Carl Edwin 'Pat' Olsen: A Legacy in Baseball and Philanthropy (1902–2000)

Carl Edwin “Pat” Olsen, business owner, philanthropist, and baseball benefactor and enthusiast, was born on August 3, 1902, in Clifton, Texas. He was the eighth of ten children of Petter Olsen and Helene (Fjaestad) Olsen, who were Norwegian immigrants. He was baptized into the Lutheran Church and attended public schools in Clifton. He graduated as valedictorian of Clifton High School in 1919.

Olsen followed his brother, Palmer, to the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (present-day Texas A&M University), where he earned a mechanical engineering degree in 1923 and was a member of the Ross Volunteers in the Corps of Cadets. He also pitched for the baseball team and was a three-year letterman. He later recalled playing his “first spring baseball in 1920….That was the first year after World War I that freshmen were allowed to play varsity ball.”

Carl Edwin Olsen married Agnes Elsie Duncan in October 1923. They had a son. His baseball skills were significant enough to draw the attention of the professional ranks, and he was signed to a contract with the Des Moines, Iowa, farm club in 1923. Thus, Olsen played approximately four years in the New York Yankees minor league system. In 1924 he joined the Yankees at spring training, where he met future baseball legend Lou Gehrig. Olsen and Gehrig roomed together. Olsen was a contemporary of other baseball greats such as Babe Ruth but never played in the major leagues. Olsen decided to quit baseball and go into business in Texas. He recalled that future Hall of Fame executive Warren Giles objected. “He thought I was bluffing and offered me $50,000 and kept sending me a contract,” Olsen said.

Olsen, with Joe A. Peterson, cofounded GEARENCH Manufacturing Company in 1927 in Houston. The company develops products for industries involving oil and gas, mining, chemicals, and water well and trenchless technology drilling. Its first patented product, named the Gearench, was hailed as the “Greatest Utility Wrench on the Market.” In 1930 Olsen served as vice president and general manager of the company, and he and his family lived in Houston. Through the years, he invented specialized tools for petroleum, atomic, plastics, chemical, and mining industries. He later became president of the company. In 1978 new ownership purchased the business, which included plants in Houston and Clifton, and the company is known today as PETOL and headquartered near Clifton, Texas.

Olsen remained an enthusiastic baseball fan throughout his life and was a member of the New York Yankees Alumni Club. He attended every Major League Baseball All-Star Game since its inaugural game in 1933 at Chicago’s Comiskey Park and numerous Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Cooperstown, New York. Olsen said in a 1982 essay that he had attended 244 World Series games, which was a world record. He was invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch in the 1984 World Series between the Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres. Mark Thurmond, a former Texas A&M All-America baseball player, was the Padres starting pitcher that night.

When asked about his favorite moment in a World Series, he replied, “I’d pick Don Larsen’s perfect game, because that’s never been done before and the [World] Series started in 1903.”

Olsen was present at one of baseball’s most mythologized moments. In Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, Babe Ruth, playing for the New York Yankees, supposedly pointed to center field and predicted (and then hit) a home run against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Olsen disputed the story and remembered, “He held up one finger saying he had one strike left. But it made a better story the other way. I never did ask Babe about it, but the fellows I broke in with were sitting on the bench and they told me what really happened.”

For Texas A&M baseball fans, Olsen is best remembered for his role in the creation of a new ballpark on the campus. C. E. “Pat” Olsen Field, at 301 Olsen Boulevard, was dedicated in 1978. The old college baseball field from his playing days in the 1920s was at the location that later became the Kyle Field parking lot. In 1982 a park near the new baseball field was named after his wife—Elsie Duncan Olsen Park.

Olsen was known for his philanthropy, donating to local, university, and baseball causes. He donated funds to the Major League Baseball pension plan. He also contributed to several A&M scholarship programs, as well as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. In his hometown of Clifton, he gave money to Little League Baseball. He was an active Mason and a member of the Lions Club. He was inducted into the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978 and named a Texas A&M University Distinguished Alumnus in 1981.

Carl Edwin “Pat” Olsen died in Kingwood, Harris County, Texas, on May 11, 2000. He was ninety-seven. His wife Elsie died in 1991. He was buried in College Station Cemetery. After Olsen’s death, the university decided to renovate and upgrade Olsen Field in a $24 million project. Blue Bell Creameries of Brenham donated $7 million for ballpark renovations in exchange for naming rights. In 2012 the ballpark became known as Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.