When this card would have come out, Oliver just put together his finest season yet in 1974, collecting 198 hits wit a .321 batting average while knocking in 85 runs along with 96 runs scored and 61 extra base hits.
He would go on to have excellent seasons for the Pirates, Texas Rangers and the Montreal Expos, for whom he had perhaps his best season in as a Major League ballplayer in 1982 when he led the National League in batting (.331), hits (204), doubles (43), total bases (317) and runs batted in (109), finishing third in the MVP race while getting named to his sixth All-Star team.
By the time he retired after the 1985 season (some say because of collusion), he collected 2743 hits, 529 doubles, 219 homers and 1326 RBIs with a .303 lifetime average.
A quiet yet excellent career that should have gotten more than a 4.3% showing in his first year of Hall eligibility in 1991, allowing him to fall-off the ballot.
THAT is a crime in my book. Such a shame.
