Today we honor Tony Oliva, a hitter who had a phenomenal 8 year run, only to see his career cut short by numerous knee surgeries. (I'm not going to lie, his induction gives me hope that Dustin Pedroia might eventually get his due - it's tough watching a guy on a clear Hall of Fame path get injured and never be the same guy again..) I own 3 Oliva cards, and happily two of them are from his playing days! Here are those 3, plus two additional favorites:
1965 Topps #340 (ASR)
When I think of the 1965 Topps set, this is one of the key cards that I think of. Fresh of a near unanimous Rookie of the Year win, Oliva showed no signs of a sophomore slump. He won the batting title in both of his first two full seasons, and led the league in hits in each of his first three seasons.
1971 Topps #290
1971 would be the last year of an amazing 8 year run that saw Oliva not only make the All-Star team each year, but get MVP votes every year as well. These weren't down-ballot votes either. He finished in the Top 10 5 out of those 8 years, finishing as the runner up twice!
1972 Topps #86 (LL)
This card celebrates the last of Oliva's 3 batting titles. (He also led the league in slugging that year!). Unfortunately, 1972 saw Oliva play only 10 games before having season ending surgery. Despite all his aches and pains late in his career, he still finished with a lifetime batting average over .300!
1973 Topps #80
This was one of my extra picks (along with the 1965 card) and really the only reason I picked it was because someone doesn't know how to spell Minnesota. When Oliva returned from his surgery, the American League adopted the designated hitter rule. Oliva spent the rest of his career as the Twin's DH, and has the distinction of hitting the first home run by someone at that position.
1989 Topps #665 (TBTC)
I've already mentioned how I miss the Turn Back the Clock subset. This card was my first introduction to Tony Oliva. The card taught me about his historic rookie season, where he led the league in hits, batting average, runs, doubles, and total bases! Yet one person voted for Wally Bunker as Rookie of the Year instead.
Welcome to the Hall Of Fame, Tony Oliva! You waited a long time for this honor!
Pedroia is more of a HOFer than Oliva. Key player on a multiple-world-championship team.
ReplyDeleteOliva is a well deserved HOF player that should've been in a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteI have that '73 UER card.
ReplyDeleteOliva was an 8-time AS to Pedroia's 4.
Pedroia was an MVP though.
Pedroia won 4 Gold Gloves to Oliva's 1.
Oliva had a higher OPS+.
Pedroia had more WAR.
I didn't realize just how solid of a career Oliva had until after I read this article in Baseball Digest a few years ago. It really opened my eyes... and I'm very happy he'll have a plaque in Cooperstown to show for it.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't seem like a HOFer to me.
ReplyDeleteOliva led the league in batting multiple times. What did "HOF" Harold Baines do, except to hang around long enough to pad his career stat totals? Did Baines ever excel at ANYTHING? He was also a 1-dimensional player for most of his career.
ReplyDelete