PETITION to the Veteran's Committee of the Hall of Fame

Rocky Colavito has long been admired for his abilities as a baseball player and for the values he displayed, on and off the field. We believe his career numbers rank high enough to include him beside his peers in Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame.

Please sign the petition below and let the 60+ members of the Veteran Committee know that Rocky Colavito belongs in Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame. Each of the Members of the Veteran Committee will be sent a copy of this petition, urging them to favorably respond to our appeal.

PETITION

We, the undersigned, believe that Rocky Colavito deserves to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

We believe his records, on and off the field, are consistent with the criteria established by the Veteran’s Committee of the National Hall of Fame and that these records are relevant today.

Time and time again, Rocky Colavito has been overlooked for enshrinement to the Hall of Fame. Numerous baseball fans are dismayed each time he is bypassed. Many others mistakenly believe he is already a member of the Hall.

In discussions of the greats of his era, the Colavito name is mentioned in the first breath of power hitters: Mantle, Mays, Killebrew, Aaron, Mathews, COLAVITO, Banks, McCovey, Frank Robinson, Snider, Ted Williams, Musial and Yastrzemski.

All of these players are Hall of Famers -- EXCEPT Rocky Colavito!

Probably the most telling statistic is his career OPS (on-base percentage + slugging average) compared to players already in the Hall of Fame whose careers overlapped with Colavito’s and, also, with the 2008 HOF nominees:

Colavito ranks 17^th when added to the list of 35 already Hall members of his era. He also ranks ahead of Reggie Jackson, Carl Yastrzemski and Roberto Clemente. Colavito ranks 2^nd when applied to the list of this year’s Hall candidates. Very compelling evidence! (For detailed OPS of this list, please visit www.rockycolavitofans.com)

Some highlights of Colavito’s amazing career:

1956: In his first significant year, Rocky clouted 21 HRs, 65 RBIs, 55 runs scored, compiled a Slugging Average of .531 and an outstanding OPS of .903 in just 322 At Bats! Additionally, Rocky finished 2nd in the Rookie of the Year vote.

1957: In Rocky’s sophomore year, he collected 25 HRS (6th in AL), 84 RBIs (10th in AL), 51 Extra-Base Hits (7th in AL) and recorded a Slugging Average of .471 (9th in AL). He recorded 7 Sacrifice Flies (5th in AL) while his At Bats per HR mark was 18.4 (5th in AL). A solid second year for Colavito.

1958: Hit .303 BA, 41 HR, 113 RBI to finish just 1 behind Mickey Mantle for HR lead and finished 3rd in MVP voting. Also, his.620 Slugging Average led the American League and was the highest for an Indians’ hitter for 36 years until 1994. Rocky lead the AL in extra-base hits with 70. He produced a phenomenal OPS average of 1.025.

1959: Hit .257 BA, 42 HR, 111 RBI to finish 4th in MVP voting. His 42 HRs earned him the American League HR Title. He became the first Indian to amass back-to-back 40 HR seasons (41/42). Rocky also led the American League in Total Bases with 301. Rocky, again, lead the AL in extra-base hits with 66. He became an AL All-Star for the first of six times and appeared in both games.

1959: Rocky became only the 8th Major Leaguer to hit 4 HRs in one game on June 10, 1959 in Baltimore. Additionally, it was only the 3rd time that a Major Leaguer hit them in four consecutive at bats. Most amazing is that he hit them in what was considered a pitcher-friendly ballpark: Memorial Stadium replete with very distant fences. At the time, no team ever hit more than 3 HRs in one game at that ballpark; an even more amazing feat!!!

1960: In February of 1960, a new hit TV show appears (albeit for one season) called “Home Run Derby” as Rocky was one of only 17 Major League HR hitters to be chosen. the likes of Aaron, Mays, Mantle, Mathews, Banks, etc. Rocky appeared in two episodes….and then on April 17th.…. THE TRADE! In the most controversial trade in that day, Rocky was traded to Detroit for Harvey Kuenn; the AL HR Champion for the AL Batting Champion. Despite the trauma, disappointment and surprise, Rocky hit 35 HRs and knocked in 87 RBIs while batting .249 for his new team, the Tigers.

1961: A BREAKOUT YEAR! If it were not for the legendary Mantle-Maris HR chase for Ruth’s 60 HRs, they would still be talking about Rocky’s performance in that same year: 45 HR, 140 RBIs, 113 Walks, 338 Total Bases, and .982 OPS (staggering). He, Kaline and Cash led the Tigers offense as they chased the Yankees unsuccessfully throughout 1961 to finish second with a 101-61 W/L record. Rocky was chosen as an All-Star for the second time and appeared in both games.

