Seven-time MLB All-Star Al Oliver will speak in Walter Hall 135 today at a university-sponsored event. Oliver was a member of the 1971 World Champion Pirates team and a teammate of the late Roberto Clemente. Oliver was a lifetime .303 hitter and three-time Silver Slugger recipient. He is from Portsmouth, Ohio.
I spoke to Oliver before his trip to Athens and here is some of what he had to say.
On what he will talk about at OU: "Baseball will be the key thing, but I want to touch on the things that have changed in the game of baseball through the years such as the integration of baseball. Very few people know that Branch Rickey is from the same hometown as me. There is a lot of history in Portsmouth. "This is also the 40th anniversary of the 1971 championship team led by the late, great Roberto Clemente. I will talk about that team."
"It’s important for people to unite together regardless of your background. I’ve never wavered from that. When people pull together, things usually work out for the good. Unfortunately so many people have not grasped that from our government on down – which is sad."
On getting his start in baseball: "OU was one of the schools I was looking at when I came out of high school in ’64. Basketball was my game back then so I signed a basketball scholarship to Kent State. Teams finally took their blindfolds off and saw that I could play baseball."
"I was one of the guys who smashed the ball, I was more of a line-drive hitter with power. I was fortunate to play with some great players growing up."
On playing with former OU catcher Bob Brenly: "We had lots of fun and lots of laughs. Thom Brennaman was in Arizona when Bob was the manager of the Diamondbacks. I listen to reds games a lot, Thom is on there with a friend of mine, Chris Welsh. Bob Brenly and Thom used to say, 'Al Oliver is the only man in baseball history who could hit .300 in tennis shoes.'"
On playing with Roberto Clemente: "Roberto was one of the few people that understood me when I came to the major leagues. I was very confident, at times people thought I was cocky. He went through the same thing I was going through. He was someone to have my back and someone who understood what it was to be confident about your ability without crossing the line of arrogance. He never saw the end of my career, but he saw the beginning of me coming into my own. His last year he hit .312 and so did I."
On the importance of a good attitude: "Trials and temptations will come. We all have obstacles come our way. The bottom line is, you cannot be afraid to succeed. And in order to succeed, you must continue to have a positive frame of mind. Once you have that, it’s so much easier to shake off the negativity because there’s always going to be someone somewhere telling you you can't do this or you can’t do that. Throughout my life from losing my mother at 11, up until this day. I’ve always maintained a positive attitude. The fact of the matter is that all the things I’ve gone through, my mind set is still the same – positive. I look at every individual I’ve ever met, and look for the positive side because I believe that all of us have something positive about us. Some may not realize what their gifts are but in all of us there is a gift and we just need to find out what that gift is and use it and not sit on it. If we all did that, what a better world this would be."
On how involved he is in baseball today: "Very little, the Pirates invite me back for various events but that’s probably the only team that has brought me back. I’m not heavily involved in baseball. I root for the Pirates but I have a tendency to watch certain players more so than teams. Dusty Baker and I are good buddies, we go back to 1972. Sometimes I ask myself am I pulling for the Reds or am I pulling for Dusty? I pull for Dusty all the time and the Reds except when they play the Pirates."
On his favorite players to watch: "I was always a Barry Bonds fan, I liked his swing. I like Alex Rodriguez, and Jeter because I feel like he’s a winner. I see a lot of Votto. Another guy I always liked was Todd Helton. I just enjoy the guys as hitter who can use the whole field."
"The two pitchers I always enjoyed were Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux, for different reasons. Johnson just made you look bad, but Maddux, his location was so good that he was the type of guy that would send you home 0-4 and you might end up in the psychiatric ward. He’s the type of guy you look at and say 'I can hit him.' He had such great command of his pitches. He really amazed me with the movement he had on his ball."
"I like the enthusiasm of the Latin players, especially the infielders. They kind of remind me of the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball. They enjoy playing the game. That’s what I like. I enjoy any player that enjoys playing the game. That’s how it should be. They don’t look at it as a job. If you love what you’re doing, it’s not work."
On how he got his nickname, Scoop: "From the minor leagues scooping the ball out of the dirt at first base. I could play some defense as well. The name just stuck. For it to stick you’ve got to play with players who come up with you."
