TONY OLIVA

Position: Outfielder
Number: 6
Height: 6-2
Weight: 190
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Born: July 20, 1941 in Pinar del Río, Cuba
Resides: Bloomington, MN
How Obtained: Signed as a free agent, July 24, 1961
Career Stats »

Pedro "Tony" Oliva Jr., or "Tony-O" to those who followed his 24-year career as a Twins' player and coach, was a man who seemed to excel in all aspects of the game. He could hit for power and average, run, field and throw, and his versatility made him one of the most feared hitters of his day.

Tony-O collected 1,917 hits and retired with a .304 career average. He is the only player to win batting titles in his first two seasons and was the winner of three in his 15-year career, which still stands as the club's longevity mark. His prowess as a hitter was demonstrated in the fact that he led the league in hits five times, and his 220 career home runs rank third all-time among Twins. If not for knee problems which cut short his career, Oliva would have been a certain choice for the Hall of Fame.

Oliva, the 1964 American League Rookie of the Year, began his coaching career in 1976. He now works as a hitting instructor in the Twins' minor league system and scouts for the club. He had his number 6 retired on July 14, 1991.

He was an All-Star for eight seasons, an American League (AL) batting champion for three seasons, an AL hit leader five seasons, and a Gold Glove winner one season. On a consensus Hall of Fame track his first eight years, his career was cut short in its prime by a series of severe knee injuries, forcing him to become a designated hitter during his final four years of baseball.

Oliva was a player/coach in his final year with the Twins and remained on their staff through 1978. After spending the next six years as a minor league coach, he was back on the Twins staff from 1985 to 1991. Since then, he has been a minor league hitting instructor. He was elected to the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame as part of its 2012 class. He is widely regarded as one of the best players not inducted into the Hall of Fame. In 2014, he appeared on the Hall of Fame's Golden Era Committee election ballot for consideration, and missed getting inducted at Cooperstown in 2015, by one vote.

On 8 April 2011, the Twins unveiled a statue of Oliva at Target Field coinciding with the team's 2011 home opener.

PERSONAL: Pedro Oliva Jr. 'Tony' . . . wife Gordette (DuBois), children Anita, Pedro and Ricardo one of family of ten children . . . brothers Reinaldo, outfielder, and Juan Carlos, pitcher, played for Cuban National Team . . . graduate of Herraduda (Cuba) High School.

2012: Inducted into Latino Baseball Hall of Fame as part of its 2012 class.

2000: Inducted into Twins' Hall of Fame, August 12.

1993: Named Twins' minor league hitting instructor.

1986-91: Served as Twins' batting coach . . . had Twins' number 6 officially retired July 14, 1991.

1985: Became first base coach.

1982: Inducted into Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame.

1979-84: Served as Twins' minor league hitting instructor.

1977-78: Served as Twins' first base coach and batting instructor.

1976: Named player-coach for Twins . . . had 28th career 4-plus hit game, July 20 at Detroit . . . managed Los Mochis team of Mexican Pacific League in winter season.

1975: Had 27th career 4-plus hit game, July 10 at New York . . . had sixth and seventh knee operations for removal of bone spurs and irrigation of cartilaginous fragments, October 3 and October 14 . . . tied for major league lead in hit-by-pitch with Don Baylor (13) . . . batted .500 as pinch-hitter, upping career marks to 25-62 (.403).

1974: Had first 4-hit game of season, April 13 vs. Kansas City . . . second 4-hit game of season, May 28 at Boston . . . third 4-hit game of season, May 31 vs. New York . . . hit 200th career home run, off Stan Bahnsen, June 27 at Chicago, becoming the 89th major leaguer to accomplish that feat . . . had fourth 4-hit game of season and 26th 4-plus hit game of career, June 28 at Chicago . . . American League Player of the Week of July 2, with 12 hits and 4 homers . . . led majors in pinch-hitting, going 7-13 (.538).

1973: Converted to designated hitter due to right knee problems . . . first 4-hit game of season, June 11 vs. Milwaukee . . . second 4-hit game of season and 22nd 4-plus hit game of career, June 30 at California . . . hit career-high 3 homers (tying club record) and tied career-high 12 total bases, July 3 at Kansas City . . . 16th career 2-homer game (17th multiple-homer game), tying career-high 6 RBI, August 17 at Cleveland . . . led club in RBI.

1972: Missed most of season with injury to right knee . . . disabled for remainder of season, June 27 . . . had surgery to remove 100 cartilaginous fragments from right knee, July 5.

1971: Hit in 19 of first 20 games of season, going 33-83 (.398), April 6-May 1 . . . had 15th career 2-homer game and season-high 9 total bases, April 25 at New York . . . had 4-hit game, 20th 4-plus hit game of career, May 8 vs. Washington . . . injured right knee while trying to make a diving catch of a Joe Rudi drive in 9th inning, June 29 at Oakland . . . named to eighth straight All-Star Game, but was replaced due to injury . . . had surgery to remove torn lateral cartilage from right knee, September 22 . . . led club in batting, total bases and doubles . . . won third American League batting title while setting Twins' batting mark . . . 14th major leaguer and sixth American League player to win three batting titles . . . led league in slugging percentage (.546) . . . named American League Player of the Year by The Sporting News.

