Sunday, July 15, 2012

July 15

2003 Fleer Tradition #439 - Miguel Olivo

On this day in 1978, catcher Miguel Olivo was born.

Miguel was originally signed by the Oakland Athletics and was acquired by the White Sox in a trade with Oakland that sent pitcher Chad Bradford to the A's after the 200 season. Controversy did not elude Olivo for long, as he was suspended for six games and barred from the Futures Game in 2001 for using a corked bat in a minor league game. Miguel maintained his innocence, but it did nothing to alleviate the punishment.

Olivo made his MLB debut on September 15, 2002 for the White Sox. In that game in New York against the Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, Miguel hit a three-run home run in his first at-bat. In 2003, he became the everyday catcher for the Pale Hose with Sandy Alomar Jr. as his backup. His numbers were a little underwhelming, so in 2004, when the Sox got a chance to trade for Freddy Garcia, Olivo along with Mike Morse and Jeremy Reed went to Seattle for Garcia and Ben Davis. Miguel has since blossomed into a pesky journeyman catcher and Freddy Garcia helped bring a World Championship to the White Sox.

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