Eugene George Oliver (March 22, 1935 – March 3, 2007) was an American professional

baseball player Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding te ...

who appeared in 786 games in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

, primarily as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

, between and , for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

(1959, 1961–63), Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1963–67), Philadelphia Phillies (1967),

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

(1968) and Chicago Cubs (1968–69). He batted and threw right-handed. stood tall and weighed .

Biography

Oliver was from

Moline, Illinois Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island ...

. He graduated from Alleman Catholic High School and

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, before signing with the Cardinals in 1956. Although he spent seven full years and three partial seasons in the majors, he was a regular for only two seasons, as the catcher for the Cardinals in and the first baseman for the Braves in . Oliver had a strong arm and was good at blocking the plate. As a batter, he had some power and decent speed for a catcher. In , Oliver reached a high-career mark of 21

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s with the Braves in their final season in Milwaukee, enabling the 1965 Braves to set a

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

record with six 20-HR hitters in one season. On June 8 of that year,

Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseb ...

Eddie Mathews Edwin Lee Mathews (October 13, 1931 – February 18, 2001) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman. He played 17 seasons for Boston / Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1952–1966); Houston Astros (1967) and Detroit Tigers (1967– ...

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...

and Oliver hit tenth-inning home runs in a Braves victory over the Cubs, setting a major league record for most long balls in a single inning of an extra-inning game. The Phillies and Braves switched catchers in 1967, with Bob Uecker going to Atlanta. After the trade, Oliver suffered a severe knee injury that shortened his career. In his ten-season career, Oliver hit .246 with 93 home runs, 320

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

, 268 runs scored, 111 doubles, five triples, and 24 stolen bases in 786 games. Oliver remained close to his former Cubs teammates and acted as social director for

Randy Hundley Cecil Randolph Hundley Jr. (born June 1, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Minnesota Twins, and the San Diego Padres. H ...

's fantasy baseball camps. He died shortly after his 25th camp in Rock Island, Illinois, and is interred at Calvary Mausoleum in Rock Island.

References

External links

Gene Oliver
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Gene Oliver
at Baseballbiography.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Gene 1935 births 2007 deaths Albany Cardinals players Ardmore Cardinals players Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Illinois Boston Red Sox players Chicago Cubs players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball left fielders Milwaukee Braves players Northwestern Wildcats baseball players People from Moline, Illinois Philadelphia Phillies players Portland Beavers players Rochester Red Wings players St. Louis Cardinals players San Antonio Missions players Winston-Salem Cardinals players Northwestern Wildcats football players