Here’s a fun card to add to the blog, a 1978 coach card for fellow New York City native Rocky Colavito, who was lending his expertise to the Cleveland Indians after a wonderful Major League playing career:
Colavito ended his playing days back in 1968 before immediately going
into coaching, putting in a great MLB “lifer” career that began way back
in 1955 when the 21-year-old debuted with the Indians.
Between 1956 and 1966 there were few Major League batters who hit homers
as frequently as he, hitting 358 home runs playing for the Indians,
Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Athletics.
He topped 40+ homers three times, with a career-best 45 in 1961 while also leading the American League in 1959 with 42 blasts.
By the time he retired, he hit 374 homers with 1159 RBIs over 1841 games
in 14-years, finishing Top-5 in MVP voting three times and making the
All-Star team six times.
Took me a long time to find an adequate image of him during his coaching days to use on a card. So glad I finally did!
