Tony O’s Hall of Fame Election a Meaningful Moment for Even Youngest of Twins Fans

Nicely done.  I like your top five -  you might need a pitcher, but for bats I would take all five.  As someone half a century older I can tell you that it was a pleasure to see all of them play.  Your remembrance reminds me of the perspective that we each have as the game becomes part of our personality and thus the players we just missed become legends and the players we start with become our standards of comparison.  Kaat, Blyleven, Santana, Morris, Nathan are my Pitching five and thus the current use of pitchers is just not what I like to see.  You will have a different standard to work with, but no matter the age, those early years of our own fandom are filled with great players and stories. 

I had the opposite perspective.  I was a far-away Twins fan in the days well before the Internet. Tony-O was my favorite player, but I really didn’t know if he was a good guy or not.  I was devastated by his knee injury (he was having a career year when it happened, which is saying a lot for him).  But I had no idea that he remained so engaged with the team until the Internet age.  That continues to delight me:  that he is loved for his character and personality as well as for what he did in the 1960s and 1970s.  

I would stop by and see Tony every year at the Minnesota State Fair. He would always kid about me having too many of his autographs, and I would say that keep finding new images for him to sign.

He loved posing for photos with kids...and fans. 

But my favorite is seeing him out on the wiffle ball diamond, pitching to kids who have no idea who he is, while adoring parents took pictures.

I hope the Twins have treated him really well for all opf his ambassador duties and his stay in Minnesota, which has been his life in baseball!

And gald he can now be a Hall of Famer with all that will bring to him and his family's future!

Tony-O was my first favorite Twin and is still my first !  I think I'll be traveling to Cooperstown, NY for the July 22 induction.

MikeLink, I don't include Morris in my top Twins arms because even though it was the "MOST MEMORABLE" season, I put Jim Jerry in there instead.  1969 20-game winner, 1970 A.L. Cy Young winner and several other "solid" Twins seasons.  Morris belongs in a "special" category of Twins one-season wonders (and he would be far and away #1 in that category).

Nice article. I enjoyed reading it. My first autographs were at Washington's Griffith Stadium in 1954 or 1955 with my grandfather and my brother. We were visiting our grandparents in D.C. and my brother and I had just discovered baseball, We actually rode the trolley to the ball park from 36th St NW (near the National Cathedral, where my grandparents lived). The Tigers were in town. The Senators lost,, thus starting a life-long journey for me as a Senators/Twins' fan who had to become accustomed to my team losing. Whose autographs did my brother and I get at that game, you may be thinking. You will never guess. We were sitting in front of some famous people: I remember Mrs. Clint Courtney, the wife of "Scrap Iron" . Yes we got the autographs of some of the Washington Senators players wives.  They told us they had never been asked for their autographs before. It was a thrill for the wives and for two little boys from North Carolina  at our first major league game.

5 hours ago, TopGunn#22 said:

Tony-O was my first favorite Twin and is still my first !  I think I'll be traveling to Cooperstown, NY for the July 22 induction.

MikeLink, I don't include Morris in my top Twins arms because even though it was the "MOST MEMORABLE" season, I put Jim Jerry in there instead.  1969 20-game winner, 1970 A.L. Cy Young winner and several other "solid" Twins seasons.  Morris belongs in a "special" category of Twins one-season wonders (and he would be far and away #1 in that category).

I understand - Perry was wonderful and deserves to be on the list, but I was there for that special game and thus it overwhelms all other pitching memories. 

TonyO is my 1st and only favorite MLB player and always will be. He was a wonder to watch because he always gave his all. No matter diving for a ball, taking an extra base or hitting the ball. He's been always loyal to this club and spent his life as a Twin. 

I remember when I told him he was my favorite player, he said I was his favorite fan, which made my day. He was always cordial with his fans, I haven't heard a bad word about him from anyone. He really deserves to be there.

I'm in the in-between generation, but he's always been my favorite as well.

I was five during his last great season in 1971, so I don't remember that. And though his last decent season came in 1975, when I was nine, he had the game-winning homer every day when I was throwing the tennis ball against the side of the house. 

Could one compare Tony to Willie Mays? They had the same kind of flair on and off the field and I think that if Tony had stayed healthy their overall performance would have been similar. (But of course Mays started his career in New York with a World Series championship, so had legendary status from the very beginning.)

I think I remember that Tony's real name was Pedro and that Tony was his brother, whose passport he used to get to the U.S. Is that correct or did my memory make this up?

1 hour ago, PDX Twin said:

Could one compare Tony to Willie Mays? They had the same kind of flair on and off the field and I think that if Tony had stayed healthy their overall performance would have been similar. (But of course Mays started his career in New York with a World Series championship, so had legendary status from the very beginning.)

I think I remember that Tony's real name was Pedro and that Tony was his brother, whose passport he used to get to the U.S. Is that correct or did my memory make this up?

Not to speak ill of those who are gone, but, from what I’ve heard Willie did not have Tony’s charm and kindness off the field.  

44 minutes ago, Longdistancetwins said:

Not to speak ill of those who are gone, but, from what I’ve heard Willie did not have Tony’s charm and kindness off the field.  

Willie isn't gone, however. ?

My Twitter profile pic is of me with Mr. Oliva at Target Field from a few years back.  I was just grabbing a sandwich from the Tony Oliva Cuban Sandwich stand and he happened to be standing near there.  My buddy grabbed my phone and said, "you gotta ask for a picture."  He happily and graciously put his arm on my shoulder and smiled his infectious for a random photo.  I felt like a kid at his first ballgame.  I never got to see him play, but my Dad had tons of stories.  What a special person; a true legend.  Couldn't be happier for his induction!