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View Full Version : THE 1966 BRAVES: #38 Chi Chi Olivo



rico43
01-26-2015, 06:33 AM
#38 CHI CHI OLIVO
Right-handed Pitcher

What came before: You always had to take reports of Federico Olivo's age with a grain of salt. But if the settled-upon birthdate of March 18, 1928, is close, then he was already season when the Braves first signed him in 1955; he was 33 when he made his MLB debut in July of 1961; and he was 38 in 1966.
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His career high point came in 1964, when the Braves swept the Mets in a doubleheader at Shea‚ 11-7 and 15-10. Both teams used 11 different pitchers, a MLB record, but both wins went to Chi Chi Olivo.
He pitched in 457 minor league games, all but a handful as a Braves farmhand. And he earned his spot in the 1966 bullpen with an electric spring training after going in as a non-roster player. But no one should have been surprised, having gone 9-2, 1.74 as the Atlanta Crackers' closer in '65 – saves were not recorded officially in the minors at that time. He joined Milwaukee in September and had a 1.38 ERA in eight late-season audition games.

That 1966 season: It was the best season of his life and career. Even though he spent a month in Richmond (2-3, 1.73 in 25 games), he still was able to get in 47 games for the Braves. Olivo was 5-4, 4.23, with seven saves that was second only to top closer Clay Carroll.

What happened next: Olivo still had enough potential that the last-place New York Yankees traded for him just after Thanksgiving, along with young outfielder Bill Robinson, in exchange for their slick-fielding third baseman, Clete Boyer.
Olivo lasted only a few weeks, being dropped from Class AAA Syracuse after only nine appearances despite going 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA.
He pitched for a few years in the Mexican League, and was an all-timer in his native Dominican Winter League with 79 wins (second only to his brother Diomedes). But his problems were all too apparent, and Olivo died in 1977, at the age of 48, of liver failure.