César Tovar
César Tovar was born in Caracas, Capital District, Venezuela on July 3rd, 1940 and is the Baseball Player. At the age of 54, César Tovar biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 54 years old, César Tovar has this physical status:
César Leonardo Tovar (July 3, 1940 – July 14, 1994), nicknamed "Pepito" and "Mr. ), is a character in Spanish folklore.
Versatility is a name that refers to "Metropolitan Professional Baseball" (1965–1972), Philadelphia Phillies (1973), Texas Rangers (1974–1975), and the New York Yankees (1976).
Tovar was a versatile player who could play in several defensive positions on the field.
He became only the second player in MLB history to play all nine field positions in a single game in 1968, a feat that Bert Campaneris first attempted in 1965.
Tovar had a long career in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (VPBL), where he spent 26 seasons, second only to Vic Davalillo's 30-year career.
Later life
Tovar played in the Mexican League in 1977 and 1978 after being banned from the major leagues. Tovar was a member of the Caracas Metropolitanos in 1979, and in the short-lived Inter-American League, he reached.285 for boss Jim Busby. He also continued to compete in the Venezuelan Winter League. He was a player-coach for the guilas del Zulia team, which won the 1984 league championship before winning the 1984 Caribbean Series. After two last games in 1985-86, he retired as a player at the age of 45. He led the Venezuelan team to a 1–7 last place finish in the Baseball World Cup in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, in August 1990.
Tovar died of pancreatic cancer in Caracas on July 14, 1994, at the age of 54. In 2003, he was inducted into the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame.
Baseball playing career
Tovar was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, where he shined shoes to earn more money for his family as an infant. Gus Gil, another Venezuelan who went on to play in Major League Baseball at the age of 15, was befriended by him at the age of 15. Gabe Paul, the Cincinnati Reds' general manager, attempted to sign Gil to a deal in January 1959, but Gil insisted that Paul should first have Tovar sign a contract. Paul relented in the attempt to convince Gil to sign.
Tovar began his professional baseball career when he was signed to the Geneva Redlegs of the D-league New York–Penn League. In 87 games as an infielder for Geneva, he scored.252 out of 87 games. He returned to Venezuela to compete for the Leones del Caracas in the winter and earned the league's rookie of the year award.
He played with the Missoula Timberjacks of the Pioneer League in 1960, where he posted a batting average of.304, 12 home runs, and 68 runs batted in. He was rewarded by being drafted to the league's All-Star team by playing two games at the top level of the Seattle Rainiers' minor league system. In 1961, Tovar was sent back to Geneva, where he batted.338 with 19 home runs and 78 runs batted in. In 100 attempts to lead the league, he stole 88 bases in 100 attempts, while setting a new league record for stolen bases. He played for the Rocky Mount Leafs of the Carolina League in 1962 and led the league in batting with a.329 batting average, 10 home runs, and 78 runs batted in.
Pete Rose, the Reds' promising second baseman who would win the 1963 National League Rookie of the Year Award, had futuristic Gold Glover Cookie Rojas on the bench, and second basemen Bobby Klaus and Gus Gil in their minor league system, leaving little room for Tovar to progress. He was sent by the Reds on loan to play for the Minnesota Twins minor league affiliate, the Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers. Tovar returned to the Reds organization in 1964, where he played for the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League. When playing as a third baseman, shortstop, second baseman, and outfielder, he helped the Padres win the league championship by hitting for a.275 average with 7 home runs and 52 runs batted in.
The Twins traded pitcher Gerry Arrigo to the Reds for Tovar before the 1965 season. The Twins had hoped to trade Tommy Helms from the Reds, but they declined to trade him and the Twins settled for Tovar. Tovar made his major league debut on April 12, 1965, becoming the ninth Venezuelan to play in Major League Baseball. However, he will soon be back to the minor leagues with the Denver Bears, where he was batting for a.328 average. Tovar was given a call-up in September and appeared in a total of 18 games this season; but, he will be left off the postseason roster and will watch the Twins' seven-game World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers from home.
Starting in 1966, the Twins began to make the most of Tovar's ability to play a variety of defensive positions. The 1967 season was memorable for the tight four-way pennant competition between the Twins, the Boston Red Sox, the Detroit Tigers, and the Chicago White Sox, with all four teams in contention entering the final week of the season. With two games remaining on the season, the Twins were in first place, but the Red Sox lost their final two games and ended the season in second place.
