USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson rounds the bases
Matt Olson has now played 896 consecutive games across his time with the Athletics and Atlanta Braves, passing Stan Musial for eighth place on Major League Baseball’s all-time list. In a sport where “scheduled rest day” appears on lineup cards almost as often as player names, Olson is quietly attempting to become a baseball artifact without ever leaving first base.
The Matt Olson streak began on May 2, 2021, when he was still in Oakland, and has survived a trade, four full seasons in Atlanta, injuries, slumps, day games after night games and probably several mornings when every joint in his body sounded like microwave popcorn.
Matt Olson Is Playing A Version Of Baseball That Barely Exists
Olson moved past Musial during Wednesday’s 4-1 win over Miami. Musial played 895 straight games from 1952 through 1957, back when players smoked in the dugout, train travel counted as recovery and “load management” meant asking someone else to carry the bats.
Olson is now behind only seven players in MLB history: Cal Ripken Jr., Lou Gehrig, Everett Scott, Steve Garvey, Miguel Tejada, Billy Williams and Joe Sewell.
That list reads less like a leaderboard and more like a wing of Cooperstown.
Ripken’s record of 2,632 remains located somewhere near the moon. Olson would need to play every game for more than a decade to threaten it, which is a polite way of saying nobody should start designingr the commemorative banner.
The more realistic target is Sewell’s seventh-place mark of 1,103. If Olson completes another full season in 2027, he could reach it before the year ends. He could also pass Tejada’s 1,152-game streak in 2o28 and become the owner of the fifth-longest run ever.
That sentence sounds fake for a player whose streak started during the previous presidential administration and still began more recently than several apps on your phone.
Pete Alonso owns baseball’s second-longest active streak at 523 games. That is extremely impressive. it is also 373 games behind Olson, or more than two complete seasons of perfect attendance.
His One ‘Day Off’ Lasted Seven Innings
Olson has Started all but one game during the streak.
Former Braves Manager Brian Snitker left him out of the lineup on Sept. 24, 2022, while Olson was stuck in a late-season slump. Atlanta then inserted him at first base for the final two innings, preserving the streak and proving baseball’s version of rest can occasionally resemble being told to relax until your manager gets nervous.
Olson does not appear interested in another attempt.
“I just don’t like sitting,” he said in June. “Sure, you’re tired sometimes. But I just think you have a commitment to your teammates and the fans and to yourself and to the organization. If you can go, you should go.”
There is no complicated sports-science terminology there. No recovery metric, sleep-score analysis or consultant explaining that his hamstrings are operating at 83%.
Can he play? Then he plays.
The streak is even more absurd because Olson is not merely occupying a lineup spot. He has crossed 300 career home runs, hit a franchise-record 54 in 2023 and continued producing while showing up every single day.
Modern baseball is designed around protecting players from the 162-game grind. Olson has responded by treating the schedule like a challenge somebody forgot to tell him was optional.
Eight hundred ninety-six games down.
Apparently tomorrow works for him too.