Talkin' Baseball With Tony Oliva

This week, the Hall of Very Good inducted former Twin Tony Oliva to the consortium of players who should be considered for the Hall of Fame but never got the support from writers or the veterans committee.

As part of the induction week, I assisted Shawn Anderson, purveyor of the Hall of Very Good, in interviewing Tony Oliva by proxy on his career and his thoughts on the modern game.

Without question, Oliva is one of the game’s great ambassadors. The overall responses were great, and here are a few highlights of his thoughts:

Oliva on the Designated Hitter:

No, I wish both leagues had the DH! I think it has been good for baseball and the American League. If the National League adopted this, some day it would help them too. If today is all about the pitcher, why take a chance on getting hit by pitch, sliding and getting hurt when you can use a DH?

Oliva on today’s game with defensive shifting and video:

I think that the hitters have all the stuff against them too. It’s not that different. I think that really, it is way too much information and sometimes too much information hurts the hitters because so many people take balls in the middle with 3-2. If they say with a 2-2 count he throws fifty percent this way but you were looking for something else. I have never seen so many people hit less than .250 in the big leagues.

Read the full interview at HOVG.com