Cleveland baseball legend Rocky Colavito has died at the age of 91.
Colavito, a nine-time All-Star, died Tuesday at his home in Bernville, Pennsylvania.
Cleveland Guardians spokesman Bob DiBiasio said he had been informed by the family and that there were relatives at Colavito’s side.
“Our collective hearts ache at Rocky’s passing,” said DiBiasio, the Guardians’ senior vice president of public affairs.
“Rocky was a generational hero, one of the most popular players in franchise history. His popularity was evident throughout Northeast Ohio, as sandlot ballplayers everywhere imitated Rocky’s circle routine on the deck of kneeling, and as he stepped into the batter’s box, extended the bat over the shoulders and pointed the bat toward the pitcher.”
In eight seasons with the Indians, Colavito hit 190 home runs and drove in 574 runs. He is 12th on the club’s career homers list. Colavito was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2006.
Cleveland baseball legend Rocky Colavito has died at the age of 91, a team spokesman said
Born on August 10, 1933 in the Bronx, New York, Colavito signed with Cleveland at the age of 17 after a tryout at Yankee Stadium in 1951.
He quickly rose through the team’s minor league system before making his major league debut in 1955, joining a Cleveland outfield that already had Ralph Kiner and Larry Doby, both future Hall of Famers.
In 1958, Colavito hit .303 with 41 home runs and led the majors in slugging percentage. He finished third in the AL MVP voting.
The following season, he was named an All-Star for the first time and led the Americal League with 42 home runs.
In 1960, Cleveland traded him to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for pitcher Harvey Kuenn, a move condemned by fans.
Colavito spent four seasons with the Tigers before being traded to the Kansas City Athletics in 1964. He was re-acquired by Cleveland before the 1965 season and spent two and a half seasons with the franchise before being traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1967. .
In eight seasons with the Indians, Colavito hit 190 home runs and drove in 574 runs
Colavito finished his career with brief stints with the Los Angeles Dodgers and his hometown Yankees before retiring at the end of the 1968 season.
In 14 seasons, he hit 374 career home runs and finished in the top five in MVP voting three times.
Colavito is the only player in Cleveland history to hit four home runs in a game, and he shares the MLB record for the highest fielding percentage by an outfielder in a season (1,000).
After retiring, Colavito did some TV work in Cleveland and served on the club’s coaching staff from 1976-78. He later coached in Kansas City.