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Cleveland baseball great Rocky Colavito has died at age 91
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- Cleveland baseball great Rocky Colavito has died at age 91
Cleveland outfielder Rocky Colavito bats during the 1965 season.
Rocky Colavito died while surrounded by family at his home in Bernville, Penn., on Tuesday, the Guardians announced. He was 91.
Colavito was a nine-time All-Star outfielder who played eight seasons in Cleveland , hitting 190 home runs and driving in 574 runs during that time. He finished in the top five in MVP voting three times with Cleveland (1958, 1959, 1965).
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Colavito's family confirmed his passing to Guardians senior vice president of public affairs Bob DiBiasio.
"Our collective hearts ache at the passing of Rocky," DiBiasio said in a team statement. "Rocky was a generational hero, one of the most popular players in franchise history. His popularity was evident across Northeast Ohio as sandlot ballplayers everywhere imitated Rocky's on-deck circle routine of kneeling, then as he stepped into the batter's box the stretching the bat over the shoulders and pointing the bat at the pitcher. I can proudly say I was one of them."Rocky loved our organization and always held the fans in the highest esteem. He would always say, 'I am thankful God chose me to play in Cleveland.' We send our most sincere condolences to the entire Colavito family, as well as his many teammates and other organizations impacted by his passing."
During his 14-year major league career, Colavito also played for the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals , Chicago White Sox , Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees .
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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Rocky Colavito, former All-Star outfielder with Cleveland, dies at 91
