Baseball Legend Rocky Colavito Hailed as ‘Generational Hero’ After His Death Aged 91
Rocky Colavito died aged 91.
Dec. 11 2024, Published 5:46 p.m. ET
Major League Baseball has lost a "generational hero".
RadarOnline.com can reveal former Cleveland all-star Rocky Colavito has died aged 91.
The Cleveland Guardians announced Colavito's passing in a heartfelt tribute on Tuesday, December 10. He was said to have recently battled pneumonia amid other health issues.
Colavito passed away aged 91 surrounded by family.
Colavito played for then-Cleveland Indians from 1955 to 1959 and 1965 to 1967, before later returning to coach the team in 1973 and again from 1976 to 1978.
The Guardians posted a tribute on X, writing: "The Cleveland Guardians are deeply saddened by the loss of Rocky Colavito.
"Beloved by fans, Rocky spent eight of his fourteen MLB seasons with Cleveland.
"He represented the club in three All-Star Games while finishing top-5 in MVP voting on three occasions.
"Our thoughts go out to his family and friends during this time."
Guardians senior vice president of public affairs Bob DiBiasio said the organization was informed of Colavito's death by his family – and the baseball legend was surrounded by loved ones when he passed.
DiBiasio said: "Our collective hearts ache at the passing of Rocky.
"Rocky was a generational hero, one of the most popular players in franchise history.
"His popularity was evident across Northeast Ohio as sandlot ballplayers everywhere imitated Rocky´s on-deck circle routine of kneeling, then as he stepped into the batter's box stretching the bat over the shoulders and pointing the bat at the pitcher."
He was dubbed a 'generational hero' by the Cleveland Guardians' Bob DiBiasio.
He was inducted into the ball club's Hall of Fame in 2006.
While he proved himself an all-star on the field for Cleveland, hitting 190 home runs and 574 RBIs in his eight seasons with the team, his trade from the team in 1960 became career-defining — and led to speculation the club was cursed.
Colavito was traded to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Harvey Kuenn.
Fans were outraged, and Colavito initially struggled to keep up his numbers with his new team.
Eventually, he pulled himself out of his slump and returned to hitting homers. He recorded 45 home runs in 1961 and 37 in 1962.
Meanwhile, his former club never bounced back. Even after he was traded back to Cleveland in 1965, the team failed to reach the playoffs from 1959 to 1995.
To this day, the Guardians hold the MLB record for the longest World Series drought in history, leading many fans to believe in The Curse of Rocky Colavito, which was immortalized in Terry Pluto's 1994 book.
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Colavito was born and raised in the Bronx and was an avid New York Yankees fan growing up.
After his MLB, he worked as a television color commentator.
