COLAVITO, ROCCO DOMENICO “ROCKY” (10 August 1933-10 December 2024) was an All-Star outfielder and fan favorite for the CLEVELAND INDIANS, whose trade from the team was the source of a legend of a curse bearing his name.
Colavito was the youngest of five children of Rocco and Angelina Colavito. He grew up in the Bronx, dropping out of Theodore Roosevelt High School to play semiprofessional baseball. At the age of 17, following a tryout at Yankee Stadium, he signed a contract with a $3,000 bonus with the Indians. Colavito ascended through the minor leagues, making his debut with the Indians on Sept. 10, 1955. The following year, he finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting. In 1959, Colavito led the American League with 42 home runs, including four in one game against the Orioles in Baltimore.
On April 17, 1960 – Easter Sunday, two days before the baseball season started – Colavito was traded to Detroit, even-up, for Harvey Kuenn, who had won the previous year’s batting title. A lengthy fallow period in Cleveland baseball followed, leading to the idea of the trade cursing the franchise. (In fact, journalist Terry Pluto wrote a book called The Curse of Rocky Colavito.)
Colavito played for four seasons in Detroit before being traded following the 1964 season to the Athletics. After a year there, he was traded back to Cleveland in a three-team trade that led to the Indians trading away future American League Rookie of the Year, Tommie Agee, as well as pitcher Tommy John.
At midseason 1967, he was traded by the Indians to the White Sox, and ended his career with stints with the Dodgers and his hometown Yankees. Colavito finished his career with a .266 batting average, 374 home runs, and nine All-Star Game appearances. (This was during the era when there were two All-Star Games annually.) He even got a win as a pitcher for the Yankees.
Colavito’s post playing career included coaching and broadcasting for the Indians. He was also a coach for the Kansas City Royals, getting ejected with George Brett in the Pine Tar Game on July 24, 1983.
In 2001, Colavito was introduced as one of the Indians’ All-Century team. In 2006, he was inducted into the Indians Hall of Fame. In 2019, a his biography was published which sparked a new interest in the fan favorite. Two years later, his statue was dedicated in Tony Brush Park in Cleveland’s LITTLE ITALY.
While playing minor league baseball in Reading, Pa., Colavito met Carmen Perrotti, whom he married in 1954. They had three children, Rocco Jr., Marisa and Steven, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren and were married for 70 years at the time of Colavito’s death.
Vincent Guerrieri