Word: oliva
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...lifetime 257 hitter is leading the league in batting with a .533 average and a slugging percentage of .933-28 total bases in 30 times at bat. First Baseman Harmon Killebrew's batting average is .392-he also has four home runs and nine RBIs Rightfielder Tony Oliva, obviously recovered from an off-season operation for bone chips in his right knee, can be expected to hit .300 for the season and the No. 7 man in the batting order, Centerfielder Ted Uhlaender is currently batting .333. Pitching? Fireballer Dean Chance has won two games as has Jim Merritt...
...into pitching troubles. Dean Chance is a good bet to win 20, but his left-handed side-kick Jim Kaat has arm troubles and may not pitch this year. Harmon Killebrew got lost in the Yaz excitement last year, despite his 43 homers--he is a great hitter. Oliva is still around and the Twins have picked up ex-Dodgers Roseboro and Perranoski...
...paper, that is where they still belong. First Baseman Harmon Killebrew, at .253, is 28 points below his 1966 average; Rightfielder Tony Oliva, at .272, is 46 points off his lifetime mark. Pitcher Dean Chance does indeed have a 16-8 record, but Jim Kaat, who won 25 games in 1966, is 9-12 this year, and Jim ("Mudcat") Grant, who won 21 in 1965, is 5-6, with a 4.91 earned-run average. To top it off, the Twins last week were playing on the road-where they have lost 29 out of 57 games this season. So what...
Even with Boxing Gloves. Oliva's haphazard style would have horrified Perfectionist Cobb. It terrifies opposing pitchers. "Where are you going to pitch the guy?" asks California's Dean Chance. "Earlier this year I jammed him and he hit the ball into the rightfield seats. So the next time I went outside with him and he hit the ball 350 ft. into the leftfield stands." Twins Manager Sam Mele says, "I think the kid could hit wearing boxing gloves," predicts that Oliva may yet become the first big-leaguer to bat .400 since Ted Williams...
...most relaxed of baseball's superstars, Oliva is also possibly the most retiring. Although he is a bachelor and earns something like $30,000 a year, he lives in a 12-ft.-by-15-ft. hotel room in downtown Minneapolis, does not smoke, drinks only an occasional beer, didn't have a car until the fans gave him one, and his notion of a big night is a steak dinner and an early movie-followed by ten hours of sleep. His only extravagances are relatives and clothes. He sends money to the folks back home, runs...