Yankees and the Hall of Fame: Rocky Colavito

James Vlietstra
Mar 14
2 min read

Updated: Mar 15

by James Vlietstra

***

Over the next many months, I am going to review the credentials of several former Yankees.

With all that being said, I am going to review the credentials of several former Yankees. Together, we can discuss if we believe that they are deserving of being included in the Hall Of Fame or not. I hope you read along and give me your opinions over the next several weeks.

Note - Some people currently in the Hall Of Fame are not specifically in for their merits as a player alone. For instance, Joe Torre didn't get in until after his success as a manager. Phil Rizzuto made it after a career as an announcer. Overall, their careers were definitely deserving. Similarly, Bill Mazeroski was generally considered a light hitting middle infielder, however, one iconic moment got him enshrined. I am including some of these type players too for us to discuss.

Today we are going to be discussing:

Rocky Colavito....

...played for six teams during his 14 year career. The last half of his final season was with the Yankees.

Colavito was a nine time all star and had a total of 971 Runs scored and 1,159 RBIs. His career home run total of 374 was good for 18th all time when he retired. Currently he is number 81.

He had four seasons of 5.0+ WAR on his way to a career total of 44.5.

His OPS+ was 132. He hit four home runs in a game.

Rocky's best season was 1961, when, as a Tiger, he had a 7.6 WAR along with 129 Runs. 45 HRs, and 140 RBIs.

Colavito garnered only two Hall of Fame votes in 1974, followed by one in 1975, before being removed from the ballot.

6 Comments

etbkarate

Mar 16

I am Bias, he married into my extended family!

bbcfan64

Mar 15

Yeah definitely didn’t maintain the elite level for long enough to be in the Hall.

yankeerudy

Mar 15

Fyi The home page blurb mentions Bernie Williams.

Paul Semendinger

Mar 15

Replying to

Uggg. Sometimes the changes on WIX don't take. A day late, and a dollar short... I fixed it - and gave the article credit ot James.

fuster

Mar 15

he came to Yankee Stadium with the Tigers in a game I attended

and he was impressive to my young self.

he hit the ball hard and far. cleared the wall

and he had an arm, threw ropes to second base.

but he faded at a fairly young age and Detroit dumped him by the time he turned 30

Robert Malchman

Mar 14

Another Hall of the Very Good candidate who doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame.

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