Bob Oliver

First baseman

Born: February 8, 1943 (age 74)
Shreveport, Louisiana

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

MLB debut

September 10, 1965, for the Pittsburgh Pirates

Last MLB appearance

July 3, 1975, for the New York Yankees

MLB statistics

Batting average

.256

Home runs

Runs batted in

419

Teams

Robert Lee Oliver (born February 8, 1943) is a former first baseman and outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1965), Kansas City Royals (1969–72), California Angels (1972–74), Baltimore Orioles (1974) and New York Yankees (1975). He batted and threw right-handed.

Oliver lettered in baseball and basketball at Highlands High School in North Highlands, California, a suburb of Sacramento. After graduating in 1961, Oliver played baseball at American River College where he was heavily scouted. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates before the 1963 season, Oliver played in the Pirates' farm system for four seasons (with a late call-up in 1965, during which he made his major league debut). He was traded to the Minnesota Twins and spent two more seasons in the minor leagues.

Oliver made the majors for good in 1969, having been selected by the Kansas City Royals in the previous October's expansion draft. Playing on a young team that also included fellow rookies Pat Kelly and Lou Piniella (the eventual American League Rookie of the Year), Oliver batted .254 with 13 home runs and 43 runs batted in in 118 games played. That year, Oliver achieved two firsts in Royal history: 1) He was the first Royal to collect six hits in a nine-inning game (only two other Royals, Kevin Seitzer in 1987 and Joe Randa in 2004, have since accomplished this feat) with a 6-for-6 performance in a May 4 victory over the California Angels, and 2) he hit the Royals' first-ever grand slam, the shot coming off Jim Bouton in the first game of a July 4 doubleheader against the American League's other 1969 expansion team, the Seattle Pilots.

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