Don’t Knock the Rock

Or

The Rocky Colavito Curse

Olde-tyme baseball by C. Philip Francis – November 1, 2006

     Anyone who can receive a senior’s discount should remember Hollywood’s matinee idol of the 1940’s, Victor Mature – dark, muscular, disgustingly handsome, a rugged chiseled face - that also describes Rocco Domenico Colavito who was better known as Rocky.   Rocky was the most celebrated sports personality in Cleveland in the 1950’s, and just in case you don’t agree he was voted exactly that in 1976.  The boyish, charismatic Rocky quickly captured the town, and remember the bobby-sox girls of the forties who swooned when they saw or heard singer Frankie Sinatra, well, they did exactly that for Rocky.

     Most people remember the Curse of the Bambino that began when the Boston Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1920, and took the team 85 years before the Red Sox could overcome their curse.   Was there also a hex on the Cleveland Indians that could be called The Rocky Colavito Curse?

     Colavito was born in the Bronx in New York City on August 10, 1933, and wanted to be a big league ballplayer from the start.  By the time he was nine years of age Rocky was playing on semi-pro teams.  He dropped out of high school at 16 to enter professional baseball, but there was a rule that would not allow a youngster sign a contract until he or his high school class had graduated.  The baseball commissioner, however, gave Colavito special dispensation to sign with the Cleveland Indians. 

     Along with pitcher Herb Score, Rocky was brought up in 1955 at the age of 19, and played in five games hitting .444 with no home runs before being sent back down.  He returned the next year, and began a string of 20 or more home runs for the next 11 years averaging 32 per season.  (Note: His high occurred in 1959 when he led the league with 42 homers.)   

      The long ball hitter had a rifle arm, and became a fine ballplayer.  The 6’3” right-fielder, however, was prone to long slumps that his fans would not let him forget.  Cleveland sportswriter Gordon Cobbledick urged the faithful to have patience and  “DON’T KNOCK THE ROCK”!  Colavito had begun his career with a fixation on Joe DiMaggio, and everything he did was directed at Joe.  When a manager told Rocky that he was hurting his baseball ability because of DiMaggio and try to be himself, not a poor imitation of someone else, it worked.   

     The Indians had won the World Series in 1948, the American League pennant in 1954,  finished second in both 1955 and 1956, and the team’s future looked exceptional bright with Colavito and Score.  The next year they fell to sixth, second place again in 1959, and then came three dark decades of dull, mediocre Cleveland baseball.  As the team fell to the bottom of the American League standings so did the attendance.  The city asked, “What happened?”

     In 1957 pitcher Score took a line drive in his face, and along with an elbow injury the following year he lost his fastball.  Fan favorite Colavito batted .303 with 41 homers and 113 RBI’s in ’58, and the next year the Rock became the first Indian player to have two consecutive seasons with 40 or more home runs.  In spite of his outstanding hitting Rocky continued to fall into long slumps.  On June 10, 1959 the team was in Baltimore, and the Cleveland strongman was again having hitting problems.  Before the game Rock had said, “Maybe tonight might be the night.  I could break out of it right now.”  He walked on his first at-bat, and when he soon made an outstanding catch near the fence an Oriole threw a drink in the outfielder’s face.  Rocky wanted to fight back, but not with his fist – with his bat.  In his next time at the plate Rocky hit a home run, his first of four to hit that night, and became the third hitter to ever hit four homers in one game.  (Note:  The first two were Bob Lowe in 1894 and Lou Gehrig in 1932. 

     On April 17, 1960 the Tribe’s general manager, Frank “The Trader” Lane, dealt Colavito, “the soul of the Indians”, to the Detroit Tigers for batting championship Harvey Kuenn.”   The city of Cleveland was shocked!  Lane was quoted as saying, “It was like trading hamburger for steak”, and later recalled, “They wanted to lynch me…there was dummy hanging from lamp post.”  The trade had to be the worst since the Red Sox sent Babe Ruth to the Yankees as the often booed Kuenn remained in Cleveland for less than a year before he was sent to the San Francisco Giants.  During the four years Colavito was in Detroit he slammed out 139 home runs while Tiger general manager Bill DeWitt said, “I love hamburger.”

     Trader Lane who had made 60 separate deals in his past three years tried to explain his infamous exchange, “I don’t want to knock the Rock, he is a fine ballplayer and a good man.  We have given up 40 home runs for 40 doubles, added 50 singles and given away 50 strikeouts.  Cleveland pitcher Mudcat Grant reflected on the Colavito trade, “Want to know why Lane sent Rocky to Detroit?  That’s easy.  Lane is an idiot.”

     He remained with the Tigers for four seasons, and spent five years bouncing between  the Kansas City A’s, the Indians again when he led the American League with 108 RBI’s, White Sox, Dodgers, and then called it quits with the New York Yankees where he had always wanted to play.  The Rock hung up his cleats with a .266 batting average and 374 home runs.  The slugging outfielder pitched three innings for Cleveland in 1958 with no decision, and then became the last position player to record a major league victory for the Yankees in 1968 in two and two-third innings. 

     Over the next 25 years the Cleveland Indians had a number of disasters:  Super Joe Charboneau who was less than super; the Indians’ ten-cent beer night that caused a team forfeit; pitcher Herb Score’s career ending injury; Tony Horton’s 27 homers in 1969 and then a trip to the mental hospital; catcher Ray Fosse’s collision with Pete Rose in the 1970 All-Star game; and some Indian pitchers in a fateful boat accident.  Was the trade that sent Rocco Colavito to Detroit the beginning of The Rocky Colavito Curse?  You decide.

     Chatter from the Dugout welcomes all comments and questions, and may be reached at:  [email protected]