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If You Like Offbeat Baseball Stories, This Might Be For You

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For plunkeveryone: Tovar would lead the league with 17 hit-by-pitches in 1968, but that told only a small portion of his efficiency in the Year of the Pitcher. Lifting his average to .272, he nearly doubled his stolen base output (to 35) and put up an OPS of .698, a highly respectable number for that pitching-dominated era. He also made history by matching the pioneering efforts of Bert Campaneris; on Sept. 22, Tovar played all nine positions in the Twins’ game against the A’s, matching what Campy had done for the Kansas City A’s three years earlier. While Campy was basically a shortstop, Tovar was a legitimately versatile player who could play three infield and three outfield positions, making his accomplishment seem more real in the eyes of some.