Much like the 2016 season, 1968 didn’t go well for the Twins. The 1967 club had chased the American League pennant down to the final out of the regular season, losing to the Boston Red Sox by dropping their final two games at Fenway Park. But in 1968, the Twins fell out of the pennant race soon after a strong showing in April.
To drum up excitement in the final days of a lost season, César Tovar played all nine positions—one each inning—on this date in 1968. The Oakland Athletics were at the Met for the utilityman’s special day, which ended in a 2-1 Twins win. Here’s an account of Tovar handling all nine positions, taken from “Tony Oliva: The Life and Times of a Minnesota Twins Legend.”
Oakland shortstop Bert Campaneris had done the same in September 1965, as a publicity stunt, and Tovar followed in his footsteps, taking the mound to start his own defensive trip around the diamond. Tovar kept Athletics hitters off stride, or unnerved, with a triple or even quadruple pump as he went into his windup.
He opened the game by getting Campaneris to pop out to Ron Clark at third. The highlight of Tovar’s only big league mound stint was striking out the second batter he faced, a young outfielder named Reggie Jackson. Tovar then walked Danny Cater and balked him to second, but he kept the A's off the scoreboard by getting Sal Bando to fly out to Twins rookie Graig Nettles at first base. Tovar had not allowed a fair ball beyond the infield. Oliva says Tovar threw nothing but “garbage” from the mound, but he got people out. “Tovar was tough.”
The slight Venezuelan moved behind the plate for the second inning. He did not have a catcher’s build, which amused Oliva. Oliva, laughing at the thought of his friend walking onto the field in full equipment, says the shin guards and chest protector looked supersized. The chest protector all but touched the ground when Tovar went into his crouch.
After getting out from behind the plate, Tovar shifted to first base and worked his way around the infield. Then he did a tour of the outfield. When it was over, he was 1-for-3 with a stolen base, five putouts, and a nifty dive to his right to snag a hot grounder at first base in the third. When he recovered to flip the ball to pitcher Tom Hall covering first base, he had retired Jackson again. Tovar also tallied the game’s first run. The only thing he did not do was collect the win or the save in the one-run victory.
To drum up excitement in the final days of a lost season, César Tovar played all nine positions—one each inning—on this date in 1968. The Oakland Athletics were at the Met for the utilityman’s special day, which ended in a 2-1 Twins win. Here’s an account of Tovar handling all nine positions, taken from “Tony Oliva: The Life and Times of a Minnesota Twins Legend.”
Oakland shortstop Bert Campaneris had done the same in September 1965, as a publicity stunt, and Tovar followed in his footsteps, taking the mound to start his own defensive trip around the diamond. Tovar kept Athletics hitters off stride, or unnerved, with a triple or even quadruple pump as he went into his windup.
He opened the game by getting Campaneris to pop out to Ron Clark at third. The highlight of Tovar’s only big league mound stint was striking out the second batter he faced, a young outfielder named Reggie Jackson. Tovar then walked Danny Cater and balked him to second, but he kept the A's off the scoreboard by getting Sal Bando to fly out to Twins rookie Graig Nettles at first base. Tovar had not allowed a fair ball beyond the infield. Oliva says Tovar threw nothing but “garbage” from the mound, but he got people out. “Tovar was tough.”
The slight Venezuelan moved behind the plate for the second inning. He did not have a catcher’s build, which amused Oliva. Oliva, laughing at the thought of his friend walking onto the field in full equipment, says the shin guards and chest protector looked supersized. The chest protector all but touched the ground when Tovar went into his crouch.
After getting out from behind the plate, Tovar shifted to first base and worked his way around the infield. Then he did a tour of the outfield. When it was over, he was 1-for-3 with a stolen base, five putouts, and a nifty dive to his right to snag a hot grounder at first base in the third. When he recovered to flip the ball to pitcher Tom Hall covering first base, he had retired Jackson again. Tovar also tallied the game’s first run. The only thing he did not do was collect the win or the save in the one-run victory.