The man who holds the highest lifetime batting average among all Latino Major Leaguers is the 79th inductee into the Baseball Hall of Immortals.
Rod Carew became the everyday second baseman for the Twins in his first year, earning Rookie of the Year honors. This would be only 4 of his 19 seasons where he batted under .300. From 1969 through 1983 he never hit below .305, and hit over .350 five times.
Carew’s name would become synonymous with batting titles, earning 7 of them in a 10 year stretch. In 1977 he flirted with the magical .400, finishing the season at .388 while accumulating 239 hits, and scoring 128 runs, all tops in the American League. Carew would win his only MVP that year (but received top 10 votes in 5 other seasons).
In Carew’s final season in 1985 he would surpass the 3,000 hit mark (interestingly on the same day that Tom Seaver won his 300th game).
Carew retired with 3,053 hits, a .328 lifetime batting average, and 353 stolen bases.
The man who was a hitting machine during the 60s and 70s is an Immortal.
For some background on what this is, check out the introduction post here.
