Biography
David Jacob Oliver (born April 7, 1951, at Stockton, California) is a former infielder and coach in Major League Baseball. Primarily a second baseman as a professional player, he batted left-handed and threw right-handed, stood 5'11" (80 cm) tall and weighed 180 pounds (82 kg). He attended California Polytechnic University. Oliver originally signed with the Cleveland Indians in 1973 after being selected in the third round of the June draft, and his only trial in the major leagues consisted of seven games with the 1977 Indians. He batted 22 times, collecting seven hits, including a triple, three runs batted in, and four bases on balls. His batting average was .318. He returned to the Cleveland farm system and played through 1980, then became manager of the Indians' Batavia farm club in the Short Season Class A New York-Penn League in 1981-82. The following year, he switched to the Texas Rangers organization, as manager of their Tri-Cities affiliate in the Short Season-A Northwest League. Then, in 1984, he became the Rangers' roving minor league infield instructor. In 1985-86, he returned to managing, this time at the AAA level, as pilot of Texas' top affiliate, the Oklahoma City 89ers of the American Association, leading them to a first place finish in the Association's Western Division in 1985. He was then promoted to the major leagues as a coach for Texas (1987-94) and the Boston Red Sox (1995-96), working as a third-base coach after 1987 under managers Bobby Valentine, Toby Harrah and Kevin Kennedy. Oliver returned to professional baseball in 2001, spending the season as manager of the Stockton, California-based Mudville Nine, a Class A California League farm team of the Cincinnati Reds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Oliver
