Signing as an Amateur Free Agent in 1964, Al Oliver first made the Pirates in 1968 and became their starting Centerfielder the year after.  

Oliver tied for second in Rookie of the Year voting and would help the Pirates win the World Series in 1971.  An All-Star the following season, Oliver developed his hitting stroke, batting at least .300 four times, and from 1969 to 1977, always at least 11 Home Runs, peaking with 20 in 1973.  Finishing seventh in MVP voting twice (1972 & 1974), Oliver added two more All-Stars (1975 & 1976), and by the mid-70s, he was regarded as one of the better hitters in the National League.

Despite his success, the Pirates were looking to shake things up, and Oliver was sent to Texas as part of a four-team trade.  Oliver batted .296 with 1,490 Hits and 135 Home Runs with Pittsburgh.

A two-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger with the Texas Rangers, Al Oliver continued his hitting ways at Arlington.  “Scoop” was a .300 hitter in all of his four seasons in Texas smacking 668 Hits over this relatively short time span.

Al Oliver was only with Montreal for two seasons but those were excellent offensive campaigns, which saw him win the National League Batting Title and lead the league in Hits.  Oliver was an All-Star both years and also led the NL in doubles both times.  Had he been a better defensive player (or at least not a liability as he led the NL in errors for a First Basemen both years) he would have been ranked much higher.

Al Oliver came to the league in 1969 as a line-drive hitter and for eighteen years consistently smacked the ball for hits.  He had over 2,700 hits in his career, and despite not being a genuine power hitter, he had a plethora of RBI’s.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com thought it would be fun to take a look at the major awards in North American team sports and see how it translates into Hall of Fame potential.

Needless to say, different awards in different sports yield hall of fame potential.  In basketball, the team sport with the least amount of players on a roster, the dividend for greatness much higher.  In baseball, it is not as much as a great individual season does not have the same impact.