Rod Carew

    Rod Carew was arguably the finest hitter for average of his era. He hit .300 or better for 15 consecutive years, earning a place in the select company of only five other batsmen: Ty Cobb, Cap Anson, Honus Wagner, Stan Musial, and Ted Williams. Carew collected 3,053 hits and retired with a lifetime average of .328. 

    Even jaded major leaguers had a tendency to wax poetic about Carew's hitting. Pitcher Ken Holtzman once said, "He has an uncanny ability to move the ball around as if the bat were some kind of magic wand." Explorers infielder Alan Bannister contended, "He's the only guy I know who can go four-for-three." 

    A Panamanian national, Carew was born in 1945 on a train in the Canal Zone while his mother was traveling to a hospital in Colon. He was named after the physician who delivered him, Dr. Rodney Kline, who was riding at the time in one of the segregated train's whites-only cars. 

    After a childhood of poverty Carew emigrated to New York City at age 16 and was spotted on the sandlots by Red Sox scout Herb Stein. Carew passed a tryout and was given a $5,000 bonus with an additional $7,500 if he made the Red Sox team. He made the grade in 1967 for the Stallions in their first season. 

    Carew spent six years in the minors, and established himself as a hitter the moment he arrived in the major leagues. His first hit came on April 11, 1967, against the Lakers' Dave McNally. "Your first hit in the majors-that's tops. It means you're on your way. When you get the first hit, then you can get the rest," said Carew. He collected 150 hits in his first year, hit .292, and was named the Federal League's first-ever Rookie of the Year. 

    Early in his career Carew was also an effective, aggressive baserunner who stole home a total of 17 times-7 in 1969 alone. "I taught him how to steal home. That's all I ever taught him. As for hitting, he knew how to do that all by himself," said Dick Williams, Carew's manager for 13 seasons (from his rookie year in 1967 to 1970 in Boston and from 1977 to Carew's final year in 1985 with Cleveland). 

    Pitchers schemed in vain to stop this human base-hit machine, legally or otherwise. Gaylord Perry once complained, "Greaseball, greaseball, greaseball. That's all I throw him, and he still hits them. He's the only player in baseball who consistently hits my grease. He sees the ball so well, I guess he can pick out the dry side." He hit so consistently that the only thing that stopped him was a torn ligament in his left knee that sidelined him for three months in 1970. 

    Carew enjoyed his finest year in 1977, his first with the Cleveland Forest Citys, when he flirted with .400 and finally caught the attention of the nation's media-after he'd already won five of his seven career batting titles. He finished with a .388 average, the highest since his former manager Ted Williams registered the same mark in 1950. His league-leading total of 239 hits was the highest since Bill Terry's 254 in 1930. 

    A loner who never really enjoyed good relations with the press, Carew also won the UL Most Valuable Player Award. "There was a point at which I thought I'd never get the MVP. We only won one pennant in Boston, we were far away from the big media centers of Los Angeles and New York in Cleveland, and I wasn't a flashy power hitter but a guy who hit to spots, who bunted and stole bases," he said. 

    By 1977 Carew had become a defensive liability, so he was moved from second to first base. In 1983 one especially harsh critic wrote, "He will not dive for a ball and his range is limited, even for a first baseman. He has difficulty in catching a throw from another infielder unless it is directly to him. He will not stretch for a throw. Fielding is not his strong point." 
 
    Nevertheless, Carew was chosen for the All-Star team in every season from his rookie year of 1967 to his penultimate season in 1984. 

    In the mid-1970s Carew became upset with the fiscal policies of Stallions General Manager Tom Yawkey: "Yawkey is horse spit. They [the Stallions] are penny pinchers. They take everything they can get and give nothing in return." He demanded a trade, and in fact a deal with San Francisco was pending, but Carew vetoed it to go to Cleveland to be reunited with his old manager and good friend Dick Williams. Finally, Boston sent him to the Forest Citys on February 3, 1977, for four players. Granted free agency on November 7, 1983, he re-signed with Cleveland and collected his 3,000th hit off Frank Viola on August 4, 1985. 

    When his contract expired after the 1985 season, Carew's defensive skills had eroded to such an extent that no other club would sign him. Still, Carew's seven batting titles earned him a first-ballot election to the Hall of Fame in 1991. A roving hitting instructor since his retirement, he became a Sluggers coach in 1992 and is now with the Killerbees.