Joe Oliver

[Michael Trzinski]

In 1994, Cincinnati catcher Joe Oliver played six games in April and missed the rest of the season due to synovitis and arthritis in his left ankle. One year later, Oliver was signed as a free agent by the Milwaukee Brewers when starting catcher Dave Nilsson underwent arthroscopic knee surgery. Oliver started 87 of the 144 games played in the strike-shortened season, splitting time with B.J. Surhoff and Mike Matheny.

Joseph Melton Oliver was selected in the second round of the 1983 MLB Amateur Draft out of William R. Boone High School in Orlando, Florida by the Reds. Even though Cincinnati legend Johnny Bench retired in 1983, Oliver spent seven years in the minors before he made his big-league debut in 1989 as a 23-year-old. Oliver spent six years with the Reds, including three seasons in which he started more than 100 games behind the plate. His arm was above average as he threw out 34% of runners trying to steal, compared to the league average of 31.4%.

Oliver played in a total of 97 games for Milwaukee in 1995 with a batting line of .273/.332/.439 over 337 at-bats with 20 doubles and 12 home runs. Oliver became a free agent after the season and re-signed with the Reds in 1996. After two solid years with Cincinnati, Oliver became the definition of a journeyman, playing in Detroit, Seattle (two years), Pittsburgh, Boston, and in New York with the Yankees over the next four years before calling it quits at age 35 in 2001.

Oliver coached in the high school ranks in Florida, at Pine Castle Christian and Bishop Moore Catholic in Orlando between 2004-2011. He then got back into professional ball, managing in the Red Sox organization from 2014-2019 at the Single-A and Double-A levels. In 2022, the led the Frederick team in the MLB Draft League, which was a collegiate summer league.

Joe Oliver never made an All-Star team or won any major awards, yet he was a solid big-league catcher in the early 90s, including one nice season in Milwaukee.

View full player

[homer]

I had really good seats to a game at County Stadium one time during Oliver's tenure. Like maybe 7th row behind the dugout. While he was waiting in the on-deck circle, Joe turned to someone in the crowd and said, "I'll embarrass you in front of everybody!" Everyone was looking around at each other, wondering who said something to him because no one heard a thing...and you could hear a pin drop at some home games in those days. I think Joe proceeded to strike out, thus embarrassing himself in front of everybody.