During Tovar's 1967 pennant run, he divided his playing time between third base (70 games), center field (64), left field (36), right field (10) and right field (5). He played in an American League for the first time (1967 season) and led the league with 726 plate appearances and 649 at-bats. He was also one of the top ten batters in runs, hits, doubles, triples, stolen bases, and sacrifice hits. Carl Yastrzemski, the Triple Crown winner of the 1967 season, received just one vote for the American League Most Valuable Player Award, despite Minneapolis Star sports writer Max Nichols' prediction that Tovar would finish seventh in MVP voting.
Tovar became the second player since Bert Campaneris (Kansas City Athletics, 1965) to play all nine fielding positions in a game on September 22, 1968. Scott Sheldon (Texas Rangers, 2000), Shane Halter (Detroit Tigers, 2000), and Andrew Romine (Detroit Tigers, 2017) were among the only five players in MLB history to have achieved the feat. Tovar started the game on the mound against Oakland and pitched one scoreless inning, knocking out Reggie Jackson. Campaneris was the first batter he encountered as fate would have it.
Tovar and Rod Carew tied for the most major league picks by a club in one inning with five on May 18, 1969. Tovar stole third base and home in the third inning against a Detroit battery of Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan. Carew was followed by the stealing of a second base, third base, and home. In the same inning, the two steals of home tied a record. Tovar finished the season with a.300 batting average and an AL-leading 36 doubles and 13 triples. With 195 hits and second in runs scored with 120, he also ranked third in the league in total hits and second in runs scored with 120. Both 1969 and 1970, the Twins captured the American League Western Division championship, but the Baltimore Orioles took the first three games by the Baltimore Orioles during the play-offs three times. In the 1969 American League Championship Series, Tovar had only a.077 batting average, but he did a good job with a.385 average in the 1970 American League Championship Series.
Tovar also moved less around the diamond in 1970, left field in 1971, and right field in 1972. He continued his hitting in 1971, posting a.311 batting average and leading the league with 204 hits. In 1971, SPORT magazine polled top league players to select the game's most popular player. Pete Rose was the champion, while Frank Robinson, Bob Gibson, and César Tovar were runners-up; Tovar belted a walk-off home run on September 19, 1972, the cycle was shattered. Ken Boyer (1961), George Brett (1979), Dwight Evans (1984), and Carlos González (2010) were among the only four other players in major league baseball to complete a cycle.
On December 1, the Twins traded Tovar to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ken Sanders, Ken Reynolds, and Joe Lis after a subpar season in 1972. With a young Mike Schmidt at third base, Tovar would finish the 1973 season platooning. Tovar had a brief revival in 1974 as the leadoff hitter for Billy Martin, his Twins manager, hitting.292 with a.354 on-base percentage. Tovar's contract with the Oakland Athletics, who were in first place in the American League Western Division in August 1975, was sold by the Rangers in August 1975. The Athletics won the division championship while Tovar appeared in two games of the 1975 American League Championship Series, with one hitting in two at-bats and scoring two runs. Before breaking his wrist while making a diving catch on May 31, he was a pinch hitter and defensive replacement for the Athletics in 1976. He was activated in mid-August but only after a Major League Baseball Players Association lawsuit. Charlie Finley, the Athletics' temperamental owner, was fired on Tovar on August 25. The New York Yankees purchased his contract on September 1, 1976, and he appeared in 13 games for them before playing in their final big league game on September 29, 1976 at the age of 35. In December 1976, the Yankees released him.
Career statistics
Tovar played in 5,448 games with 1,546 runs, 834 RBI, 569 triples, 226 stolen bases, and a.335 on-base percentage in his 12-year major league career.
Tovar, along with former Reds center fielder Eddie Milner, is considered the major league's all-time leader in breaking up no-hit attempts with five. Tovar's single was the only one struck against Washington Senator Barry Moore on April 30, 1967. He ended up with a no-hit bid by Baltimore pitcher Dave McNally on May 15, 1969. Mike Cuellar of the Baltimore Orioles shortened his streak of consecutive batters to 35 before losing a ninth-inning single to Tovar, which also ended Cuellar's hopes for a no-hitter. Tovar was responsible for spoiling two other no-hitters during his career: against Dick Bosman of Washington (August 13, 1970) and Jim "Catfish" Hunter (May 31, 1975).