Braves' Matt Olson Delivers an Iron Man Performance on Lou Gehrig Day

When the Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson got under a Kevin Gausman pitch in the sixth inning Tuesday night, his initial reaction was the same as everyone else's. The ball went almost straight up, no way it was going out.

Then it just kept carrying.

With the wind blowing toward the right-field corner, Olson's towering fly ball barely cleared the wall for what became the deciding run in Atlanta's 4-3 win over the Blue Jays. MLB Stats noted the home run left Olson's bat at a 49-degree launch angle, the highest on any home run in the majors this season.

"The wind was blowing out toward the pole a little bit, so I'm sure it gave me some help," said Olson, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com. "I hit it well. But you just don't see balls like that go."

The timing added another layer to the moment. Tuesday marked Lou Gehrig Day across Major League Baseball, with players wearing No. 4 patches to honor Gehrig's legacy and raise awareness for ALS. Olson entered the game with the longest active consecutive-games streak in baseball, which now sits at 843 games.

Nobody is talking about challenging Gehrig's daunting 2,130 consecutive games, not to mention Cal Ripken Jr.'s mark of 2,632, which remains even further away. Still, Olson has become the closest thing today's game has to an "Iron Man".

Braves coach Walt Weiss appreciated the coincidence.

"Then you've got our Iron Man hitting the game-winning home run on Lou Gehrig Day," said Weiss, via Bowman. "So, it was very appropriate."

Olson entered Tuesday leading National League first basemen in both home runs and OPS. His 36 extra-base hits are also good for the most in Major League Baseball. Tuesday's performance added to that total after he doubled and scored earlier in the game before delivering the go-ahead homer in the sixth.

"I just don't like sitting," Olson told reporters, via Bowman. "I've had days off in the past and, man, it sucks sitting there and watching everybody else play."

The streak may be what connects Olson to Lou Gehrig Day, but Olson pointed to something else after the game.

"I know people from my area who've been affected by it," Olson told reporters, via Bowman. "It's a brutal disease."

For most players, a wind-aided home run in early June is just another entry on the stat sheet. This one came on a night when baseball was remembering one of its most enduring figures. Olson, the sport's current Iron Man, ended up providing a fitting moment without even realizing the ball was gone.