On Facebook, Eric Berg prompted those of us going to the July 20 Chicagoland APBA Baseball tournament to
Post a photo of your #3 hitter! No names, just the pic of your stud at 3.
For me, that was a very appropriate thing to ask. Along with Harmon Killebrew, my 1966 Minnesota Twins sport a great setup third place hitter in Tony Oliva.
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 Totals | 159 | 677 | 622 | 99 | 191 | 32 | 7 | 25 | 87 | 13 | 42 | 72 | .307 | .353 | .502 |
Why? He was Mr. Consistent. He played in 159 games. Of those, he started in 157. Of those 157, he batted in the third spot 153 games. Take a look at the Batting Orders page of the 1966 Twins and you will see what I mean.
In fact, the number of games in 1966 when Tony Oliva both played right field AND batted in the third spot in the lineup totals 134 (Tony played 19 games in center). It must have been nice to have someone with Oliva’s talent you could just plug into the lineup like that.
I think I have to bat Cesar Tovar (and his 15-11) ahead of Oliva to take advantage of his three 31s.
Harmon Killebrew hopes to drive home Oliva lots of times at the 2019 Chicagoland Summer APBA Baseball Tournament on July 20th at Des Plaines, Illinois.
Tony can and will RAKE for you!