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Nathaniel Oliver
Los Angeles Dodgers
Second Base
Born: December 13, 1940, St. Petersburg, FL
Signed: Signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent, June 9, 1959
Major League Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers 1963-1967; San Francisco Giants 1968; New York Yankees 1969; Chicago Cubs 1969
Nate Oliver was a light-hitting middle infielder who enjoyed his best season in 1964 with the Dodgers. He appeared in 99 games that year, batting .243 with 21 RBIs and he took over the everyday second baseman's job from Dick Tracewski (#279) in mid-June. Oliver also served as the Dodgers' primary middle infield back-up in 1966 and 1967, appearing in 80 and 77 games respectively. He appeared in Game 4 of the 1966 World Series as a pinch-runner.
He was traded to the Giants in February 1968, spending the final two years of his big league career with the Giants, Yankees and Cubs. He had one at-bat with the Yankees before being traded to the Cubs in April 1969 for Lee Elia. In 410 career games, Oliver hit .226 with a pair of home runs and 45 RBIs. After retiring, Oliver managed or coached within the organizations of the Angels, Cubs and White Sox between the late 1980s and the mid 2000s. In 1988, Oliver was serving as the manager of the Class A Reno Silver Sox. At 47 years old, he was apparently activated for a game with the Silver Sox and had one at bat.
March 27, 2020 from Cincinnati, OH - Card #85
This is one of seven cards I purchased from Dean's Cards in Cincinnati (via eBay) during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and in the midst of the first few weeks of the worldwide quarantine. (That's a sentence I can't believe I actually just wrote.) While sorting cards and organizing my collection one Saturday in mid-March, I came across several buybacks I had from the 1965 Topps set that had been box toppers from boxes of 2014 Topps Heritage we had purchased six years earlier. Topps had added a gold stamp to each of the buybacks, celebrating the 50th anniversary of their 1965 set.
While debating whether or not I should add these buybacks to my set, and going back and forth on that decision, I finally decided the whole "dilemma" would be moot if I just purchased new versions of the old cards. Oliver was one of the three cards I purchased to replace the buybacks and the new card cost me $3 (plus combined shipping).
Doug was more excited with the two boxes of 2020 Topps Gypsy Queen I bought on an impulse than he was with these cards when they arrived, but he was still glad to add a few cards to our growing set. I'm assuming these will be the last cards I purchase for our 1965 set for a little while.
The Card
Oliver shares a 1963 Rookie Stars card with Tony Martinez, Jerry Robinson and Bill Freehan (#390). This is his first solo card. Oliver's roomate (and teammate) Jim Gilliam is mentioned on the back. The two would have played together for the Dodgers between 1963 and 1966. Oliver only stole 17 bases over his seven different seasons in the majors, and he was caught 15 times.
Dodgers Team Set
1965 Season
Oliver appeared in just 8 games for the Dodgers, hitting a perfect 1.000 (1 for 1). In his two plate appearances he singled and laid down a sacrifice bunt. He appeared on the field twice at second base with his other appearances coming either as a pinch runner or pinch hitter. With the Dodgers top farm team, the Spokane Indians, Oliver appeared in 122 games and hit .284 with a team-leading 28 stolen bases.
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First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #466
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1963, 1965-1966, 1968-1970
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1981 TCMA The 1960s II #389
34 - Oliver non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/4/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year. Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.
Prior Card: #58 Fred Talbot - Chicago White Sox
Next Card: #60 Jim O'Toole - Cincinnati Reds
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