Rocky Colavito. I love this autograph. What I don’t have shown is the note that I got from him explaining how I forgot a return stamp and that normally he would throw requests like that away. But I wrote a nice letter, so he was doing me a solid by adding a stamp. I was…so embarrassed. A couple of years later I wrote to him again, thanked him for the autograph, and included a hefty donation to his church. And I got a nice letter back. So…yea, I like Rocky Colavito.
And I am not the only one who liked the Rock, who is one of the most beloved Cleveland players in franchise history. He spent two tours with the team, from 1955-1959, and then again from 1965-1967. When he was healthy he was one of the most fearsome hitters in the league. During his peak, from 1958 to 1967, he averaged 32 HR a year and a 133 OPS+. When Colavito retired following 14-seasons in the big leagues, he took with a career line of .266/.359/.489 and 374 HR, good for an OPS+ of 132. He was selected to nine All-Star teams and garnered Top 10 MVP votes four times.