Bob Oliver
Major League Baseball
High School: Highlands
College: American River
* MLB Career: 8 Years (Pittsburgh, Kansas City, California, Baltimore,
New York Yankees)
* .256 Career Batting Average
* 94 Career Home Runs
* 419 Career RBI's
Big Bob Oliver was known as one Sacramento’s finest ball players coming out of Highlands High School and American River College. Bob was heavily scouted and drafted by Pittsburgh before the 1963 season. He spent four seasons in the Pirates farm system and got called up in 1965. In 1969, Bob was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the expansion draft and appeared in the starting line up in the first ever game for the Royals organization. Playing next to fellow rookie Lou Pinella in the outfield; who was the rookie of the year that season, Oliver had a great season himself hitting 13 home runs and 43 RBI in 118 games played. That year he achieved two firsts in Royals history: he was the first royal to collect six hits in a game going 6 for 6 and also hit the first ever Royals grand slam.
The following year he established career highs with 27 Home Runs and 99 RBI and scored 83 runs. Overall Bob had a career average of .256 with 94 HR’s and 419 RBI. Bob is also the father of Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame Inductee, Darren Oliver.
After his retirement, Bob was very active and visible in the community. He managed the Sacramento Steelheads in 1999 in their inaugural season. He ran his own Baseball Academy in Sacramento for many years. The Bob Oliver Baseball Academy (BOBA) is a non-profit organization that seeks to empower our youth by teaching them the fundamentals of baseball and life skills, but prides itself in helping athletes and others with diabetes, and its related illnesses. The academy seeks to provide avenues of learning, sharing, and help for those in need of diabetic information and assistance.
Bob passed away at the age of 77 on April 19, 2020, in his hometown of Rio Linda. Bob was regular attendee of every Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame event and is missed but fondly remembered by the Sacramento baseball community.