1960S "IN-ACTION": 1967 ROCKY COLAVITO

Good day everyone.

On the blog today, we have the first card from what will be my third series of "1960s In-Action" set, this one a card of former slugger Rocky Colavito of the Cleveland Indians on a 1967 template:

I chose the 1967 template since his base 1967 card is a complete pain in the butt to get for those of us completing that legendary set!

I found a nice "action" shot of him in-game, stretching before an at-bat.

Between 1956 and 1966 there were few Major League batters who hit homers as frequently as he, hitting 358 home runs playing for the Indians, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Athletics.
He topped 40+ homers three times, with a career-best 45 in 1961 while also leading the American League in 1959 with 42 blasts.
By the time he retired, he hit 374 homers with 1159 RBIs over 1841 games in 14-years, finishing Top-5 in MVP voting three times and making the All-Star team six times.

CUSTOM SPOTLIGHT: 1969 ROCKY COLAVITO CAREER-CAPPER

Today on the blog, a fun card to create, a 1969 career-capper for former slugger Rocky Colavito, from my "Whole Nine" custom set released last year:

 

In his last season as a Major League player, Colavito split the 1968 campaign between the Loa Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees, hitting .211 with eight homers and 24 runs batted in over 79 games and 204 official at-bats.

Between 1956 and 1966 there were few Major League batters who hit homers as frequently as he, hitting 358 home runs playing for the Indians, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Athletics.
He topped 40+ homers three times, with a career-best 45 in 1961 while also leading the American League in 1959 with 42 blasts.
By the time he retired, he hit 374 homers with 1159 RBIs over 1841 games in 14-years, finishing Top-5 in MVP voting three times and making the All-Star team six times.

SPECIAL SPOTLIGHT: "LOST" 1963 FLEER SECOND SERIES: ROCKY COLAVITO

The next card from my custom 1963 Fleer "Lost Second Series" set released last year is slugger Rocky Colavito, fellow New York City native:

Rocky was coming off another great slugging year in 1962 when this card would have seen the light of day, hitting 37 homer along with 112 runs batted in for the Detroit Tigers, his fifth straight season of 35+ homers.

Between 1956 and 1966 there were few Major League batters who hit homers as frequently as he, hitting 358 home runs playing for the Indians, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Athletics.
He topped 40+ homers three times, with a career-best 45 in 1961 while also leading the American League in 1959 with 42 blasts.
By the time he retired, he hit 374 homers with 1159 RBIs over 1841 games in 14-years, finishing Top-5 in MVP voting three times and making the All-Star team six times.

COACH CARD- 1978 ROCKY COLAVITO

Here’s a fun card to add to the blog, a 1978 coach card for fellow New York City native Rocky Colavito, who was lending his expertise to the Cleveland Indians after a wonderful Major League playing career:

Colavito ended his playing days back in 1968 before immediately going into coaching, putting in a great MLB “lifer” career that began way back in 1955 when the 21-year-old debuted with the Indians.
Between 1956 and 1966 there were few Major League batters who hit homers as frequently as he, hitting 358 home runs playing for the Indians, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Athletics.
He topped 40+ homers three times, with a career-best 45 in 1961 while also leading the American League in 1959 with 42 blasts.
By the time he retired, he hit 374 homers with 1159 RBIs over 1841 games in 14-years, finishing Top-5 in MVP voting three times and making the All-Star team six times.
Took me a long time to find an adequate image of him during his coaching days to use on a card. So glad I finally did!

 

 

TURN BACK THE CLOCK- 1959 ROCKY COLAVITO SLAMS FOUR HOMERS IN A GAME

Next up in my “Turn Back the Clock” sub-set series is former slugger (and another fellow Brooklyn native) Rocky Colavito, who slammed four home runs on June 10th against the Baltimore Orioles:

Leading the Indians to an 11-8 win, all Colavito did that day was go 4-4 with four round-trippers, driving in six runs while scoring five himself.
The game would help him take the home run title that season, hitting 42 of them while driving in 111 runs after hitting 41 the previous year.
It’s easy to forget after all these years that Colavito was one of the top all-time home run hitters when he retired after the 1968 season, swatting 374 of them along with 1159 RBI’s and 971 runs scored.
Ironically, right after he led the American League in homers in 1959 he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for batting champ Harvey Kuenn on April 17th of 1960, the only time a batting champ was traded for a home run champ.
He would not disappoint the Detroit fans, averaging just under 35 home runs during his four years in the “Motor City”, including a career high of 45 during the homer-crazy 1961 season.