Jim Ollom
Baseball

Jim Ollom graduated in the class of 1963 from Snohomish High School. As a junior, he struck out 22 batters in a 12-inning game at Sedro-Woolley, then came back in a regulation seven-inning game at Anacortes and registered all 21 outs by strikeout four days later. As a senior he had 179 strikeouts in only 81.2 innings, 14.9 strikeouts per game and 2.2 per inning and permitted just 17 hits and six earned runs. He had five no-hitters and five one-hitters during his high school baseball career.

Ollom signed with the New York Yankees at age 17 in 1963. He started his professional baseball career in the Appalachian League where he led the league in strikeouts and made the all-star team. Jim won 20 games in 1966 for the Denver Bears in the Pacific Coast League and was named the 1966 Most Valuable Player for the Pacific Coast League. In addition, he was named 1966 Professional Athlete of the Year for the State of Colorado.

In September 1966, pitching for the Minnesota Twins, his first Major League start was against the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium where he gave up a single to legendary Mickey Mantle in the first inning then retired 18 in a row. He pitched in 21 games for Minnesota in 1967. He was teammates with Hall of Famers Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, and Jim Kaat.

Jim retired from the game in 1970, having appeared in 212 professional games and posting a 65-58 record.

After his Major League Baseball retirement, for decades, Jim has been devoted to volunteering his time mentoring and coaching Snohomish County’s youth. He has coached with the Everett American Legion baseball, Everett Little League baseball, Everett Boys Club Basketball and Everett Pee-Wee football. In recent years, he has been active with the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association putting on clinics all over the state.