Juan Carlos Oliva

Juan Carlos Oliva Lopez

• Throws Right

• Born December 6, 1954

Biographical Information

The younger brother of Tony Oliva, Juan Carlos Oliva remained in Cuba, where he was a star pitcher.

Oliva debuted for the Cuban national team in the 1978 Central American and Caribbean Games, going 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA. He tied Rogelio Garcia for the most wins in the event and Cuba took the Gold Medal. In the 1978 Amateur World Series, he was 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA for the Gold Medalists. His 1.97 ERA for the Pinar del Río club led the 1979 Series Selectivas.

The right-hander pitched well for Cuba in both the 1979 Pan American Games (1-0, 3.00) and 1979 Intercontinental Cup (2-0, 0.75). Cuba took the Gold both times. He was 8-1 in the 1980 Series Selectivas to lead in winning percentage; he was one win behind leader Rogelio Garcia.

Oliva was 2-0 with a 3.24 ERA in the 1980 Amateur World Series, won by Cuba. He had no decisions in the 1981 Intercontinental Cup in which Cuba had to settle for a Silver Medal as the USA won it. Being played in Canada meant that the 1981 Cup was Tony's first chance to meet Juan's wife and 3 children [1].

For his 11-season career, Oliva was 101-57 with 24 saves and a 2.46 ERA.

Oliva later was a very successful pitching coach for Pinar del Río, helping develop Jose Contreras, Pedro Luis Lazo, Danys Baez, Yuniesky Maya and Alay Soler among others.

Sources

• A History of Cuban Baseball by Peter Bjarkman
• Defunct IBAF site
• NPR story citing the Oliva brothers
• Baseballdecuba.com