Highlighted Year: Rocky Colavito, 1961

Outfielder, Detroit Tigers

Age: 28 (Aug. 10)

2^nd season with Tigers

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’3”    Weight: 190 

Prior to 1961:

A native of the New York City borough of the Bronx, Rocco Colavito dropped out of high school to play semipro baseball. Initially prohibited from signing with a major league team before his high school class graduation, he appealed to Commissioner Chandler who allowed him to sign a contract with the Cleveland Indians at age 17 for a $3000 bonus in 1951. Assigned to Daytona Beach of the Class D Florida State League, he batted .275 with 35 doubles, 23 home runs, 111 RBIs, a .408 on-base percentage, and a .492 slugging percentage. Playing for two teams at the Class B level in 1952, Colavito hit a combined .228 with 19 home runs, 55 RBIs, and a .466 slugging percentage. Moving up to Reading of the Class A Eastern League in 1953, his average rebounded to .271 with 21 doubles, 28 home runs, 121 RBIs, a .352 OBP, and a .492 slugging percentage. He also met his wife-to-be at Reading and roomed with lifelong friend LHP Herb Score. In 1954 Colavito was promoted to Indianapolis of the Class AAA American Association where he batted .271 with 30 doubles, 38 home runs, 116 RBIs, a .369 OBP, and a .555 slugging percentage. In addition to his batting power, he also gained notoriety for his strong throwing arm in the outfield. Faced with a crowded outfield situation in Cleveland in 1955, Colavito returned to Indianapolis where he hit .268 with 30 doubles, 30 home runs, 104 RBIs, a .366 OBP, and a .495 slugging percentage. Having received a late-season call-up to Cleveland that went well, he reached the Indians in 1956, but a slow start had him back in Class AAA in June, this time with San Diego of the Pacific Coast League where he batted .368 with 12 home runs and 32 RBIs in 35 games. Returning to the Indians he hit well the rest of the way and his major league totals for the year were .276 with 21 homers, 65 RBIs, a .372 OBP, and a .531 slugging percentage. He came in a distant second in AL Rookie of the Year voting. Now the regular right fielder for the Indians in 1957 he led all AL right fielders with 266 putouts and his 12 assists ranked second, although his 11 errors led the league and attested to his occasional defensive lapses in the outfield. At the plate his average dropped to .252 with a .348 OBP, but his power production remained strong with 26 doubles, 25 home runs, and 84 RBIs. Colavito broke out in a big way in 1958 as he batted .303 with 26 doubles, 41 home runs, 113 RBIs, a .405 OBP, and a league-leading .620 slugging percentage. He tied for American League home run leadership in 1959 with 42, a record-tying four of which came in a game at Baltimore. This followed a prolonged slump, which was a common occurrence during his career (and typical of many sluggers). For the year he hit .257 with 111 RBIs, a .337 OBP, and a .512 slugging percentage. The handsome, charismatic, and accommodating Colavito was extremely popular with Cleveland fans who were dealt a bitter blow just prior to the 1960 season when he was traded to the Tigers for shortstop Harvey Kuenn by general manager Frank Lane. Kuenn, the AL’s reigning batting champion, was a contact hitter preferred by Lane, who considered home runs to be overrated. Furthermore Colavito lacked speed due to flat feet and despite his impressive throwing arm, remained an inconsistent fielder. He started off slowly with his new club and was benched for a time in May when his average was mired below .200. His hitting perked up in the season’s second half and he finished at .249 with 35 home runs, 87 RBIs, a .317 OBP, and a .474 slugging percentage. New manager Bob Scheffing moved Colavito to left field in 1961.

1961 Season Summary

Appeared in 163 games

LF – 150, RF – 20, PH – 2

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 708 [5]

At Bats – 583 [15, tied with Carl Yastrzemski]

Runs – 129 [3]

Hits – 169 [11]

Doubles – 30 [7, tied with Tito Francona & Danny O’Connell]

Triples – 2

Home Runs – 45 [5]

RBI – 140 [3]

Bases on Balls – 113 [3]

Int. BB – 2

Strikeouts – 75

Stolen Bases – 1

Caught Stealing – 2

Average - .290 [13]

OBP - .402 [6]

Slugging Pct. - .580 [6]

Total Bases – 338 [4]

GDP – 14

Hit by Pitches – 2

Sac Hits – 2

Sac Flies – 8 [6, tied with Bob Allison, Clete Boyer & Jim Gentile]

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 19, HR - 22, RBI - 63, AVG - .280, OBP - .411, SLG - .577

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 5 AB) at NY Yankees 5/13, (in 5 AB) at Baltimore 6/30 – 12 innings, (in 5 AB) at Minnesota 8/12

