Cesar Tovar had a prolific career in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, where he played 26 seasons – second only to the 30 seasons played by Vic Davalillo.
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19 Facts About Cesar Tovar
3.
Cesar Tovar began his professional baseball career when he was assigned to the Geneva Redlegs in the D-league New York–Penn League.
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4.
Cesar Tovar stole 88 bases in 100 attempts to lead the league while setting a new league record for stolen bases.
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5.
In 1964, Cesar Tovar returned to the Reds organization, where he played for the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League.
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6.
At the age of 24, Cesar Tovar made his major league debut on April 12,1965, becoming the ninth Venezuelan to play in Major League Baseball.
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7.
Cesar Tovar played an integral role as a utility player during the Twins' 1967 pennant run, dividing his playing time between third base, center field, second baseman, left field, shortstop and right field.
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8.
Cesar Tovar set an American League record of 164 games played and led the league with 726 plate appearances and 649 at-bats.
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9.
Cesar Tovar was among the top 10 batters in runs, hits, doubles, triples, stolen bases, hit by pitch and sacrifice hits.
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10.
On September 22,1968, Cesar Tovar became the second player after Bert Campaneris to play all nine fielding positions in a game.
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11.
Cesar Tovar started the game on the mound against Oakland and pitched one scoreless inning in which he struck out Reggie Jackson.
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12.
On May 18,1969, Cesar Tovar combined with Rod Carew to set a major league record for most steals by a club in one inning with five.
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13.
Cesar Tovar ranked third in the league in total hits with 195, and second in runs scored with 120.
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14.
The Athletics won the division title and Cesar Tovar appeared in two games of the 1975 American League Championship Series, getting one hit in two at-bats and scoring two runs.
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15.
Cesar Tovar was a pinch hitter and defensive replacement for the Athletics in 1976, before breaking his wrist while making a diving catch on May 31.
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16.
In 1979, Cesar Tovar played in the short-lived Inter-American League for the Caracas Metropolitanos and hit.
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18.
Cesar Tovar died on July 14,1994, of pancreatic cancer in Caracas, at the age of 54.
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19.
Cesar Tovar was inducted into the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.
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