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Cesar Leonardo Tovar
Minnesota Twins
Third Base-Outfield
Born: July 3, 1940, Caracas, Venezuela
Signed: Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1959 season
Major League Teams: Minnesota Twins 1965-1972; Philadelphia Phillies 1973; Texas Rangers 1974-1975; Oakland Athletics 1975-1976; New York Yankees 1976
Died: July 14, 1994, Caracas, Venezuela (age 54)
The versatile Cesar Tovar played for 12 season in the major leagues and an impressive 26 seasons in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, second only to Vic Davalillo (#275) in terms of longevity in that league. (Davaillio played 30 seasons.) Primarily an infielder, Tovar was known for his ability to play any position and on September 22, 1968 he became the second player in the majors, after Bert Campaneris (#495), to play all nine positions in a game. Tovar led the league in doubles (36) and triples (13) in 1970, and he led the league in hits with 204 in 1971. He finished in the top ten in the league for stolen bases in six different seasons. In 1,488 career games, Tovar collected 1,546 hits while batting .278 with 226 stole bases.
The versatile Cesar Tovar played for 12 season in the major leagues and an impressive 26 seasons in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, second only to Vic Davalillo (#275) in terms of longevity in that league. (Davaillio played 30 seasons.) Primarily an infielder, Tovar was known for his ability to play any position and on September 22, 1968 he became the second player in the majors, after Bert Campaneris (#495), to play all nine positions in a game. Tovar led the league in doubles (36) and triples (13) in 1970, and he led the league in hits with 204 in 1971. He finished in the top ten in the league for stolen bases in six different seasons. In 1,488 career games, Tovar collected 1,546 hits while batting .278 with 226 stole bases.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #71
February 13, 2023 from Wenonah, NJ (Gar Miller Cards)
Given my chosen profession, I sit through an inordinate amount of work meetings, which are now almost all virtual in this post-pandemic world. On some occasions, these meetings are admittedly a combination of boring, unneeded, too lengthy or some combination of all three. During a recent early February virtual work meeting, and after it became apparent the meeting had derailed into matters unimportant to me personally, I bought a bunch of old baseball cards. Gar Miller is a noted hobby luminary, and he still sells vintage baseball cards via his online store, Gar Miller Cards. I navigated over to his website, picking up a small stack of cards from this 1969 Topps set build and a few bonus cards for our not yet officially collecting 1955 Bowman and 1959 Topps sets. For those watching me on screen during the virtual work meeting, I had the appearance of someone smiling, nodding appreciatively and following along attentively. But in reality, I was adding baseball cards to my online cart, including this Tovar card which was $4.
The Card / Twins Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
Tovar put together one of his most productive seasons, batting .288 with 99 runs scored, 11 home runs (a career high) and 54 RBIs as an everyday player for the American League West division winner Twins. He stole a career-high 45 bases in 57 attempts, third best in the league. Manager Billy Martin (#547) inserted Tovar all over the field defensively, as he made 65 starts in center field, 33 starts at second base, 14 starts at third base, eight starts in right field and three starts in left field. Martin would call Tovar his "little leader" in his 1981 book, Number 1. Tovar struggled in the ALDS against the Orioles, batting just .077 (1 for 13) as the Orioles swept the Twins in three games.
Phillies Career
On November 30, 1972, the Twins traded Tovar to the Phillies for Joe Lis, Ken Reynolds and Ken Sanders and he'd spend the 1973 season platooning with top prospect Mike Schmidt at third base. In 97 games for the Phillies, Tovar made 39 starts at third base, 20 starts at second base, 16 starts in right field and two starts a piece in left field and center field. He hit .268 during his lone Phillies season with 18 doubles, a home run, 21 RBIs and six stolen bases. Tovar missed most of July recovering from a knee injury.
On December 7, 1973, and with the Phillies now invested in Schmidt as their future third baseman, Tovar was sold to the Rangers.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #201
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13): 1965-1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA the 1960s I #174
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 71 in the Beckett online database as of 2/20/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
February 13, 2023 from Wenonah, NJ (Gar Miller Cards)
Given my chosen profession, I sit through an inordinate amount of work meetings, which are now almost all virtual in this post-pandemic world. On some occasions, these meetings are admittedly a combination of boring, unneeded, too lengthy or some combination of all three. During a recent early February virtual work meeting, and after it became apparent the meeting had derailed into matters unimportant to me personally, I bought a bunch of old baseball cards. Gar Miller is a noted hobby luminary, and he still sells vintage baseball cards via his online store, Gar Miller Cards. I navigated over to his website, picking up a small stack of cards from this 1969 Topps set build and a few bonus cards for our not yet officially collecting 1955 Bowman and 1959 Topps sets. For those watching me on screen during the virtual work meeting, I had the appearance of someone smiling, nodding appreciatively and following along attentively. But in reality, I was adding baseball cards to my online cart, including this Tovar card which was $4.
The Card / Twins Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
They're different photos, but I'm assuming the photos used for Tovar's 1968 and 1969 Topps cards were taken at the same time. The back of the card touts Tovar being named the Most Valuable Twin for 1968, and his bWAR would back that up. Tovar, who batted .272 with 35 stolen bases and a team-leading 89 runs scored in 1968, had a bWAR of 4.8. Among all Twins position players, the next closest player was right fielder Tony Oliva (#600) with a 3.8. Starting pitcher Dean Chance (#620) led the team overall with a 5.2 mark.
Accuracy Index: Tovar scores a five for being pictured in a Twins uniform in a photo not used before by Topps.
1969 Season
Tovar put together one of his most productive seasons, batting .288 with 99 runs scored, 11 home runs (a career high) and 54 RBIs as an everyday player for the American League West division winner Twins. He stole a career-high 45 bases in 57 attempts, third best in the league. Manager Billy Martin (#547) inserted Tovar all over the field defensively, as he made 65 starts in center field, 33 starts at second base, 14 starts at third base, eight starts in right field and three starts in left field. Martin would call Tovar his "little leader" in his 1981 book, Number 1. Tovar struggled in the ALDS against the Orioles, batting just .077 (1 for 13) as the Orioles swept the Twins in three games.
On November 30, 1972, the Twins traded Tovar to the Phillies for Joe Lis, Ken Reynolds and Ken Sanders and he'd spend the 1973 season platooning with top prospect Mike Schmidt at third base. In 97 games for the Phillies, Tovar made 39 starts at third base, 20 starts at second base, 16 starts in right field and two starts a piece in left field and center field. He hit .268 during his lone Phillies season with 18 doubles, a home run, 21 RBIs and six stolen bases. Tovar missed most of July recovering from a knee injury.
On December 7, 1973, and with the Phillies now invested in Schmidt as their future third baseman, Tovar was sold to the Rangers.
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First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #201
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13): 1965-1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA the 1960s I #174
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 71 in the Beckett online database as of 2/20/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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