Rookie Cup: 1965 Topps #340 Tony Oliva

Today our Rookie Cup Series takes a look at 1964 AL Rookie of the Year Tony Oliva who is one of only six Cuban born players in the Hall of Fame.

1965 Topps #340 Tony Oliva

Check out this Off-Center HOF beauty! 

1965T is one of my favorite card designs. I am a sucker for pennants.  Between the Pennant, Oliva's Twins Cap and the Cup trophy we have a fine combination of complimentary colors here.

Oliva earned Rookie of the Year honors by leading not just rookies but all of MLB in hitting with a .323 average. It was the first of 3 batting titles for Tony. 

The Numbers

1964 MLB Rookie WAR Leaders

Tony Oliva is listed 2nd here because his NL Rookie of the Year peer, Dick Allen had a Higher WAR, but you can still see all of his black ink. In addition to leading the league in Batting Average the young Cuban also ranked #1 in Runs, Hits (first of 5 times), Doubles (1st of 4), and Total Bases. Oliva's 374 Total Bases tied the Rookie record set by Hal Trotsky Sr in 1939. 60+ years later Tony Oliva still holds the record for Total Bases by a rookie, Nomar Garciaparra's 365 in 1997 has been the closest challenger. 

And how often do two rookies lead their respective leagues in Total Bases. Amazing Rookie class. 

Those numbers were good enough to place Oliva fourth in AL MVP vote which was won by Baltimore 3rd baseman Brooks Robinson (8.1 WAR, .317/28/118 LL)

ROY

Robinson's Orioles teammate Wally Bunker kept Oliva from a unanimous Rookie of the Year victory. Hard to compare Hitting & Pitching numbers. In 1964 the BBWAA members were not familiar with WAR, we simply note that Oliva's 6.8 is superlative while Bunker's is average. Looking at Bunker's triple crown numbers he ranked 3rd in Wins (FIRST in PCT) and 6th in ERA. During his 9 year career Bunker never finished top 10 in Ks. Oliva's 32 HR was 6th in the AL with the 94 RBI ranking 9th. That gives Tony Oliva finishes of 1,6,9 vs 3,6,11+ for Wally Bunker. I can see the one voter giving it to Bunker on the W-L Pct, but I offer Oliva's record setting LL Total Bases as a push, minimum. 

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1965 Topps #340 Tony Oliva (b-side)

All the superlatives that we just went over and what is in the comic on Tony Oliva's first solo card?  For some reason Topps goes with the numbers Oliva put up in Short Seson D-League 3 years prior. I don't get it. Topps text does cover Oliva's Batting Championship, Hits Crown and ROY win in the text. Check out that batting average at Whytheville, it is not one of the crowns alluded to in the comic, but .410 in 249 ABs - that is solid at any professional level. 

GridLock

I have been playing Immaculate Grid with majority All-Star Rookie Cup Players. Today we are introducing a sub-feature dubbed GridLock where we will take a look at the Grid Possibilities of the players we cover. 

For Tony Oliva some good Grid Luck categories are: 

-Only 1 Team

-Born outside the US

-Rookie of the Year / ASG / GG

-Played all 3 OF positions. 

-Single Season 3xCrown Categories: .300 AVG, 30 HR, 100 RBI and 100 Runs

-6+ WAR season

-Career .300 hitter

Tony Oliva HOF Index

1965 Topps #340 (ROY - this posting) 

1970 Topps #510

Sources and Links
1965 All-Star Rookie Cup

phungo HOF Index

baseball-ref

SABR Bio - Peter C Bjarkman