Mark Sommer - Rocky Colavito: Clevelands Iconic Slugger

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina

ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4766-3729-7

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS AND BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CONTROL NUMBER: 2019018230

2019 Mark Sommer. All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com

Writing a book takes a village.

A special thanks to all who helped along the way, with apologies to anyone who may have been overlooked:

Gary Mitchem, McFarlands senior acquisitions editor, for his guidance and support.

Bob DiBiasio, Cleveland Indians senior vice president for public affairs, for his early support and valuable assistance.

Bill Flynn, retired Buffalo News city editor and lifelong Colavito fan, for his careful proof-reading and helpful suggestions.

Tom Grace, historian and union representative, for his early reading of the manuscript and research assistance at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Marc Bono, Cleveland.com reporter; Frank DiLeo, City Honors School (Buffalo) English teacher; and Mark Goldman, author, historian and Dylanologist, for their early reading of the manuscript and valuable suggestions.

Colavito collectors Steven Pierce and Harvey Weber for their generous assistance.

Mike Billoni, former general manager of the Buffalo Bisons when the team was the Cleveland Indians Triple A affiliate, and Tim Tielman, executive director of the Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture & Culture, for their insightful suggestions and encouragement.

William Barrow, head of special collections, and Donna Stewart, digital production unit, at Cleveland State Universitys Michael Schwartz Library; Pamela Dean, curator for Italian-American history at Western Reserve Historical Society; Ruth Flannery, project manager for Playhouse Square Archives; baseball historian Bill Jenkinson; reference librarian Cassidy Lent and manuscript archivist Claudette Scrafford of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museums Giamatti Research Center; researcher Bill Lucey; and Leila Zetchi, distribution manager for Memphis magazine, for their generous research assistance.

Mark Dehem of the Athlete Collection; Michael Margolis, director of baseball information and public communications for the New York Yankees; Alex Trihias, communications assistant for the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association; and writer Jonathan Eig for their helpful assistance.

Basil Russo, president of the Italian Sons and Daughters of America, for his valuable insights.

Sabermetricians Brian Heise and Adam Darowitz for generously analyzing Colavitos career.

Topeka Mens Group members Tom Averill, Frank Barthell, Mahasen Desilva, Byron Fry, Rick Frydman, Jim Kleiger, Steve Lerner, Tom Murphy, Leigh Myers, Ty Petty, Tom Prasch, Eric Rosen and Radu Teodorescu for their encouragement and support.

Buffalo News co-workers for their encouragement, as well as graphic artist Leah Samol, columnist Sean Kirst, reporters Bob McCarthy and Matt Spina, and sales assistant Brian Mann for their valuable assistance.

Writer and former Yankees public relations director Marty Appel and New York sportswriter George Vecsey for their valuable insights.

Baseball-Reference.com and Baseball-Almanac.com for their handy online resources.

Ryan Becker and the Society for American Baseball Researchs Luke Easter Chapter in Rochester for their helpful assistance.

The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library for its baseball collection and valuable resources.

Former Indians teammates Joe Altobelli, Max Alvis, Joe Azcue, Gary Bell, Larry Brown, George Carver, Tito Francona, Vern Fuller, Sam McDowell, Sonny Siebert, Duke Sims, Ralph Terry and Luis Tiant; former Tigers teammates Paul Foytack, Willie Horton, Al Kaline and Jake Wood; former Athletics and Indians teammate Jim Gentile; former White Sox teammates Ken Berry and Tommy John; former Yankees teammate Joe Pepitone; and pitcher Jim Kaat for sharing their memories.

Nancy Score, Herb Scores widow, for sharing memories of her husband and his friendship with Colavito.

Jerry Muro for generously sharing childhood memories and insights about growing up with Colavito.

Colavito fans who shared their memories and reflections, and sometimes photographs and memorabilia, too: Lawry Babitt, Tom Baker, Gregory Bartone, Bob Fitzpatrick, Sheldon Green, Susan Grimm, George Hupcej, Bill Jonke, Brent Kecskemety, Dale McMillin, Randy Marks, Jerry Michalak, Ida Pocci, Mark Potthoff, Stan Raskin, Kent Reinker, Allen Richardson, Tom Rudar, Jr., Larry Russ, Gary Stromberg, Frank Weiss, Christine Williams.

Gerry Nemeth, who teaches a class on the Glory Days of Cleveland Professional Sports at Cuyahoga Community College, for his valuable assistance.

Indians fan Brian Berg for his enthusiasm and assistance.

Margaret Reardon, administrator of the Baseball Heritage Museum in Cleveland, for her unbridled enthusiasm and support.

Rocky Colavito Fan Club (1956) co-founders Emily (Fitzgibbons) Toth and Barbara (OConnor) Warny; and Rocky Colavito Facebook Fan Club founder Phyllis LaVietes, for generously sharing their memories.

Baseball I Gave You All the Best Years of My Life, edited by Kevin Kerrane and Richard Grossinger (North Atlantic Books, 1977), for inspiration.

Every beat reporter, writer, columnist, photographer, author and cartoonist who covered or wrote about Colavito as a player, broadcaster and coach for newspapers, magazines and books cited in the endnotes.

Anne Sommer for her encouragement and support.

Laura for her consideration and support.

Johanna and Nathan for their patience and understanding while their father was anchored to a computer.

Bethany for being there every step of the way.

The Colavito familyRockys wife, Carmen; their children, Rocky, Marisa and Steve; and of course, Rocky Colavito for graciously and generously sharing his life with me.

I was 13 when I read Dont Knock the Rock: The Rocky Colavito Story. The book was paid for with bar mitzvah money without my parents knowing, which still triggers a tinge of guilt. I didnt grow up in Cleveland and root for the Cleveland Indians, but Rocky Colavito was one of my favorite players anyway. I liked his cool name, the way he looked, and the home runs he hit, but there was something intangible, too. Like a lot of kids, I mimicked Colavitos batting stance with bat held high, which I saw on Major League Baseballs Game of the Week that aired Saturday afternoons. Since I was a displaced New Yorker living on the West Coast and a Yankees fan by inheritance, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were also among my baseball idols. Willie Mays and a few others were in that select group, too. I grew up listening to the Angels and Dodgers on the radio and learned the nuances of the game through Vin Scullys incomparable play-by-play.

Baseball was in its last days as the uncontested national pastime when Colavito retired in 1968. The game was also different then. Divisional play, the designated hitter, free agency, interleague games, and steroids were still in the future. So were cable TV, the internet, and social media. The wave of cookie-cutter ballparks hadnt occurred, nor had the retro-designed stadiums that came after, since many teams still played in their original ballparks. There were one-third fewer teams, and the top salary was $125,000, with most ballplayers needing second jobs in the off-season. The World Series was played in the daytime, leading kids everywhere to smuggle transistor radios into school or fall suddenly ill.