By Sapna Pathak
Staff Writer

Tim Olsen has made himself at home in the Queen City, gotten to know his clubhouse colleagues and, with his .295 average, stood second on the Fisher Cats’ list for batting average as of Thursday, Aug. 3.

Still, Olsen is without the one thing he’s been waiting for since his first days with New Hampshire ­ a clubhouse nickname.

“No, they haven’t given me one yet,” Olsen said. “They’ve been slacking and I haven’t gotten a creative one yet. That’s the best part, seeing what some people come up with. And I’m still waiting for mine.”

While Olsen awaits his dugout moniker, he’s wasting no time bouncing back from three major injuries in the past three seasons. His professional baseball career turned 7 years old this season, and Olsen said it’s time he returned back to the Big Leagues.

After spending parts of two years in the Majors with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies, Olsen said he’s willing to work for another dugout view of The Show.

Though it was a few years ago, Olsen had no trouble painting a clear picture of his first Major League at-bat.

Then 25 and with Arizona, Olsen stepped into the batter’s box in Dodger Stadium. In front of a packed house on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, Olsen dug in.

“It was a sellout,” Olsen recalled. “It was a holiday Sunday and I remember how nervous I was. I looked at right field and thought of Kurt Gibson hitting his home run in the World Series.”

Olsen laughed recounting his debut plate appearance.

“I had no hits,” he said. “It took me 17 tries before my first hit. It was a ninth-inning, game-tying single up the middle. It was against the Blue Jays in Toronto.”

So, now that he’s had a glimpse of the ultimate prize, Olsen said he’s focused on plugging away through the minors. And while he does that, he has his favorite roommates to keep him on track.

Living with his wife, Stephanie, and their two dogs, a beagle and a lab, has helped Olsen stay grounded. While seeing former minor league teammates playing regularly in the Majors frustrates him, he said having his wife around calms him.

“Yes, I’m super-happy for them,” Olsen said. “But at the same time I just think, ‘Why can’t I do the same thing?’ My family helps me put things in perspective and reminds me I’m fortunate the Blue Jays gave me a chance to play my way back.”

Until he dons another Major League uniform, Olsen can wait for his new nickname while reminiscing about his old one.

“Ole,” he said. “That’s what my friends called me. My song when I go bat is ‘Ole, Ole, Ole.’ I know, it’s pretty cheesy. But hey, that’s what they came up with so I kept it.”