At The Age Of 83 Former Minnesota Twin Great, Tony Oliva, Still Giving Back
Today marks the day when baseball writers from across the US, will vote on the upcoming 2022 MLB Hall of Fame class. One notable former Twin, Tony Oliva, isn't enshrined in Cooperstown. While Tony and others wait for another vote announcement today, Tony doesn't seem to be overly worried about it. On Friday the Minnesota Twins' HOF inductee was too busy spreading Christmas cheer to unknown children in his hometown of Bloomington.
Seeing how Tony-O at the age of 83, continues to care about the community he lives in, just proves to me that he already is a Hall of Famer on a Major League level, whether or not he gets voted in.
If you've ever attended a Twins Caravan in which Tony Oliva was present, and had the opportunity to speak with him, you generally came away with the idea you were the only person in the room.
Tony was born in Cuba in 1938 and arrived in the US in 1961. He played his entire 15-year professional career for the Minnesota Twins. After his playing days ended Tony helped coach the Twins. In doing so, Tony is the only person to date in franchise history to be a part of all three Twins World Series teams. He played in the 1965 World Series and coached on the 1987 and 1991 teams.
In a world where athletes have been recently caught flat-out lying, ala Antonio Brown, or "embellishing" the truth, looking at you Aaron Rodgers, in order to further their own sense of worth, how nice would it be to see more Tony Oliva's in the world?