Former Major League Baseball outfielder Rocky Colavito of New York City, New York passed away on Tuesday at the age of 91 according to Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors. Colavito played 14 seasons of Major League Baseball. He was with the Cleveland Indians for five seasons from 1955 to 1959, and again for three seasons from 1965 to 1967. Colavito was also with the Detroit Tigers for four seasons from 1960 to 1963, the Kansas City Athletics in 1964, also played for the Chicago White Sox in 1967, and shared his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees (the two World Series finalists this past season) in 1968. It is interesting that Colavito finished his MLB career in New York, the city he was born.
Career Statistics
Colavito played 1841 Major League Baseball games. He batted .266 with 374 home runs and 1159 runs batted in. During 6503 at bats and 7559 plate appearances, Colavito scored 971 runs and had 1730 hits, 283 doubles, 21 triples, 19 stolen bases, 3177 total bases, 16 sacrifice bunts, 60 sacrifice flies, an on base percentage of .359 and a slugging percentage of .489.
Single Season Statistical Leader
Colavito led the American League in home runs with 42 in 1959. He also led the Major Leagues in slugging percentage in 1958 (.620), and the American League in total bases (301 in 1959 and 309 in 1962), runs batted in (108), and walks (93) in 1965.
Nine-Time All-Star
Colavito played in a different era of Major League Baseball than we see today. When he was becoming a star with the Indians, there were two World Series in the same season. So, Colavito represented the Indians in two All-Star Games in 1959, and then the Tigers in two All-Star Games each in 1961 and 1962. Colavito also represented the Kansas City Athletics in the 1964 All-Star Game, and then two more All-Star Games with the Indians in 1965 and 1966.
After retirement
After retiring, Colavito was a broadcaster and coach for the Indians, and later a hitting coach in Kansas City with the Royals organization. He had his leg amputated due to Diabetes complications in 2015.
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