1962: Another great year for Rocky as he finished with 37 HRs and 112 RBIs and a .514 Slugging Average. Rocky lead the AL for the second time in Total Bases with 309. Rocky was chosen for the AL All-Star team for the third time in his career and appeared in both games.

1963: A bit of an off year as Rocky hit 22 HRs and 87 RBIs while hitting .271 BA. The Tigers slip to 5th and Rocky was dealt to the KC Athletics in the off-season.

1964: With the A’s, Rocky bounced back for another great year hitting .274 and collecting 31 doubles, 34 HRs and knocking in 102 RBIs while producing a .507 Slugging Average; team leader in all those categories for the year. Rocky was selected for the AL All-Star team for the fourth time.

1965: On January 20th, Cleveland makes a blockbuster 3-team trade to get Rocky Colavito back in an Indians’ uniform. The move paid off as Rocky had a stellar year at the plate and in the field. He hit for a solid .287 BA with 26 HRs. Additionally, Rocky was the AL RBI Champion knocking in 108. Colavito also lead the American League in total walks with 93 and ranked first in the American League in Times on Base with 266 reaches; all of this while appearing in a Major League leading 162 games played. While playing every game, Colavito became the first American League outfielder in history to complete a perfect 1.000 fielding average season. Colavito finished 5th in the MVP voting for the year and was chosen for the fifth time and started in RF for the American League All-Star team.

1966: Rocky has a bit of an off year as his BA falls to .238 but still produced 30 HRs and 72 RBIs. He ranked in the AL top ten for HRs (6th) and Walks (7th), and was selected to the American League All-Star team for the sixth time.

1967: Rocky started the year with the Indians but was traded to the Chicago White Sox on July 29th in a Sox attempt to punch up their offensive attack in an attempt to capture the American League pennant right down to the last days of the season. Colavito’s numbers dropped in a limited role with Chicago.

1968: Rocky was acquired in the off-season by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Again, he served in a limited role with the Dodgers. On July 11th, the Dodgers released him but on July 15th, he was signed as a free agent by his boyhood favorite team, the New York Yankees. He finished out his career with the Yankees in a limited role and was released on September 30th.

In addition, Rocky:

Possessed arguably the strongest arm of any right fielder of his time. His legendary gun for an arm was unilaterally respected as few runners dared to attempt to stretch hits or advance to 3rd on him.
Was one of youngest players to reach 300 career HRs.
At time of retirement, ranked only behind Jimmie Foxx (524) and Harmon Killebrew (then at 397) among American League right-handed hitters in career HRs.
At time of retirement, was only the fifth player in American League history to achieve eleven (11) consecutive 20-HR seasons.
At time of retirement, his 1,272 games played in RF ranked 8th in American League history.
Colavito’s perfect 1.000 Fielding Average in 162 games in 1965 was the first such by an outfielder in the American League and has only been duplicated once (1982/Brian Downing/158 games).
Was selected to 9 All-Star Games and started in 5 of them. He appeared in all of them while clubbing 3 HRs total; more than some notable Hall of Fame members with many more appearances than Rocky in All-Star competition.

As for his fans, Rocky was legendary for, as Wikipedia states it “… always accommodating the hundreds of autograph seekers after each game even if it took a few hours…”

His popularity with fans continues as evidenced by the strong reception he receives whenever he appears in public. Colavito memorabilia remains in demand often outselling many Hall of Fame members’ items and his accomplishments are still cited by the press with comparisons to players today.

In 1976, Rocky was voted the most memorable personality in Cleveland Indians' history. He was elected to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 1981, and was inducted into the Cleveland Indians' Hall of Fame in 2006.

In his Foreword to “Don’t Knock the Rock; The Rocky Colavito Story”, (World Publishing Company, 1966), author Gordon Cobbledick described the Rock as being ‘lamentably deficient’ in colorful off-the-field behavior, picturesque language, and any other various departures from the norm that make for good story-telling.

To this day, Rocky Colavito continues to exhibit the high morals and strong values that won him the respect and admiration of players and fans throughout his playing career and gave challenge to the author of his biography. Rocky’s personal life is marked by an impeccable reputation, highlighted by his marriage of over 50 years to the same woman and his devotion to their children and grandchildren.

For all of these reasons, we encourage you all to breathe some fresh air into the Hall of Fame and, by your signature, convince the Veterans’ Committee to properly select and enshrine Rocky Colavito, an exceptional, gifted and deserving man, into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The facts and figures herein have been culled from the website: Baseball-Reference (http://www.baseball-reference.com) and can also be found at The Baseball Library (http://www.baseballlibrary.com) and the Baseball Almanac (http://www.baseball-almanac.com) websites. Please check these sites out to see additional highlights and statistics on the career of Rocky Colavito.

Please sign the Petition and pass it on to baseball fans everywhere: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/rockycolavitofans