As an aspiring young baseball player in the late ‘50s and ‘60s, one of my heroes was Rocky Colavito. He was a well-respected slugger, playing primarily for the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers. The handsome outfielder was a favorite of both of those teams.

How could you not like his name, Rocky Colavito? His given name, of Italian descent, was Rocco Domenico Colavito. Being an Italian-American myself, I naturally gravitated toward his career. Yeah, I was familiar with the most famous Italian ballplayer ever, Joe DiMaggio. But “Joltin’ Joe” had already retired by the time I was growing up and there were no opportunities for me to root for him.

A product of the Bronx (where DiMaggio was his favorite player), Colavito signed a contract as a 17-year-old in 1951 with the Cleveland Indians. He demonstrated a pattern for hitting home runs in bunches from the start of his career. From 1953 to 1955 including two seasons at Triple-A, he collected 96 home runs and 341 RBIs.

He got a brief September callup with the Indians in 1955, and eventually became a regular in 1956, when he was runner-up for American League Rookie of the Year, with 21 home runs and 65 RBIs.

After his 1959 season in which he hit 42 home runs, The Sporting News predicted he would be the most likely player to break Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record.

In one of the blockbuster trades in the early 1960s, he was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Detroit Tigers for Harvey Kuenn in 1960. Both had just come off All-Star seasons with their respective teams.  Colavito led the league in home runs (42) in 1959, while Kuenn led the AL in batting average (.353).

Unfortunately, Colavito never played for a pennant-winning team. And much of his career overlapped with Hall of Fame outfielders Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson, and Roberto Clemente. So, he didn’t get nearly as much ink as he deserved because of these other stars.

Between 1956 and 1966, Colavito hit the fifth-most home runs in all of baseball, behind  Mays, Aaron, Mantle, and Robinson. He was fourth-most in RBIs behind the same group of players minus Mantle.

I won’t go so far as to claim he was a Hall of Famer. But consider that he outpaced recently-elected Dave Parker in WAR (44.9 to 40.1) and OPS+ (132 to 121). He also compares favorably with Hall of Famer Harold Baines who had a 38.8 WAR and 121 OPS+. He finished with 374 home runs and 1,159 RBIs.

He was in the top five in assists for outfielders in 10 seasons. To put his fielding prowess into perspective, he was in the same company as contemporary outfielders Roger Maris and Roberto Clemente for having a rocket-arm.

He put that arm to good use in a rare appearance as a relief pitcher with the New York Yankees during his last season in 1968. He pitched 2 2/3 innings to claim a win.

I can still recall the image of Rocky’s first baseball card, a 1957 Topps. He’s in an Indians uniform pictured as though he was warming up on the sideline before a game. He hadn’t yet become known as Rocky, as his first name Rocco was printed on the front of his card.

RIP, Rocky.