1970: Had first 4-hit game of season, April 18 at Oakland . . . had season-high 8 total bases and tied career-high 6 RBI, May 5 at Detroit . . . 17-game hit-streak, going 23-73 (.315), May 13-June 2 . . . second 4-hit game of season, June 7 at Washington . . . third 4-hit game of season, July 8 at Oakland . . . played in Major League All-Star Game, July 14 at Cincinnati, for seventh time in first seven major league seasons . . . hit in 19 of 20 games, going 30-80 (.375), July 21-August 8 . . . fourth 4-hit game of season and 19th 4-plus hit game of career, September 4 . . . led league in hits and tied for lead in doubles . . . was third in league in batting . . . played winter ball in Mexico for Los Mochis club.

1969: Had first 4-hit game of season, June 23 at California . . . fourth 5-hit game of career, 12th career 2-homer game and career-high 12 total bases, June 29 vs. Kansas City (2) . . . 1000th career hit, off Paul Lindblad, third 4-plus hit game of season and 15th of career, July 5 vs. Oakland . . . named American League All-Star for sixth time in first six major league seasons and played in All-Star Game, July 23 at Washington . . . 13th career 2-homer game, August 22 vs. New York . . . 14th career 2-homer game, September 6 at Oakland . . . led club in at-bats, hits, total bases and doubles . . . led league in hits and doubles and was second in outfield assists (14) . . . played winter ball with Los Mochis Club of Sonora-Sinaloa League.

1968: Had tenth career 2-homer game, season-high 4 hits and season-high 10 total bases, June 2 at Chicago . . . 11th career 2-homer game, June 30 at Baltimore . . . played in Major League All-Star Game, July 9 at Houston . . . suffered dislocated left shoulder, August 31 . . . led team in batting . . . played winter ball for Aquilas club in Dominican Winter League.

1967: Tied career-high 6 RBI, June 10 vs. Baltimore . . . played in Major League All-Star Game, July 11 at Anaheim . . . ninth career 2-homer game, August 20 at New York . . . collected 9 consecutive hits, September 8-9 at Baltimore . . . third career 5-hit game and 11th 4-plus hit game of career, September 8 at Baltimore (2) . . . was 15-23 (.652) in five-game series, September 7-10 at Baltimore . . . led team in hits and doubles . . . led league in doubles.

1966: Had seventh career 2-homer game and season-high 10 total bases, May 6 vs. Boston . . . first 4-hit game of season, May 13 vs. Washington . . . eighth career 2-homer game, May 17 vs. Chicago . . . named American League All-Star and played in All-Star Game, July 12 at St. Louis . . . second 4-hit game of season and 10th 4-plus hit game of career, September 11 vs. Baltimore . . . led team in batting, runs, hits, doubles and triples . . . named as an outfielder on American League All-Star Team by The Sporting News . . . named as outfielder on American League Gold Glove All-Star Fielding Team.

1965: Had fifth career 2-homer game, April 22 at New York . . . season-high 14-game hit-streak, going 25-59 (.424), July 2-July 16 . . . played in Major League All-Star Game, July 13 in Minnesota . . . first 4-hit game of season, July 10 vs. New York . . . had sixth career 2-homer game, July 15 vs. Kansas City . . . career-high 5 hits, July 21 at Boston and July 28 at Washington . . . fourth 4-plus hit game of season and eighth of career, August 8 vs. Boston . . . led club in batting, hits and RBI . . . became first player to lead league in batting in each of first two big league seasons . . . led American League in sacrifice flies (10) . . . named American League Player of the Year and an outfielder on American League All-Star Team by The Sporting News . . . tied World Series record for most putouts in a nine-inning game in right field (7), October 6.

1964: Hit first major league home run, off Steve Ridzik, April 18 at Washington . . . first career 2-homer game, first career 4-hit game and season-high 11 total bases, May 2 at Kansas City . . . second 4-hit game of season, May 3 at Kansas City (2) . . . second career 2-homer game, third 4-hit game of season and career-high 6 RBI, May 7 vs. Los Angeles . . . third career 2-homer game, June 29 at Baltimore . . . started in right field in first All-Star Game, July 7 at New York . . . season-high 7-game hit-streak, going 26-74 (.351), July 17-August 1 . . . fourth career 2-homer game, September 4 vs. Boston . . . fourth 4-hit game of season, September 20 at Boston . . . named Rookie of the Year by Baseball Writers' Association and Rookie Player of the Year by The Sporting News . . . led club in games, at-bats, runs, hits, total bases and doubles . . . first rookie to ever lead the American League in batting . . . led league in runs, at-bats, hits, doubles and total bases (374), and was second in triples . . . set major league record for total bases by a rookie . . . tied major league record for hits by a rookie . . . named as outfielder on American League All-Star Team by The Sporting News . . . winner of Calvin R. Griffith Award as Twins' Most Valuable Player.

1963: Began season at Dallas-Fort Worth . . . recalled September 9 . . . was sixth in Pacific Coast League in batting

1962: Began season at Charlotte . . . made major league debut, September 9 at Detroit . . . doubled off Dick Donovan for first major league hit, September 14 vs. Cleveland . . . was second in Sally League and fourth in minor league in batting . . . was second in batting in Florida Instructional League (.347).

1961: Won Silver Louisville Slugger as leading hitter in all of professional baseball . . . led league in hits, total bases (159), RBI and sacrifice flies (5) . . . named Rookie of the Year in Appalachian League . . . led Florida Instructional League with 51 hits.