Rod Carew
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rod Carew | ||
|---|---|---|
| Infielder | ||
| Born: October 1 1945 | Batted: Left | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | ||
| April 11, 1967 for the Minnesota Twins | ||
| Final game | ||
| October 5, 1985 for the California Angels | ||
| Career statistics | ||
| Batting average | .328 | |
| Hits | 3053 | |
| RBI | 1015 | |
| Teams | ||
| Career highlights and awards | ||
| ||
| Member of the National | ||
| Image:Empty Star.svg Baseball Hall of Fame Image:Empty Star.svg | ||
| Elected | 1991 | |
| Vote | 90.5% (first ballot) | |
Rodney Cline "Rod" Carew (born October 1, 1945), is a former Major League Baseball player for the Minnesota Twins and California Angels from 1967 to 1985.
Contents |
[edit] Early Life
He was born to a Panamanian mother on a train in the town of Gatun, which at that time was in the Panama Canal Zone. As the train was segregated, Carew's black mother was forced to ride in a rear car. When his mother went into labor, a doctor named Rodney Cline delivered her baby. In appreciation, the baby was named after the doctor. He emigrated to Washington Heights, New York City at the age of 14. Carew attended George Washington High School, the same school as all-star Manny Ramirez. One day after graduating high school, Carew signed a contract with the Minnesota Twins.
[edit] Major League career
Carew earned the American League Rookie of the Year award in 1967 and was an All-Star in every year but his final one, 1985. In his career, Carew won seven batting titles.
In 1972, Carew led the American League in batting, without hitting a single home run. During the 1977 season he hit .388, which was, at the time, the highest since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. (In 1980, the Kansas City Royals' George Brett hit .390. Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres hit .394 in 1994. To date, that is the closest anyone has come to hitting .400 in 500 or more at bats.) For his efforts, Carew won the American League's Most Valuable Player award. In addition, he is one of only two players (the other being Ty Cobb) to lead Major League Baseball in batting average in three consecutive years, doing so from 1973 through 1975. Carew was famous for his ability to steal home, doing so 17 times during his career. [1]
Originally a second baseman, Carew moved to first base in 1975 to lengthen his career. Frustrated by the Twins' inability to keep its young stars and racist comments made by team owner Calvin Griffith, Carew announced his intention to leave the team in 1979. He was traded to the California Angels for outfielder Ken Landreaux, catcher/first baseman Dave Engle, right-handed pitcher Paul Hartzell and left-handed pitcher Brad Havens.
On August 4, 1985, Carew joined the 3,000 hit club. The 3,000th hit was struck against Minnesota Twins left-hander Frank Viola at Anaheim Stadium. Coincidentally, Tom Seaver won his 300th game on the same day.
A free agent in 1986, Carew did not receive any competitive contract offers. On Jan 10, 1995, arbitrator Thomas Roberts awarded collusion damages of $782,036 to Carew for 1986 as part of the second collusion award. [1]
For his career, Carew finished with 3,053 hits and a lifetime batting average of .328.
Carew was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, his first year of eligibility. He was the 22nd player so elected. In 1999, he ranked #61 on The Sporting News'' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was nominated as a finalist for Major League Baseball's All-Century Team.
[edit] Confusion over conversion to Judaism
Carew received death threats when he announced his intention to marry a Jewish woman. However, while his children were raised in the Jewish tradition, Carew himself never formally converted.
Bolstering the conversion myth is The Chanukah Song, a 1994 comedy song about famous Jews written by Jewish entertainer Adam Sandler, in which he sings: "O.J. Simpson... NOT A JEW! But guess who is: Hall of Famer Rod Carew — he converted". Despite the fact that that statement is false, Sandler has repeated it in subsequent versions of the song.
Adding to the confusion is an article written in Esquire magazine in 1976. Sportswriter Harry Stein released his "All Time All-Star Argument Starter," consisting of five different baseball teams each based on ethnicity. Carew was named the second baseman on Stein's Jewish team.
[edit] Post-retirement
Following his retirement, Carew has worked as a hitting coach for the Angels and the Milwaukee Brewers and is credited with developing young hitters like Garret Anderson, Jim Edmonds and Tim Salmon into stars.
On January 19, 2004, Panama City, Panama's National Stadium was renamed Rod Carew Stadium. [2] In 2005, Carew was named the second baseman on the Major League Baseball Latino Legends Team.
His #29 has been retired by both the Minnesota Twins and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Carew's daughter, Michelle, was diagnosed with leukemia in September 1995. Her Panamanian-Jewish ancestry lowered the likelihood of finding a suitable donor for a bone marrow transplant. In spite of Carew's national pleas, no donor could be found and she died in April 1996 at the age of 18.
A statue of Michelle Carew has been installed in Angel Stadium.
Rod became the spokesperson for Solid Contact Baseball in 2006. This company from New Canaan, CT, has developed a product to teach hitting called the GAP Hitter, and it is the only hitting product that Mr. Carew has ever endorsed.
[edit] Chewing tobacco use
Carew began using chewing tobacco in 1964 and was a regular user up to 1992, when a cancerous growth in his mouth was discovered and removed. The years of use damaged his teeth and gums, and Carew has spent a reported $100,000 in restorative dental work. [3]
[edit] See also
- List of players from Panama in Major League Baseball
- DHL Hometown Heroes
- List of major league players with 2,000 hits
- List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
- List of Major League Baseball players with 100 triples
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
- List of Major League Baseball players with numbers retired from two or more teams
- 3000 hit club
- Hitting for the cycle
- List of Major League Baseball batting champions
- List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
- baseballhalloffame.org – Hall of Fame biography page
- rodcarew29.com Official website
| Accomplishments | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
3000 hit club |
|---|
| P. Rose · T. Cobb · H. Aaron · S. Musial · T. Speaker · C. Yastrzemski · C. Anson · H. Wagner · P. Molitor · E. Collins · W. Mays · E. Murray · N. Lajoie · C. Ripken · G. Brett · P. Waner · R. Yount · T. Gwynn · D. Winfield · R. Henderson · R. Carew · C. Biggio · L. Brock · R. Palmeiro · W. Boggs · A. Kaline · R. Clemente |
es:Rod Carew fr:Rod Carew ja:ロッド・カルー
Categories: Baseball Hall of Fame | Major league second basemen | Major league first basemen | American League All-Stars | Baseball Rookies of the Year | California Angels players | Minnesota Twins players | Panamanian baseball players | 1945 births | Living people | Baseball players who have hit for the cycle | American League batting champions | People from New York City | Panamanian-Americans | Zonians
