Rocky Colavito, Cleveland All-Star and cursed namesake, dies at 91

Rocky Colavito, a Cleveland Indians All-Star so popular that his trade sparked fan uproar and speculation of a curse, died Tuesday, the club announced. He was 91 years old.

No cause of death was announced, but according to The Athletic’s Tim Graham, Colavito had recently suffered from pneumonia, among several other health issues.

Colavito made his MLB debut a month after turning 22 in 1955. It wasn’t long before he was a fan favorite for the Indians, who enjoyed great fame, including the franchise’s last World Series title in 1948 and another appearance. in the 1954 Fall Classic.

The next few years would be less successful, through no fault of the boy from The Bronx. Colavito developed into one of the league’s best power bats, leading the AL in slugging (.620) in 1958 and in home runs (42) in 1959. On June 10, 1959, Colavito became one of only 18 players in history to hit four home runs in a game.

The move that ultimately defined Colavito’s career and much of the franchise’s history occurred in 1960. Two days before opening day, Indians general manager Frank Lane shocked baseball and the city by trading Colavito to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for reigning batting champion Harvey. Kuenn.

The trade was not popular in Cleveland and grew even less when Kuenn was traded away after one season. Colavito initially struggled with his new team, but regained his All-Star form with 45 home runs in 1961 and 37 in 1962.

After four years in Detroit and one with the Kansas City Athletics, Colavito was sent back to Cleveland in another trade in 1965. The return was triumphant, leading the AL in walks and RBI that year. Colavito finished his career with brief stints with the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, but his name became infamy in Cleveland for flattering reasons.

Between the first Colavito trade in 1959 and 1995, the Indians never made the playoffs. They remain the team with the longest World Series drought in MLB, falling short in the 1995, 1997 and 2016 Fall Classic. That struggle provided much of the fuel behind The Curse of Rocky Colavito, which was formalized through a book by Terry Pluto . in 1994.

The curse even includes Colavito, as the trade that brought him back to Cleveland sent away a young pitcher named Tommy John and a young outfielder named Tommie Agee, both of whom would go on to have standout careers.

After retiring, Colavito worked as a television color commentator and coach with Cleveland and the Kansas City Royals. He is one of the better players not to make the Hall of Fame, but he was enshrined with a statue in Cleveland’s Little Italy in 2021.