Roberto Olivo (January 13, 1914 – June 22, 2005) was an international

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

. He was born in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. Olivo is regarded as one of the best umpires in Venezuelan baseball history. In a career that spanned 29 years, his fame spread among his colleagues in the Caribbean, Mexico and the United States, both for his proper personality and extensive knowledge of the game and its rules, earning the respect of players, managers, fans and baseball writers. A member of two Halls of Fame, he also umpired in two Baseball World Cups and several

Caribbean Series The Caribbean Series ( Spanish: ''Serie del Caribe'') is an annual club tournament contested by professional baseball teams in Latin America. It is organized by the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation. The series is normally played in ...

. Olivo was inclined towards outdoor activities and sports since he was 16. At school level he participated in basketball, track and field, swimming and volleyball. After graduating, he briefly attempted to play semipro baseball, but turned to umpiring when he was asked to fill in for an umpire that did not show up to a game. In those days, only two umpires covered typical regular games, and a player with a reputation for honesty might be pressed into service if one umpire became incapacitated. Olivo was asked to fill in one game and took to it well, being encouraged by a teammate to attend a professional umpire training school. He successfully made it through the school and worked his way to the Venezuelan Baseball First Division for the 1940 campaign. He then became a founding member of the

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (, or LVBP) is the top-level professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Background and predecessors Baseball had been play ...

, when the circuit joined

organized baseball Organized baseball is an outdated term that collectively describes what is now known as Major League Baseball (MLB) and its various affiliated minor leagues, under the authority of the commissioner of baseball. Historically, these leagues were bo ...

in 1946. Olivo was nicknamed ''Tarzan'' for his impressive physique (He was about 6' 2", 220 pounds). It was an alias that he adopted and proudly used while umpiring in the Venezuelan league until 1968. In the interim, he also worked in the

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

and

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

Baseball World Cup tournaments and 11 Caribbean Series. Usually, he ran umpiring clinics and guided young umpires. In addition, Olivo was the home plate umpire in four VPBL memorable games: * On January 20, 1946, when Alejandro Carrasquel of the

Navegantes del Magallanes Navegantes del Magallanes B.B.C., commonly known as Navegantes del Magallanes (; ''Strait of Magellan, Magellan Navigators''), or simply Magallanes, are a professional baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP), based in ...

won a 17-inning, complete game pitching duel against Roy Welmaker and the

Sabios de Vargas The Sabios de Vargas baseball club became a founding member of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League in its inaugural season of 1946. The team represented the city of La Guaira, Vargas and played its home games at the now-extinct Estadio Cerv ...

by a score of 3–2. * On December 15, 1955, when

Lenny Yochim Leonard Joseph Yochim (October 16, 1928 – May 11, 2013) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1951 and 1954, and later served in the organizat ...

of the

Leones del Caracas The Caracas Base Ball Club C.A., better known by its commercial name as the Leones del Caracas, is a professional baseball team of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVPB). The owner and sole shareholder of the sports club is Ricardo C ...

hurled the first

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

game in the league's history, defeating

Ramón Monzant Ramón Segundo Monzant Espina (January 4, 1933 – August 10, 2001) was a Venezuelan right-handed baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the New York / San Francisco Giants from 1954 to 1960. He compil ...

and the

, 3–0. Furthermore, he also called balls and strikes in decisive games that gave the championship title both Magallanes (1949–1950) as the Leones (1952–1953).Gutiérrez, Daniel; González, Javier (1992). ''Numeritos del béisbol profesional venezolano (1946-1992)''. LVBP, Caracas. In 1988 Olivo gained induction into the Venezuela Sports Hall of Fame. In 2003, he was enshrined in the

Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum The Salón de la Fama y Museo del Béisbol Venezolano (in English, the ''Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum'') is a nonprofit institution operated by private interests, which was founded on April 18, 2002, thanks to the vision of Carlos ...

as part of their first class. Olivo died at the age of 91 in Caracas, due to natural causes, and was buried at the Cementerio del Este in Caracas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olivo, Roberto 1914 births 2005 deaths Sportspeople from Caracas Baseball umpires