Major League Career
Oliva was selected as the 1964 Rookie of the Year by a near-unanimous decision, receiving 19 of 20 first-place votes (one writer voted for Baltimore Oriole pitcher Wally Bunker). He led the American League in hitting with a .323 average, becoming the first player to win both the Rookie of the Year Award and American League batting title. He led the AL in hits (217), doubles (43), extra base hits (84), total bases (374), runs (109), runs created (133), and batting average (.323). Oliva finished fourth in MVP voting.
In 1965, Oliva won his second straight batting title with a .321 average. Only two other hitters reached the .300 mark: Carl Yastrzemski (.312) and Vic Davalillo (.301). Oliva added 16 home runs, 98 runs batted in, 107 runs. He led the AL in hits (185), runs created (108), sacrifice flies (10), and batting average (.321). He finished second in MVP voting to teammate and friend Zoilo Versalles.
On June 9, 1966, in the seventh inning of a game against the Kansas City Athletics, Oliva was one of five Twins players to hit home runs. The others were Harmon Killebrew, Don Mincher, Rich Rollins and Zoilo Versalles. These five home runs still stand as a Major League record for the most home runs batted in a single inning, and were hit off starter Catfish Hunter (three) and reliever Paul Lindblad (two). At the end of July, he was leading the league with a .328 average, but a 3-for-30 slump in the middle of August cost him a chance at his third straight batting title. He finished with .307, second to Frank Robinson (.316), while leading the AL in hits for the third year in a row (191). Besides this, he won a Gold Glove, and finished sixth in MVP voting.
In 1969, Oliva led the AL in hits (197), doubles (39), and third in batting average (.309). He led the AL in hits (204) for the fifth time in 1970. He also led the AL in doubles (36) for the fourth time, and finished second in MVP voting for the second time, this time to Baltimore's Boog Powell.
In 1971, Oliva won his third AL batting title with a .337 average and led the league in slugging percentage (.546).
The rest of the decade Oliva was hampered by knee, leg, and shoulder injuries. His roommate Rod Carew often heard Oliva "moaning and groaning" and getting up to obtain ice for his sore knees during the night. He missed 34 games in 1968, rebounding the next two years with .309, 24 homers, 101 RBI, and .325, 23, 107, respectively. He missed all but ten games of the 1972 season, which required season-ending surgery. Due to injuries, he became the Twins' designated hitter, which had just been adopted by the American League.
Throughout his career, Oliva possessed a "rather pleasant disposition" and was known as a positive influence in a team's clubhouse. Oliva was popular with the fans and the media of the Twin Cities during his career, and was given the nickname "Tony-O".
In a 1976 Esquire magazine article, sportswriter Harry Stein published an "All Time All-Star Argument Starter", consisting of five ethnic baseball teams. Oliva, a Cuban, was the right fielder on Stein's Latin team.
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