Bug Holliday (1867)
Bob Cobb (1899)
Don Heffner (1911)
Danny Carnevale (1918)
Buddy Blattner (1920)
Dewey Soriano (1920)
Willard Marshall (1921)
Hoot Evers (1921)
Joe Black (1924)
Larry Dolan (1931)
Fritz Peterson (1942)
Bob Oliver (1943)
Aaron Cook (1979)
Bob Cobb (1899)
Don Heffner (1911)
Danny Carnevale (1918)
Buddy Blattner (1920)
Dewey Soriano (1920)
Willard Marshall (1921)
Hoot Evers (1921)
Joe Black (1924)
Larry Dolan (1931)
Fritz Peterson (1942)
Bob Oliver (1943)
Aaron Cook (1979)
Bob Cobb was the president of the AAA Hollywood Stars from
1938-1957. He later was involved in bringing an American League expansion
team to Los Angeles. In addition, he opened the famous Brown Derby
restaurant in Los Angeles in 1928.
Danny Carnevale was a minor league player (1937-1953) and
manager (1947-55, 1962-63, 1972; five league championships) and was also a
scout for many years.
Dewey Soriano was a minor league pitcher in the 1940s. He
was later co-owner and president of the Seattle Pilots.
Larry Dolan has owned the Cleveland Indians since 2000.
First baseman/outfielder
Robert Lee Oliver did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system in
1968. He was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and signed with Pittsburgh as
a free agent in 1963. He put up some good, solid numbers in the minors,
getting a September call-up in 1965, when he appeared in three games. He
hit double-digit homers in every minor-league season but one, and hit .260 or
better each season in a low-average era. He hit .285 with 17 home runs in
1967 in AA, after which he was traded to Minnesota for Ron Kline. Sent to
AAA Denver, he hit .297 with 20 homers, which not only did not get him called
up to the majors but resulted in his being left unprotected in the expansion
draft, where he was selected by Kansas City. It appears that some bad
strikeout and walk numbers may have led to the lack of enthusiasm for him on
the part of the Twins; despite hitting .297, he had an OBP of only .328,
drawing 24 walks while striking out 94 times. Those numbers were pretty
much in line with the rest of his career. The expansion Royals gave him
more-or-less regular play for three seasons, in which he did about what he
would have been expected to do: walk seldom, strike out a lot, but put
some balls over the fence. Traded to the California Angels in May of
1972, he did the same thing for two more seasons. He stopped hitting home
runs in 1974, however, and as that was his only real skill as a player his
career quickly faded. He was traded to Baltimore in September of that
year, sold to the Yankees in December of 1974, and was released in mid-July of
1975 ending his major league career. He kept trying to come back; he
signed with the White Sox in January of 1976, was sold to Philadelphia in April
of that year, went to Pittsburgh for 1977, and was back with the White Sox for
1978 before his playing career came to an end. His career major league
numbers are .256/.295/.400, with 94 home runs in 2,914 at-bats. From
1969-1973, he averaged 17 homers per season. He is the father of major
league pitcher Darren Oliver. He is currently the owner and operator of
the Bob Oliver Baseball Academy in Rio Linda, California, a non-profit
organization that seeks to empower our youth by teaching them the fundamentals
of baseball and life skills which will help them achieve as students, athletes,
and adults. The academy also prides itself in helping athletes, and
others, with diabetes and its related illnesses.
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