Piacere

Rocky Colavito

Rocco “Rocky” Colavito was a Major League Baseball outfielder, who is best known for his playing days with the Cleveland Indians (1955-1959) and Detroit Tigers (1960-1963). He was one of the league’s prolific power hitters (374 career home runs) and became the first Indians player to hit 40 home runs in back-to-back seasons. He also boasted a rocket arm in right field and is the first American League outfielder to have perfect 1.000 field percentage for an entire season. In 2006, he was inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame.

Rocky was born in The Bronx and has been married to his wife, Carmen, since 1954. Both of his parents, Rocco and Angelina, were born in Bari, Italy.

You’re held in high regard for having always made time for autograph seekers. Talk about where your commitment to fans—and especially to young fans—came from.

The one guy that made me think the way I do was Rudy York. Actually, let’s go back one. Charlie Keller was such a gentleman. He rubbed my hair when I asked for an autograph. I just thought the world of him—I didn’t want to wash my hair for a week!

On the other side, Rudy York was just miserable and wouldn’t sign. And I was the only one chasing him! I made up my mind that if I ever got to the big leagues, I would never do that. Never. At the end of the game, my wife knew—give me two hours to get home for dinner. One hour to get out of the clubhouse and one hour to sign for every kid who lined up.

What pitcher did you have the most difficulty facing and why?

Now that question has been asked to me a thousand times, and I’ve always answered it the same way. If I came in the ballpark, and I was coming in at the mezzanine or the upper deck, and I looked down on the field to see this pitcher pitching, you couldn’t tell if he was winning 5-0 or losing 5-0—his demeanor was always the same. He had a great curveball. Great changeup. Great slider. And a better-than-average fastball. Nobody ever gave him credit for his fastball. He is what I call sneaky fast. With an easy motion, the ball would jump on you. His name was Whitey Ford.

If you hadn’t been a ballplayer, what would you have done for a living?

You know what, that’s a tough question. The reason I say that is because, in my mind, I never thought about being anything but a Major League baseball player. A lot of kids say I want to be a fireman, a policeman, a lawyer, or whatever—I never thought about being anything else. My dedication was to be Major League baseball player, and I was going to be it no matter what.

This August, a Rocky Colavito statue will be installed in Cleveland’s Little Italy. What does this mean to you and what has the city of Cleveland meant to you?

I’ll tell you what it means to me: It means the world to me. I am overwhelmed that they would want to put up a statue of me. It’s a wonderful thing that they’re honoring me. After all these years, you would think they would forget—but they didn’t. Cleveland is a wonderful city, and anybody who gets a chance to play there will soon find out.

Leave us with some words to live by.

I’ll tell you what I try to do, and I recommend it to anybody who will listen. Always be fair in everything you do. Think about what is right and what is wrong, and by all means, stand by your conviction of being fair. Color has no bearing. Nationality has no bearing. Looks have no bearing. Always try to be just and fair to everyone. That’s my motto. I don’t even have to think about that.