Pedro Lopez (Tony) Oliva was born on July 20, 1940, in the village of Pinar del Rion, Cuba. Pedro grew up on the Oliva Plantation in Entrongue de Herradora, one of the five sons of Pedro Oliva. Senor Oliva was a backcountry Cuban plantation worker who spent time with his sons. He made a baseball diamond on the plantation for Pedro to develop his baseball skills. A Minnesota Twins scout spotted him in 1960 while he was playing in Havana. He was offered a minor league tryout, but needed a passport. Pedro used his brother Tony's passport and changed his name to Tony Oliva ever since. After a three day tryout, the Twins released Tony. He was offered to Houston, Charlotte, and Belmont, but all three teams turned him down. He ended up playing for Wytheville, Virginia, a Twins Class D team in the Appalachian Rookie League. Tony's first season at Wytheville saw him hitting 10 homers and driving in 81 runs. In the spring of 1964, Tony landed a starting spot with the Minnesota Twins. One factor that led Tony to deal with was his fielding ability. From the first grade up, he had had to work hard to improve his fielding. Yet he excelled well enough to earn a position as a major league outfielder eventually winning a Gold Glove award for fielding. Tony became the first player to win the American League batting average crown in his rookie season. Opposing pitchers tried to keep him off his record-setting pace. The bean ball is one of the highest complements a batter can receive. Sometimes this type of recognition is referred to as fan mail from the mound. Tony received his fair share. It was often said that Tony did everything wrong in relation to the mechanics of batting. Tony referred to his hitting success as being lucky. If that is the case, Tony turned out to be one of the luckiest batters in baseball. Primarily used as a right fielder throughout his career, Tony was a designated hitter in his last four seasons of his fifteen season career. One of the hardest things for Tony throughout his baseball career was being separated from his family. If he had returned to Cuba, he would not have been allowed to reenter the United States. As a single man, the only contact he had with family was via the telephone. Many reports say that his letters sent home were censored and gifts to the family were confiscated. His team became his family. Tony was often thought to be aloof but he simply was a shy person who could speak little English. His main objective in life was playing baseball. From the early days when Tony's father told him to bend over the plate so he could see the ball, through the fifteen years in the major leagues, Tony was destined to make his mark in baseball. Tony is still considered to have had the greatest rookie season in the history of baseball.
