Sent To Tigers in Blockbuster Deal
Colavito was easily the Cleveland fans' favorite, with his handsome appearance and approachability, always accommodating the hundreds of autograph seekers after each game even if it took a few hours. But just days before the Opening Day of the 1960 season, Indians general manager Frank Lane traded him to the Detroit Tigers for Harvey Kuenn, who had won the 1959 batting title. The trade proved to be a good one for the Tigers but a terrible, unpopular one for the Indians, whose fans lost their favorite player and best hitter. Kuenn had a minor injury early in the season and was traded away by the end of the year. Lane, whose reputation as a wheeler-dealer earned him the moniker Frank "Trader" Lane in the sports press, further irritated fans by saying, "What's all the fuss about? All I did was trade hamburger for steak." Tigers GM Bill DeWitt jokingly responded that he liked hamburger. In 1961 with the Tigers, Colavito enjoyed career highs of 45 home runs, 140 RBI and 129 runs scored as the team led the Major Leagues in scoring; he placed eighth in the MVP race. While in Detroit, he played left field, because Al Kaline was established in right field.
Yet Tiger fans didn't take to him the same way as those in Cleveland, preferring the more consistent Kuenn; and sportswriter Joe Falls, who viewed Colavito as a "self-ordained deity," started a feature chronicling the runs he failed to drive in. In one game, Falls – acting as the official scorer – charged Colavito with a controversial error, and the outfielder tried to attack him; and on May 12, 1961, he was ejected from the game after climbing into the stands to go after a drunken fan who had been insulting his wife and father. The Detroit journalist kept a statistic on Colavito during his years as a member of the Detroit Tigers. When Colavito stranded a runner, Falls would give him an RNBI (Run Not Batted In). This infuriated Colavito and created a tense relationship between the two for several years. After his excellent 1961 season, he drew the local fans' criticism by holding out for a higher salary than established team star Al Kaline.
Read more about this topic: Rocky Colavito
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