X-Nico

3 unusual facts about Ray Oyler


Ray Oyler

Before the Pilots even played their first game in 1969, Seattle radio disc jockey Robert E. Lee "Bob" Hardwick looked over the list of players drafted by the Pilots, discovered Oyler's batting average and created the "Ray Oyler Fan Club," initially as a radio bit on his radio show.

In Ball Four, Seattle teammate Jim Bouton wrote that Oyler's nickname was "Oil Can Harry" because "he always looks as though he had just changed a set of rings."

Oyler's batting average had dropped to .135, and Smith had four quality outfielders in Willie Horton, Jim Northrup, Al Kaline, and Mickey Stanley.



see also