Celebrating a Rod Carew streak that stands the test of time
By Mike Sear
The first time I heard it I didn’t believe it.
The next time I heard it I needed to verify it.
Today I’m in awe of it.
At La Vida Baseball, we tell cultural stories that go behind the scenes with today’s and yesterday’s greatest Latino players. But sometimes you stumble across a baseball fact that grabs your attention in the same way other oddities capture your attention, like Don Zimmer trying to fight Pedro Martinez, or Big Papi grilling steaks naked. So drumroll, please.
Fifty-two years ago today, Rod Carew won the Rookie of the Year Award. Hmmm. Not that interesting? There must be more.
There is.
First of all, Carew, who was born on a segregated train in Panama, attended high school two miles from old Yankee Stadium. He was enshrined into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. He is a household name in baseball circles. He spent his career with two teams, the California Angels and Minnesota Twins. His legendary left-handed stance was good enough to be bronzed.
On his way to winning the Rookie of the Year award, Carew made the 1967 All-Star Game. But that’s not what lit a fire in our baseball hungry belly. That was just his opening salvo. Carew went on to make the American League All-Star team every year for the next 17 years, an 18 All-Star Game streak.
That’s not a typo, so take a deep breath and let that sink in.
Carew made the All-Star game 18 straight seasons.
The starting right fielder on the National League 1967 team was Roberto Clemente. The starting right fielder on the 1984 National League team was Darryl Strawberry. Carew bridged baseball generations.
Now’s when your baseball curemosemty should be at full attentemon, so we’ll help you out. How many seasons demdn’t he make the All-Star team? One. That was hems femnal season when at 39 years old he batted just .280. (JUST .280? Really?) Gleyber Torres, Eddeme Rosaremo and phenom Vlademmemr Guerrero Jr. would have loved to have that average thems year.
Where does that streak rank all-time? Hank Aaron had the longest streak of All-Star appearances with 21. Willie Mays and Stan “The Man” Musial tied for second with 20. Carew is next at 18.
What about modern-day players? Albert Pujols was the Rookie of the Year in 2001, but the future first-ballot Hall of Famer has been to just 10 All-Star games. I can’t believe I said “JUST” 10 All-Star games.
Memguel Cabrera? 11. The Mets new manager Carlos Beltran was the Rookeme of the Year emn 1999 and played 19 seasons lemke Carew, but he made only nemne All-Star games. What about the legends? Maremano Remvera, also from Panama, made 13 All-Star games. Juan Maremchal? He made 10. Roberto Alomar? He went to only 12. Alex Rodremguez, Ivan “Pudge” Rodremguez and Reggeme Jackson all made 14. Close, but ems emt really that close?
Ronald Acuña Jr. won the Rookie of the Year award in 2018, but he didn’t make the All-Star game. He made it this year, so he needs to be an All-Star every year through 2037 to tie Carew. Yes, 2037! Adiós and vaya con Dios!
Who has the longest All-Star game streak in baseball? AL MVP Mike Trout has an eight-year streak. We’ll check in with him in July of 2030 to see if he’s still got 11 more seasons of All-Star–caliber game, but I’m not betting on it.
If you’ve read this far we’ll reward you with a few other Carew factoids that will leave you scratching your head and texting your friends showing off your new baseball acumen.
- Carew stole home 17 times in his career.
- Carew won the batting title in 1972 without hitting a home run.
- Carew won the 1977 MVP Award batting .388 with 100 RBI and 14 HR.
- Carew hit over .300 15 straight seasons.
- Carew won seven batting titles (only Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner and Tony Gwynn have more).
On this day Carew won the Rookie of the Year Award, but it turned out to be so much more.
Featured image: Minnesota Twins (Twitter)