Longest hitting streak – 15 games

HR at home – 18

HR on road – 27

Most home runs, game – 3 (in 5 AB) at Washington 8/27

Multi-HR games – 4

Most RBIs, game – 6 at Washington 8/27

Pinch-hitting – 0 for 2 (.000)

Fielding

Chances – 354

Put Outs – 329

Assists – 16

Errors – 9

DP – 4

Pct. – .975 

Awards & Honors:

All-Star (Started for AL in LF, both games)

8^th in AL MVP voting (51 points – 18% share)

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The Tigers went 101-61 to finish second in the AL, 8 games behind the pennant-winning New York Yankees while leading the league in runs scored (841), triples (53), batting (.266), and OBP (.347). The Tigers started off fast and were in first place from April 29 until June 6 and then again from June 17 through July 6. They were in first or second for the remainder of July but in second to stay through August and September. After losing three straight to the Yankees in New York to start September, they continued to lose until the string reached eight to end any pennant hopes.

Aftermath of 1961:

Off to a slow start in 1962, in which he didn’t homer for the first time until mid-May, Colavito went on to bat .273 with 30 doubles, 37 home runs, 112 RBIs, a .371 OBP, and a .514 slugging percentage. He was an All-Star for the third time in four seasons and placed sixteenth in league MVP voting. 1963 was a subpar season for Colavito in which he hit .271 with 29 doubles, 22 home runs, 91 RBIs, a .358 OBP, and a .437 slugging percentage. In the offseason he was dealt to the Kansas City Athletics primarily for up-and-coming second baseman Jerry Lumpe. The power-starved A’s also obtained slugging first baseman Jim Gentile to further bolster the club’s home run potential. Colavito batted .274 with 31 doubles, 34 home runs, 102 RBIs, a .366 OBP, and a .507 slugging percentage. With Gentile’s 28 homers, the pair combined for 62 four-baggers, although the A’s lost 105 games and finished in the American League cellar. In the offseason he was on the move again as part of a three-team trade that returned him to Cleveland. Over 44,000 fans were in attendance for the Indians’ home-opener in 1965, attesting to Colavito’s enduring popularity with the fans. The rejuvenated club contended when his bat was most productive and fell when he slumped. He finished with 26 home runs and a league-leading 108 RBIs while batting .287 with a .383 OBP that was helped by his drawing a league-high 93 walks. Back in his familiar spot in right field, Colavito committed no errors and accounted for 9 assists. Hampered by a sore shoulder in 1966 he only hit .238 but socked 30 home runs with 72 RBIs and a .336 OBP. Colavito was a salary holdout at the beginning of spring training in 1967 due to having taken a $12,000 cut from his estimated $67,000 salary in ’66. Upon joining the fold new manager Joe Adcock chose to platoon him in left field with Leon Wagner, an arrangement that neither veteran slugger found to be satisfactory. Colavito made his discontent publicly known and at the end of July he was dealt to the Chicago White Sox, who were in the midst of a wild pennant race. Having appeared in only 63 games with Cleveland prior to the trade, he added a veteran presence along with longtime NL third baseman Ken Boyer and proved modestly helpful down the stretch as the club came up short in the end. For the year Colavito batted a combined .231 with 8 home runs, 50 RBIs, and a .317 OBP. Purchased by the Los Angeles Dodgers during spring training in 1968, Colavito lasted only until July when he was released and joined the New York Yankees, the hometown team of which he had been a fan during his youth that showed scant interest in him when he was looking to sign in 1951. The highlights of his time with the Yankees came when he homered in his first game with the club and when during a game against Detroit  he was called upon to pitch, only his second major league mound appearance. He acquitted himself well and was credited with a win. Overall, his final season was nothing special and he ended up batting a mere .211 with 8 home runs and 24 RBIs. He retired following the season at age 35. For his major league career, Colavito batted .266 with 1730 hits that included 283 doubles, 21 triples, and 374 home runs. He scored 971 runs and compiled 1159 RBIs, a .359 OBP, and a .489 slugging percentage. With the Tigers he batted .271 with 633 hits, 377 runs scored, 107 doubles, 7 triples, 139 home runs, a .364 OBP, and a .501 slugging percentage. He never appeared in the postseason. Colavito was a nine-time All-Star and finished in the top 10 in AL MVP voting four times. Following his playing career, he became a television analyst in Cleveland and coached for the Indians for a time. A 1994 book written by Cleveland sportswriter Terry Pluto called The Curse of Rocky Colavito which dealt with the misfortunes of the Cleveland franchise since Frank Lane traded Colavito to Detroit sold very well and served as a reminder of his popularity among Cleveland’s baseball fans. A panel named Colavito as one of the Cleveland team’s 100 greatest players at the time of the franchise’s centennial in 2001. A statue of Colavito was erected in Cleveland’s Little Italy section in 2021. “The Rock” died in 2024 at age 91.

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.