Nathaniel Oliver (born December 13, 1940 in St. Petersburg, Florida) had a seven-year major league career in the 1960s, mostly with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

Playing career

Oliver was signed by the

in 1959. He hit just .224 for the Green Bay Blue Jays and

Fox Cities Foxes Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

that year. In 1960, he hit .329 for the Great Falls Electrics and appeared ever so briefly for the

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They prev ...

. He played in the minors for the

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Colo ...

in 1961-65 and in 1967, topping .300 in '62-'63. He came up to the majors for the first time in 1963, a year the Dodgers won the World Series. He appeared in 65 games, playing primarily second base, and hitting .239. He did not play in the World Series. The next year, in 1964 at age 23, Oliver had his most at-bats in the major leagues, getting 321 at-bats in 99 games. He hit .243 with 9 doubles and stole 7 bases. In 1965 he appeared in only 8 games with the Dodgers, but in 1966 he played in 80 games with a .193 average. He appeared in game 4 of the World Series as a pinch-runner. In 1967, his batting average improved to .237 in 77 games. In the off-season, he was traded to the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

in the deal involving Ron Hunt and

Tom Haller Thomas Frank Haller (June 23, 1937 – November 26, 2004) was an American professional baseball player, coach, and executive. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1961 to 1972, most notably as a member of the San Francisco Gi ...

. He appeared in only 36 games in 1968, hitting .178/.189/.205. In the off-season before 1969, he was traded to the Yankees, and played one game with them before they traded him to the Cubs, where he finished out his career in 44 games hitting .159. It was the Cubs team that everyone expected to win the division, but finished second instead.

Glenn Beckert Glenn Alfred Beckert (October 12, 1940 – April 12, 2020) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Chicago Cubs for nine seasons from 1965 to 1973, before ending his ...

was the regular second baseman and played amongst infielders

Ernie Banks Ernest Banks (January 31, 1931 – January 23, 2015), nicknamed "Mr. Cub" and "Mr. Sunshine", was an American professional baseball player who starred in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs between ...

Ron Santo Ronald Edward Santo (February 25, 1940 – December 3, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman who played for the Chicago Cubs from 1960 through 1973 and the Chicago White Sox in 1974. In 1990, Santo became a member of the ...

, and

Don Kessinger Donald Eulon Kessinger (born July 17, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from to , most prominently as a member of the Chicago Cubs where, he was a six-time ...

Coaching career

In 1989, Oliver managed the Arizona League Angels, and in 1990-91 he was at the helm of the

Palm Springs Angels The Palm Springs Angels were a minor league baseball team of the Class A California League from 1986 to 1993 and an affiliate of the California Angels. Following the 1993 season the franchise relocated to Lake Elsinore, California to become the L ...

. In 1998, Oliver managed the

Arizona League Cubs The Arizona Complex League Cubs are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays it home games at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona. The team is composed mainly of player ...

and in 1999 managed the

Daytona Cubs Daytona refers to the city of Daytona Beach, Florida, or things named after it. Daytona may also refer to: Locations * Daytona Beach Shores, Florida * South Daytona, Florida * The Daytona Beach metropolitan area * Halifax area, also known as ...

, and in 2000 was a roving infield instructor in the Cubs organization. In 2003, he took over the managerial reins of the

Saskatoon Legends The Saskatoon Legends were a minor league baseball team during the 2003 season. They played in the Canadian Baseball League, which was not a part of Minor League Baseball and therefore not affiliated with Major League Baseball or its member clu ...

of the

Canadian Baseball League The Canadian Baseball League was an independent minor league that operated in 2003. The league's only Commissioner was Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame member Ferguson Jenkins. The league featured former maj ...

in mid-season from

Ron LeFlore Ronald LeFlore (born June 16, 1948) is an American former Major League Baseball center fielder. He played six seasons with the Detroit Tigers before being traded to the Montreal Expos. He retired with the Chicago White Sox in 1982. He stole 455 ...

. In 2006, Oliver was the bunting instructor for the Chicago White Sox organization.

Personal

Oliver is the son of Jim Oliver, Sr., who had played in the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

. James Oliver Field in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

was named in the senior Oliver's memory, and was the first field to be refurbished under the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home venu ...

Field Renovation Programs. Oliver's brother,

Jim Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

, also played professional baseball.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Nate 1940 births Living people Major League Baseball third basemen Los Angeles Dodgers players San Francisco Giants players New York Yankees players Chicago Cubs players Baseball players from St. Petersburg, Florida Minor league baseball managers Green Bay Bluejays players Fox Cities Foxes players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Great Falls Electrics players Spokane Indians players Tacoma Cubs players Hawaii Islanders players Tucson Toros players Reno Silver Sox players African-American baseball players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople