On this date in baseball history, former MLB outfielder Cesar Tovar passed away 19 years ago at the age of 54. Tovar had a 12 year career that ran from 1965 to 1976. He spent the first eight years of his career with the Minnesota Twins and was part of the 1969 and 1970 teams that won the AL West division in the first two seasons of divisional play. He went 1-13 in the 1969 ALCS and 5-13 with a 2B and RBI in the 1970 ALCS, both vs the Baltimore Orioles. During his time in Minnesota, Tovar led the AL in a statistical category in five different seasons. (1966: sacrifice bunts-7, 1967: games played-164; plate appearances-726; at bats-649, 1970: 2Bs-36; 3Bs-13, 1971: hits-204; caught stealing-14, 1972: hit by pitch-14) Tovar would later play for the 1975 Oakland Athletics, the team that lost the ALCS to Boston, a series in which Tovar came off the bench to go 1-2 with a run scored.
Despite getting every day playing time during the later 1960s for the Twins, he managed to play a lot at different positions. His first season was split between 2B and SS, but he would spend the majority of his other seasons playing the OF and 3B. Over the course of his career, Tovar would play over 200 games at 5 different positions. He played the most in CF (469), then LF (394), 3B (227), 2B (215), RF (207). He played 77 games at SS, then 1 each at 1B, P and C (all the same day).
The date was September 22, 1968 and the Twins were home against the Oakland Athletics. Both teams were well out of the race with the Tigers planning to play in the World Series. This was also the last year of entire league play as the leagues would switch to the two division format starting in 1969. Twins manager Cal Ermer was wrapping up his managerial career with the Twins, being replaced by Billy Martin for the 1969 season. With both teams going nowhere, it was decided that Tovar would play all 9 positions over the course of the projected 9 inning game. Bert Campaneris was the only MLB player to accomplish the feat, playing all 9 positions in a 9/8/1965 game for the Kansas City Athletics against the California Angels. While Campaneris did the task, the game would go 13 innings with Bert removed for a catcher after the 9th inning.
What made this game interesting was the fact Tovar was the starting pitcher. Probably the only time in baseball history a long serving position player who had never made a pitching appearance before started a MLB game. Tovar went out to pitch to start the game, retiring Campaneris to start off the game, then striking out Reggie Jackson. He would allow a walk before retiring the side. The second inning saw Tovar go behind the plate, replacing catcher Jerry Zimmermann and being replaced on the mound by Tom Hall. Hall would give up just 1 unearned run in 6 1/3 IP of relief. After the Twins came back up to bat, centerfielder Ted Uhlaender was pinch hit for by Bruce Look, who would take over the next inning behind the plate. Tovar moved to 1B with Graig Nettles moving to CF.
Tovar's next move resulted with nobody being removed from the game. Tovar went to 2B, with 2B Rod Carew moving to SS and SS Jackie Hernandez moving to 1B. For the 5th inning, Tovar moved over to SS with Carew moving back to 2B. Tovar moved over to 3B for the 6th inning, with 3B Ron Clark moving to SS. The 7th inning saw Tovar making the move to left field, with LF Bob Allison moving to CF and Nettles moving from CF to 3B. Tovar moved to CF for the 8th inning with Allison moving back to LF and finished off the task by moving to RF, with Jim Holt moving from RF to LF and Allison moving back to CF.
Rich Reese pinch hit for Hernandez and remained at 1B. Al Worthington pitched the final 1 and 2/3 IP for the save, with Hall getting the win. The Twins won the game 2-1. In addition to playing in all 9 positions in a 9 inning game, Tovar also has the privilege of having an undefeated record as a starting pitcher in the major leagues. Since Tovar played all 9 positions in a game, only Scott Shelton on 9/6/2000 and Shane Halter on 10/1/2000 have done so. However, Halter faced only 1 batter in his and did not record an out (1 walk). Shelton's was a little more interesting as he did not even start the game. He came in the game in the bottom of the 4th inning. Over the next 6 innings, he played all 9 positions, including striking out Jeff Liefer, the only batter he faced as a pitcher.
Despite getting every day playing time during the later 1960s for the Twins, he managed to play a lot at different positions. His first season was split between 2B and SS, but he would spend the majority of his other seasons playing the OF and 3B. Over the course of his career, Tovar would play over 200 games at 5 different positions. He played the most in CF (469), then LF (394), 3B (227), 2B (215), RF (207). He played 77 games at SS, then 1 each at 1B, P and C (all the same day).
The date was September 22, 1968 and the Twins were home against the Oakland Athletics. Both teams were well out of the race with the Tigers planning to play in the World Series. This was also the last year of entire league play as the leagues would switch to the two division format starting in 1969. Twins manager Cal Ermer was wrapping up his managerial career with the Twins, being replaced by Billy Martin for the 1969 season. With both teams going nowhere, it was decided that Tovar would play all 9 positions over the course of the projected 9 inning game. Bert Campaneris was the only MLB player to accomplish the feat, playing all 9 positions in a 9/8/1965 game for the Kansas City Athletics against the California Angels. While Campaneris did the task, the game would go 13 innings with Bert removed for a catcher after the 9th inning.
What made this game interesting was the fact Tovar was the starting pitcher. Probably the only time in baseball history a long serving position player who had never made a pitching appearance before started a MLB game. Tovar went out to pitch to start the game, retiring Campaneris to start off the game, then striking out Reggie Jackson. He would allow a walk before retiring the side. The second inning saw Tovar go behind the plate, replacing catcher Jerry Zimmermann and being replaced on the mound by Tom Hall. Hall would give up just 1 unearned run in 6 1/3 IP of relief. After the Twins came back up to bat, centerfielder Ted Uhlaender was pinch hit for by Bruce Look, who would take over the next inning behind the plate. Tovar moved to 1B with Graig Nettles moving to CF.
Tovar's next move resulted with nobody being removed from the game. Tovar went to 2B, with 2B Rod Carew moving to SS and SS Jackie Hernandez moving to 1B. For the 5th inning, Tovar moved over to SS with Carew moving back to 2B. Tovar moved over to 3B for the 6th inning, with 3B Ron Clark moving to SS. The 7th inning saw Tovar making the move to left field, with LF Bob Allison moving to CF and Nettles moving from CF to 3B. Tovar moved to CF for the 8th inning with Allison moving back to LF and finished off the task by moving to RF, with Jim Holt moving from RF to LF and Allison moving back to CF.
Rich Reese pinch hit for Hernandez and remained at 1B. Al Worthington pitched the final 1 and 2/3 IP for the save, with Hall getting the win. The Twins won the game 2-1. In addition to playing in all 9 positions in a 9 inning game, Tovar also has the privilege of having an undefeated record as a starting pitcher in the major leagues. Since Tovar played all 9 positions in a game, only Scott Shelton on 9/6/2000 and Shane Halter on 10/1/2000 have done so. However, Halter faced only 1 batter in his and did not record an out (1 walk). Shelton's was a little more interesting as he did not even start the game. He came in the game in the bottom of the 4th inning. Over the next 6 innings, he played all 9 positions, including striking out Jeff Liefer, the only batter he faced as a pitcher.
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