Nov. 28, 1964 - Tony Oliva (left) of Minnesota, the American League batting champion, and Richie Allen (right), the Phillies third baseman, were named 1964 rookies of the year today for their respective leagues.
Oliva, the 25‐year‐old Cuban outfielder who uses a brother’s name, was picked on 19 of the 20 ballots cast by a special committee of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Allen was named on 18 ballots.
Wally Bunker, a pitcher of the Baltimore Orioles, received the other American League vote. Rico Carty of the Milwaukee Braves and Jim Ray Hart of the San Francisco Giants received single votes in the National League balloting.
Allen, who is an automobile salesman in Philadelphia during the off season, expressed surprise at his selection.
“Honestly, I felt Rico Carty or Jim Ray Hart would get the award because of my strikeouts and errors in the last half of the season. Playing with a good ballclub helped me.”
Oliva won the American League batting crown by hitting .323, six points higher than Brooks Robinson of Baltimore, the A.L.’s most valuable player. Oliva also led the league in runs scored with 109, hits with 217 and doubles with 43.
He batted well over the .400 mark through the early part of the season and wasn’t threatened for the batting laurels until the close of the season.
He also finished high up in the power department with 32 home runs and 95 runs batted in.
Oliva, who still has trouble speaking English, entered the United States from Cuba by using his brother’s passport. He lived in the United States for more than two years before anyone found out he was really Pedro Oliva, and not Antonio Oliva, who had failed on two attempts with professional baseball organizations.
Oliva still uses his brother’s name, Tony, because he likes it.
Said Sam Mele, the Twins’ manager: “Oliva has the best arm in our league today, runs bases extremely well, and hits to all fields and all distances.
“Tony lines shots down the left‐field line and then the right‐field line. He slams them past, over, and through people. He can bunt, then feint another one and drive it past the infielder.”
Allen’s hitting was responsible for keeping the Phillies in the thick of the N.L. pennant fight.
The bespectacled third baseman from Wampum, Pa., who ignored college basketball scholarship offers because of the baseball bonus money, was fifth in the N.L. batting race with a .318 average.
He led the league in runs scored with 125 while collecting 201 hits. He had 29 home runs and 91 runs batted in.
Gene Mauch, manager of the Phils, felt Allen was a sure success from the start, asking, “If this kid can’t make it, who can?”
And he had no qualms about playing the rookie at third for the first time in his major league debut.
“Ninety per cent of the plays that come up there are ridiculously simple,” Mauch reasoned. “They’re reflex plays. You get them or you don’t.”
He felt Allen must have good reflexes to have been a good basketball player.
The fact is, Allen was one of the worst fielding third basemen in the league this season on percentage. But he made spectacular plays and wound up making a bigger contribution to the Phils through his hitting.
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