By Mallory Mattingly
Savannah Bananas player Jackson Olson could’ve joined the MLB, but he decided to finish out his college baseball career — a decision that changed his life in ways he never would’ve imagined.
He declined an offer from the Arizona Diamondbacks to complete his degree, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and majorly cut the MLB draft, Olson’s dreams were “crushed.”
But he started making TikTok content, which eventually scored him a position as an MLB content creator and later a phone call from Savannah Bananas owner, Jesse Cole.
“[Cole] reached out to me and was like, ‘Hey, come, play six games with us. Let’s see how you do.’ And now I’m here,” he told PEOPLE in a recent interview, noting, “the rest is history.”
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Olson couldn’t be more grateful for his position as an infielder with the Bananas, though it’s quite different from the MLB — “a circus breaks out in the middle,” he explained.
“The entertainment is obviously very important and made us who we are,” Olson said in the interview. “But it’s the trick plays and the home runs and the hits that people are now kind of coming to see.”
He takes lots of inspiration from his father, Dan, who coached him as a child.
“I proved myself on the field, but also knowing that my dad treated every single kid, no matter what, no matter where they came from, their background, how good they were at baseball — [he] didn’t care,” Olson remembered. “He always made sure to make them feel loved and to make them feel like they had a spot on our team.”
“We’re just really proud of Jackson, and a lot of it was timing, but more so, it was really his skill, his ability, and just making that connection,” Jackson’s mom, Laura, told PEOPLE. “And he’s so genuine. And that’s the one thing that I’m especially proud of is that he’s stayed true to himself.”
Over the summer, Jackson and the Bananas played to a sold-out crowd at Fenway Park, one of the MLB’s most historic baseball stadiums, and he shared a nostalgic moment as he and his dad played catch. His dad called the moment “Any kid’s dream.”
Olson’s story is a wonderful reminder that, despite our dreams and aspirations, God might have something completely different in mind that will be even better than we could imagine.
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