Tony Pedro Oliva Lopez (born Antonio Oliva Lopez Hernandes Javique; July 20, 1938) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball player and coach. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball as a right fielder and designated hitter for the Minnesota Twins from to . After eight seasons in the majors, Oliva's career was hampered by a series of severe knee injuries, forcing him to become a designated hitter during his final four years in baseball. He retired with a career batting average of .304.
Oliva was inducted into the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2000. The Twins retired Oliva's uniform number 6 in 1991.
Early life
Born in Pinar del Río Province, Cuba in 1938, he played baseball weekly with his father, brothers, and neighbors in a vacant lot near the family farm. Oliva's father, who worked in a tobacco factory and was famous for rolling the best cigars, was also a former semi-professional player who instructed Tony and helped him become "the best hitter in Pinar del Río". A scout for the Minnesota Twins noticed the youth and brought him to the United States to play professionally. He was reluctant to leave his parents and nine siblings, but his father encouraged him to become "rich and famous" in America. The name stuck and Oliva officially changed his name to Tony Pedro Oliva in the late 1990s. After finishing second to Orlando Cepeda in batting average in the Puerto Rico leagues in winter ball, Oliva was sent to single-A Charlotte in the South Atlantic League, where he played 127 games and hit .350 with 17 home runs and 93 RBIs. He was called up to the major leagues with nine games left and debuted for the Twins on September 9, 1962, hitting a searing .444 in 12 plate appearances. While there, he became friends with teammate, and fellow Cuban, shortstop Zoilo Versalles, who quickly became convinced that Oliva was "the new Ty Cobb", citing their similarities in hitting ability, speed, and arm strength. He also paced the AL in hits (217), doubles (43), extra base hits (84), total bases (374), runs (109), and runs created (133).
After a somewhat off 1967, where he led the AL with 37 doubles and finished in the top 10 in batting average, slugging percentage, hits, total bases, RBIs, runs created, extra base hits, and intentional walks, Oliva's rebound in 1968 was cut short by injury. Missing the last 34 games, he once again hit .289, but so depressed were batting averages it was good for third in the AL by a single point (and only batting champ Yastrzemski topping .300 by a single point as well). He returned to form in 1969 to again place third in the AL with a .309 batting average, with 24 homers, 101 RBIs, and league leads in hits (197) and doubles (39). He finished third in batting average in the American League in 1970 at .325, with 23 home runs and 107 RBIs. He also led the AL in hits (204) for the fifth time, in doubles (36) for the fourth time, and finished second in MVP voting for the second time, this time to Baltimore's Boog Powell.
In , Oliva won his third AL batting title with a .337 average and led the league in slugging percentage (.546). These feats at the end of a stretch of eight straight All-Star appearances that began his rookie season marked the high point of his career, as severe knee, leg, and shoulder injuries hampered his remaining playing days. His roommate Rod Carew often heard Oliva "moaning and groaning" and getting up to obtain ice for his sore knees during the night. He played just 10 games in 1972 before having season-ending surgery. Due to injuries and a 1973 American League rule change establishing a new position, he became the Twins' designated hitter that spring and remained in that role his final four seasons. Oliva would hit the first home run by a DH in league play on April 6, 1973. Just three months later, on July 3, 1973, Oliva also became the first DH to hit 3 home runs in a game against the Kansas City Royals in a 7-6 loss at Royals Stadium.
Oliva was a coach for the Twins after he retired as a player. As such, he holds the distinction of being the only on-field team member to appear with all three Minnesota Twins' World Series teams: star outfielder in 1965, hitting coach in 1987 and bench coach in 1991.
MLB statistics
{| class="wikitable"
! Years !! G !! AB !! R !! H !!2B !! 3B !! HR !! RBI !! SB !! CS !! BB !! SO !! AVG !! OBP !! SLG !! OPS || E || FLD%
|-
| 15 || 1,676 || 6,301 || 870 || 1,917 || 329 || 48 || 220 || 947 || 86 || 55 || 448 || 645 || .304 || .353 || .476 || .830 || 61 || .975
|}
Source: Several contemporaries have endorsed Oliva's enshrinement in the Hall of Fame, including Tony Pérez, who mentioned in his 2000 induction speech that he hoped Oliva would soon be in the Hall of Fame.
In 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007, Oliva was considered for the National Baseball Hall of Fame by its Veterans Committee's election, but was unsuccessful. He was considered again by the Hall of Fame's Golden Era Committee (from the 1947–1972 era) which voted in 2011, but was short by four of the required 12 votes needed for induction in 2012. In 2014, the Golden Era Committee considered him for the second time from their 10-candidate ballot, one candidate was elected in 2011 and no one in 2014.
Golden Days Committee
The Golden Era Committee was replaced in July 2016 by a 16-member Golden Days Committee, to vote from a 10 candidate ballot for the 1950–1969 era. Oliva was voted into the Hall of Fame at their meeting on December 5, 2021, and was formally enshrined on July 24, 2022.
Legacy
thumb|right|Oliva (right) with U.S. Vice President [[George H. W. Bush (left) at an old-timers' game in 1984]]
Throughout his 15-year career, Oliva possessed a "rather pleasant disposition" and was known as a positive influence in a team's clubhouse.
Oliva had strong offensive numbers during an era heavily dominated by pitching. He batted .304 with 220 home runs, 947 RBI, 870 runs, 1,917 hits, 329 doubles, 48 triples, 448 bases on balls and 86 stolen bases in 1,676 games played. In 13 postseason games, he batted .314 with 3 home runs and 5 RBI.
In 1981, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. They explained what they called "the Smoky Joe Wood Syndrome", in which a player of truly exceptional talent but whose career was curtailed by injury, in spite of not having had career statistics that would quantitatively rank him with the all-time greats, should still be included on their list of the 100 greatest players.
At the end of his career in 1979 and again in 1991, Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter named Oliva the toughest hitter he ever had to face because "he could hit any pitch anywhere... he didn't have any weaknesses." In 2006, Cy Young Award winner Dean Chance said that Oliva and Carl Yastrzemski were the two toughest hitters he had to face in his career. In 2021, three-time All-Star Luis Tiant wrote that Oliva was the toughest hitter he had to face in his career.
Personal life
Oliva started dating Gordette (DuBois) in the mid-1960s. They were married in Hitchcock, South Dakota in 1968 and settled in Bloomington, Minnesota. He currently lives in a house he bought in 1972 and all of his four children live within of their parents. As of 2015, Oliva also had four grandchildren.
See also
- Major League Baseball titles leaders
- List of Gold Glove Award winners at outfield
- List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball batting champions
- List of Major League Baseball career games played as a right fielder leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career putouts as a right fielder leaders
- List of Major League Baseball hit records
- List of Major League Baseball players from Cuba
- List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise