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Another Edition of
Overlooked for the Hall of Fame:
Rocky Colavito
“He was everything a ball player should be.” -Terry Pluto, Akron Beacon Journal sportswriter, speaking of Rocky Colavito
As I watched Detroit and Cleveland play their recent divisional championship series, I found myself thinking about a great player who starred for both these teams in days gone by. I was thinking, of course, of Rocky Colavito.
I’ve been wanting to shine our baseball spotlight on Rocky Colavito for a while – another player who I think is overlooked for the Hall of Fame. So with the conclusion of the playoff series, this seems like a good time.
I’m actually old enough to remember the game in which Indians’ slugger Rocky Colavito hit four home runs in one game at Baltimore’s cavernous Memorial Stadium on June 10, 1959. In the entire history of baseball, only 15 players have accomplished this feat. As a matter of fact, he’s one of only six in history to hit four home runs in consecutive at-bats in a single game. He later hit four home runs on the same day while playing for Detroit, but they were distributed between the two games of a doubleheader.
Rocky Colavito always brought excitement to the game, either with his hitting or his rocket arm. He was one of those guys people paid to see. It’s unusual for the fans at a baseball game to jump to their feet because of an outfielder’s throw, but they did it routinely for Colavito. His arm was like a high-caliber gun and ranks with Roberto Clemente and Carl Furillo as among the very best ever. Few runners tried to stretch hits or advance to third when the ball went to Rocky Colavito in right field.
Colavito played 14 seasons in the major leagues (1955-68). While he is best known for his years with the Indians, he also played for the Tigers, Athletics, White Sox, Dodgers, and Yankees. Over his career, he hit .266, with 374 home runs, and 1159 RBIs. 971 runs, 1,730 hits, 283 doubles, and 21 triples. As an outfielder, he recorded 3323 putouts, 123 assists, 26 double plays, and a .980 fielding percentage. He was a nine-time All-Star and led the American League in home runs (42) in 1959, RBIs (108) in 1965, and slugging (.620) in 1958. Colavito was the fifth player in American League history to have 11 consecutive 20-home run seasons (1956–66), hitting over 40 home runs three times and 100 runs batted in six times during that span. Rocky also hit 30-plus homers seven times. Even more impressive is his 162-game average over his 14-year career: 33 home runs, .266 average, .359 on-base percentage, 109 RBIs, and 132 OPS+.
Hitting all but three of his 374 career home runs in the American League, he ranked behind only Jimmie Foxx (524) and Harmon Killebrew (then at 397) among the league’s right-handed hitters when he retired. In 1965 playing every game, he became the first outfielder in American League history to complete a season with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, and his 1272 American League games in right field ranked eighth in league history at the end of his career. While with the Tigers in 1962, he once went 7-for-10 in a 22-inning loss to the Yankees.
Colavito was easily one of the most popular players in Indians’ history, always accommodating the hundreds of autograph seekers after each game. But just days before the Opening Day of the 1960 season, Indians general manager “Trader Frank” Lane traded him to the Tigers for Harvey Kuenn who had won the 1959 batting title. The trade proved to be a good one for the Tigers but a terrible one for the Indians, whose fans lost their favorite player and best hitter. Kuenn had a minor injury early in the season and was gone by the end of the year. In 1961 with the Tigers, Colavito enjoyed career highs of 45 home runs, 140 RBI and 129 runs scored.
With his strong arm, he was asked to make two appearances on the mound in 1968 against the Tigers – and he actually won a game! He became the last position player until 2000 to be credited as the winning pitcher, with a scoreless two and two-thirds-inning relief appearance in the first game of a doubleheader. Not only did he retire Al Kaline and Willie Horton, he also scored the winning run in the eighth inning and later homered in the second game.
Does Colavito belong in the Hall of Fame? You can certainly make that case as his stats speak for themselves. Or does he belong in the Hall of Very Good? Probably the most telling statistic is his career OPS (on-base percentage + slugging average) compared to players already in the Hall of Fame from his era. Colavito ranks 17th when added to the list of 35 already Hall members, ahead of stars like Reggie Jackson and Carl Yastrzemski. In 1976, Rocky was voted the most memorable personality in Cleveland Indians’ history. He was elected to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 and inducted into the Cleveland Indians’ Hall of Fame in 2006.
This year, Rocky celebrates his 70th wedding anniversary to wife Carmen. So I’m very happy to shine our baseball spotlight on him for a brief moment or two. The last time I wrote about Rocky (in 2016), his granddaughter Gina contacted me and told me she had shown the essay to Rocky and he enjoyed it. Let’s hope he gets to see this one, too.
-Gary Livacari
Photo Credits: All obtained from Google search
Information: Excerpts edited from the Rocky Colavito Wikipedia page. Read more at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Colavito
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Thanks for shining the light on a player whose career stats were always intriguing. Rocky wasn’t one of our 36 players we’d elect right now but he would be in the next tier! And there’s room for him!
Thanks Mark…you can certainly make the case that he belongs….but I’ll trust the judgment of the editor of “Almost Cooperstown” podcast!
Outstanding essay on Mr. Colavito. His plight is similar to that of Illinois native Rick Reuschel. Both men were wonderful, multi-skilled players who were really, really good but….
Thanks Dex! i gree about Reuschel, too!