"Ever since I first picked up a baseball, it's been my dream to play in the pros and I'll never forget that feeling of seeing my name next to the Texas Rangers."

Those were the words of Branford native Mike Olt after being selected by the Texas Rangers with the 49th pick of the first round in Major League Baseball's First-Year Player Draft in 2010. Now, after two years of tearing it up professionally at the minor-league level, Mike Olt gets to live every young ballplayer's ultimate dream of playing in "The Show" as he was promoted to the Rangers on Aug. 1 and made his MLB debut the next night, starting at first base and singling and scoring in his first plate appearance to aid a 15-9 win against the Los Angeles Angels in Arlington, Texas.

Olt then notched his first three RBI, first two walks, plus his initial stolen base during the weekend series against the Kansas City Royals in which Texas took two of three. As of Aug. 5, Olt was 2-for-7 in the big leagues, sporting a .286 batting average with a .364 on-base percentage.

Olt—a three-time All-State selection for the Branford Hornets who then made All-Big East as a junior at UConn—was batting .288 with 28 home runs, 82 RBI, and a .398 on-base percentage mostly playing third base for the Rangers' Double-A affiliate, the Frisco RoughRiders. The RoughRiders had just dropped a 6-5 home contest in 11 innings to the Midland RockHounds—a game in which Olt hit a tying homer in the eighth—when he was notified he'd been promoted at around 11:15 p.m. local time in Texas. The funny thing was that manager and former Major Leaguer Steve Buechele played a little joke on Olt by initially telling him he'd been promoted to the Rangers' Triple-A squad, the Round Rock Express. But as Buechele kept talking, he suddenly slipped in the fact that Olt would be facing Angels' lefty C.J. Wilson the next night, meaning the 23-year old right-hander had achieved his lifelong aspiration of becoming a Major League Baseball player. Olt then called his parents, Beverly and George, with the good news, after which they promptly flew to Texas.

"It didn't hit me when I first went to the locker room and still didn't hit me until I got home, but then a lot of emotion went through me as this is something I've worked so hard for since Little League," Olt told The Sound on Aug. 4. "It's always been my dream to play here and I get goose bumps just thinking about that day."

Of course, this was just the first step for Olt—who wears No. 9 for Texas—as his American League West-leading Rangers had to face the Angels at The Ballpark in Arlington that night. Olt didn't wait long to see his first game action as he was in the starting lineup and batting eighth between Geovany Soto and Craig Gentry when Texas took on its division rival. Following Soto's single to start the second inning, Olt came to bat with his team trailing 2-1 and after taking the first pitch for a strike lashed Wilson's second offering to shallow left field for a single in his first MLB at-bat. Olt later scored his first career run when Josh Hamilton singled him home as part of a five-run frame.

"I was a little nervous on-deck, I guess, but once I got in the box I just forgot where I was and got that competitive edge just like every time I step into the box; I couldn't hear anything," said Olt, who's 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds and was a Carolina League All-Star last year with the Rangers' Advanced-A team, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. "Getting the hit was awesome and I didn't expect to get a standing ovation from the crowd. I've always heard that the Texas fans are awesome and that totally proved it."

In the third inning, Olt was robbed of a base hit when he ripped a sharp liner to shortstop, where Andrew Romine made an outstanding catch by practically diving into shallow left field. After striking out swinging in the fifth, Olt was slated to come to bat in an 8-8 game in the seventh inning, but Rangers' manager Ron Washington instead went to pinch hitter Mitch Moreland, who singled home the go-ahead run. In addition to his three at-bats, Olt also recorded six putouts at first base, a position he'd played "less than 10 times."

After not playing in the Rangers' 5-3 win at Kansas City on Aug. 3, Olt was at first base for his second MLB game the next evening and that went even better as he notched his first two RBI in a 4-2 Texas triumph.

Following a groundout in the third inning, Olt hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Mike Napoli in the fourth to make it 3-0 in favor of the Rangers. Then after the Royals cut it to 3-2, Olt grounded a 2-2 pitch to center with two outs to bring home Michael Young with a key insurance run in the sixth and end the night for Kansas City starter Will Smith. Previously, during the Royals' rally in the fifth inning, Olt fielded Alcides Escobar's grounder and stepped on first base for the third out to strand a runner on second.

Olt then made his first career start at third base in the series finale on Aug. 5, flying out in his first at-bat, but then plating Nelson Cruz on a sacrifice fly against Royals' starter Luke Hochevar to give Texas a 3-2 lead in the fourth. Olt then worked his first career walk in the seventh inning and scored on Michael Young's double to tie the game at 6-6. Leading off the ninth, Olt walked again and recorded his first career stolen base by swiping second, after which he took third on a throwing error by Royals' catcher Salvador Perez. With nobody out, Manager Washington called for a squeeze bunt with Elvis Andrus at the plate, but Andrus couldn't get down the bunt and Olt was caught stealing at home as the game stayed tied at 6 and eventually went to extra innings. Olt then came to bat with the bases loaded in the top of the 10th, but struck out swinging on a 3-2 fastball from reliever Greg Holland, after which the Royals won it in the bottom half when Olt made a throwing error on a ground ball by Jeff Francoeur.

Even with that loss, Mike Olt has not only earned the coveted title of Major Leaguer, but has also contributed to a few wins for a quality Texas team that's reached the World Series the last two years and could be on its way to the postseason again this October. Olt is certainly no stranger to postseason play as he won a state title with the Branford Hornets in 2006 and helped the town's American Legion program claim state and Northeast Region titles in 2005 and 2007, earning Most Valuable Player honors in both tournaments the latter year.

"It's great to be with Texas. From top to bottom with the lineup and the pitching staff, all the other teams look at Texas as one of the top," said Olt, whose Rangers will play at Yankee Stadium from Aug. 13-16. "It's a huge honor to be on the team, especially with all the guys here who've helped me a lot through the whole process. It's great to be with them."