Eugene George Oliver (March 22, 1935 – March 3, 2007) was an American professional baseball player who appeared 786 games in Major League Baseball, as a catcher, first baseman, outfielder and pinch hitter, from 1959 to 1969. Oliver played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959, 1961–63), Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1963–67), Philadelphia Phillies (1967), Boston Red Sox (1968) and Chicago Cubs (1968–69). He batted and threw right-handed. stood tall and weighed .
Early life
Oliver was born in Moline, Illinois, the eldest son and fourth of five children born to Stella () and Marshall Oliver. His father, a farm equipment worker, was an immigrant from Belgium while his mother was an immigrant from Poland.
He graduated from Alleman Catholic High School where he was a three-sport star. Initially, he was being scouted by the Detroit Tigers, turning down a $60,000 bonus for a football scholarship to Northwestern University. However, a shoulder injury during a high school football match ended his football career as well as the Tigers' interest in him. He attended Northwestern on a baseball scholarship but left after two years, feeling dejected.
The following year, he moved to the Class-B Winston-Salem Red Birds of the Carolina League, hitting .285 with 30 home runs. For his strong performance, he was promoted to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings of the International League where he remained for three seasons except for a 68-game stint with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1959. In 1961, he began to year with the Cardinals, where he was used sparingly by manager Solly Hemus, before being sent Triple-A Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League.
In , Oliver reached a high-career mark of 21 home runs with the Braves in their final season in Milwaukee, enabling the 1965 Braves to set a National League record with six 20-HR hitters in one season. On June 8 of that year, Joe Torre, Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron and Oliver hit tenth-inning home runs in a Braves victory over the Cubs, setting a major league record for most long balls in a single inning of an extra-inning game.
The Phillies and Braves switched catchers in 1967, with Bob Uecker going to Atlanta. After the trade, Oliver suffered a severe knee injury that shortened his career. Before the 1968 season, he was traded first to the Boston Red Sox and then sold to the Chicago Cubs before being released the following season.
In his ten-season career, Oliver hit .246 with 93 home runs, 320 runs batted in, 268 runs scored, 111 doubles, five triples, and 24 stolen bases in 786 games. At a banquet dias the two were attending together, years after they both had retired, Koufax joked to Oliver: "How did a putz like you hit .392 off me?"
Personal life
In 1955, Oliver married Marilyn (); they were married for 52 years, until his death. They had two children, Dana and Daniel, and six grandchildren.