12 Days of Twinsmas: #7 Tony Oliva

There have been plenty of great players in the history of the Minnesota Twins. From Killebrew to Buxton and many in-between, it is tough to narrow it down to the top twelve players in the history of the Twins. Tony O, as he is affectionately called, is a fan favorite that spans generations of Twins fans everywhere. People from the 1960's through the present not only know Tony Oliva, but celebrate him as being one of the best Twins of all time. 

It's in the Blood
Oliva grew up as Pedro Oliva II and lived in Pinar del Rio with his family. His father worked harvesting tobacco, oranges, potatoes, and mangos. He also was known for the way he rolled Cuban cigars. Pedro Lopez, his father, was a former semi-pro baseball player and carved a make-shift baseball diamond for his family in their land and introduced his boys to the nation's favorite sport. Later they would form a squad and play on Sundays against other competitors from their area.

Oliva grew up playing ball with whittled branches of majau trees as bats with his nine siblings and father. They only got real bats and balls when their father brought them back from Havana. They played so often; they wrapped them with tape to last longer. Even with make-shift bats and balls, it didn't take long for Oliva's talent to show. He was a fast runner, strong hitter and played on a local team at a young age because of his talent. He credits his father with helping make him the "best hitter in Pinar del Rio." 

The Big Move
Oliva had no desire to play professional baseball in America. His goal was to play for his home country's professional team, the Cienfuegos Camaroneros. There was no doubt that Oliva loved baseball and had a natural talent. He dedicated hours to improving his swing, working on getting better. His teammate, Roberto Fernandez, played with Oliva on the Los Palacios village ball club during the winter. Fernandez played in the United States as a journeyman on the Washington Senators, soon the Minnesota Twins. Fernandez contacted Joe Cambria, a scout credited with signing 400 Cuban players for the Senators/Twins. 

After signing a contract for $250.00 a month, Oliva grabbed his brother Tony’s passport, which had a different name and date of birth, but it was available, convenient and with the time crunch, a quick fix. Oliva headed to America to meet up with the rest of the Twins at training camp and Pedro Oliva would be known as Antonio "Tony" Oliva from now on. Oliva and several other players got held up in Mexico and made it to camp late. Oliva finally arrived at Twins training camp in April 1961, but by the time he got there, training camp was almost over and the rosters were already set. Joe Cambria knew Tony was an asset, and that he could not go home to Cuba, so he stepped in to advocate for Oliva and was able to get him on a team in Wytheville, Virginia. 

The Rookie
Tony Oliva went to Wytheville and played Class-D baseball for the Twins. He played in 64 of the 68 games and posted an outstanding .410 batting average. The Twins offered him a chance to play in Minneapolis with the main club because he improved his fielding. After he left Minneapolis in the fall, the Twins assigned Oliva to St. Petersburg, Florida in 1962. In Florida, Oliva got more practice and a chance to polish up on skills which earned him a spot to play a handful of games for the Twins in the majors before landing a position on the 40-man roster in 1964. 

Oliva had one of the best rookie seasons MLB has ever seen. It’s very well known that he had weak knees. The rookie stood in a knock-kneed, awkward stance when he was at the plate, but it didn't slow him down. That season Oliva was almost unanimously voted as the  1964 Rookie of the Year with a league-leading .323 batting average with 32 home runs and 94 RBI, along with American League highs in runs (109), hits ( 217), and doubles (43). 

15-Year Career 
He won another batting title in 1965 when he hit .321, becoming the first player ever to win batting crowns in his first two full seasons. Oliva finished second in the AL Most Valuable Player voting that year (to teammate Zoilo Versalles), leading the Twins to the AL pennant with 16 homers, 98 RBI, and a league-best 185 hits.

In 1966, Oliva led the AL in hits for the third straight year (191) while winning a Gold Glove Award for his play in right field. There was a slight dip in his career for two seasons in 1967 and 1968; his batting average dropped to .289. In 1969 Oliva rebounded with a .309 average and a league-best 197 hits in 1969, while leading the Twins to their first AL West title. He was even better in 1970, hitting .325 with 23 home runs and a career-high 107 RBI along with his fifth AL hits crown (204) en route to another second-place finish in the MVP vote. The Twins again won the AL West crown.

Hall of Famer
Tony Oliva finished his career with 1,907 hits, 220 home runs, 947 RBI's, and a batting average of .304. Oliva had one of the best Twins careers and one of the best MLB careers of all time. Charlotte Baseball and the Twins inducted Oliva into their Halls of Fame, but Cooperstown had not yet come calling. A glimmer of hope, in 2014, Tony Oliva was on a "second-chance" ballot for the Hall of Fame, falling one vote short. 

His disappointment and frustration turned to joy on December 4th, 2021, when he got the phone call to be inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with former Twin Jim Kaat, this coming summer. His raw emotion and reaction allowed him and Minnesota Twins fans alike to share a moment that was beyond due and well deserved. 

Tony Oliva is one of the best Twins players of all time. Not only is he one of the best, but the most humble, kind, and caring humans on this planet. He and his family's contributions to baseball and their communities are inspiring. He came from a small town in Cuba with nothing but sticks for bats and landed in Cooperstown as one of the best players. 

Stay tuned for the sixth day of Twinsmas!

Thank you for reading, and Go, Twins!

Read Previous "12 Days of TwinsMas" articles here: 
#12 - Torii Hunter
#11 - Chuck Knoblauch
#10 - Jim Kaat
#9 - Frank Viola 
#8 - Kent Hrbek 
#7 - Tony Oliva 
#6 - Coming Soon!