Olsen was the namesake of Olsen field, he was a pitcher for Texas A&M baseball.
Texas A&M opened its 1920 baseball season by hosting Austin College in a double header in College Station. Olsen was given the nod to start on the mound in game #2. He was strong, holding the Roos in check despite a lack of defensive support. From the Aggie Battallion (the “Batt”):
“Olsen [was] kept in hot water by errors and poor judgement at the times of their teammates but maintained excellent control under fire. As a team, the proteges of Coach [Dana X.] Bible are looking fine and a third championship seems headed for the [Aggies].”
But Olsen still struggled at times in his 13-7 victory over Austin College. Late in the game, a Kangaroo took Olsen deep for a three-run homer to close the gap. From the El Paso Times in an article headlined HOME RUNS FEATURE IN A&M’S SECOND WIN OVER AUSTIN COLLEGE: “with two on base in the first of the ninth, Estes for Austin College put one into center field for a home run.”
The Parrish family hails from College Station and lives in Austin. We’re excited about Texas A&M, Texas, and the year to come. We’re looking forward to the return of the rivalry and our son’s proximity to it. We’re thrilled Mr. A. will be living near Olsen Field, and hope that he takes in a few games of “Olsen magic.” And we’ll be watching this weekend’s NCAA regional as the Longhorns and Aggies battle for a possible berth in the College World Series.
But little Austin College is never too far from the story, and I’ll be reminding Alex of that constantly as he takes in his share of Aggie Baseball. You can’t have “Olsen magic” without Texas A&M baseball and home runs. Like the one in College Station back in 1920, when Aggie pitcher C.E. “Pat” Olsen was taken deep….by an Austin College Kangaroo.
