Title/Author:
“One Tough Out:
Fighting Off Life’s Curveballs” by Rod Carew and Jaime Aron
Tags:
Baseball,
professional, memoir, Twins, Angels, faith
Publish date:
May 12, 2020
Length:
336 pages
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (excellent)
Review:
Rod Carew’s baseball career was one
of excellence. In 19 seasons with Minnesota
Twins and California Angels, Carew won seven batting titles, one Most Valuable
Player award (1977 with the Twins), was an All-Star in 18 of his 19 seasons and
amassed 3053 hits. He was elected to
baseball’s Hall of Fame on his first year of eligibility in 1991. But just five years later, he went through
what no parent should experience – the loss of a child as his youngest daughter
Michelle died of complications from leukemia at 18 years old. His grief and subsequent healing from this
tragedy and his own life-threatening heart condition, as well as his baseball
career, are captured in this poignant memoir written with Jaime Aron.
The book starts with Carew beginning
to play a round of golf in September 2015 when he suffers a heart attack in the
first tee box and is rushed to the hospital.
He states that he saw a guardian angel – just what his daughter told him
when she was brought back to life during her battle with leukemia. That sets the tone for the second half of the
book as Carew shares his pain at losing his youngest daughter to her death and
his other two daughters afterward as they left with their mother when she and
Carew divorced soon after Michelle’s passing.
Carew stated that “the demise and death of a teenage daughter either
brings a husband and wife closer together or tears them apart. Michelle’s death tore us apart.”
Enter Rhonda Fedden. After meeting
after a game in which Carew gave Rhonda and a friend jackets from the dugout
when he was the hitting coach for the Milwaukee Brewers he got her phone number
– “Her last four digits were 3053. That’s
the number of hits I had in my career.” They married in 2001 and both of them
place their faith as very important in their life and it is clear in the
writing that this faith not only carried them through Carew’s heart attack and
subsequent heart and kidney transplants, but also when meeting the family of
the 29 year old donor and having them become part of the family. Carew notes that the donor’s age matched his
jersey number for both the Twins and Angels – another sign that God was
watching over Carew.
Speaking of faith, Carew makes it
known that while he did practice Judaism when he was married to his first wife
(whose name is never mentioned, but was Marilyn) he never converted as was a
popular myth made famous by Adam Sandler’s “Chanukah Song.” When Carew met with Sandler and told him this,
it made for one of the lighter moments in the second half of the book.
The first half is dedicated to Carew’s childhood and baseball career, which had plenty of interesting stories. Born in Panama and raised in an abusive environment in which he and his mother suffered at the hands of his father, they eventually found their way to New York City, where a Twins scout conducted a tryout for Carew and after seeing him hit, hid him in the clubhouse so that the Yankees wouldn’t also see Carew perform. The Twins signed him and after some time in the minor leagues, he became the 1967 American League Rookie of the Year and his career took off from there.
Carew shares stories of both his
bond with teammates and his moodiness (he called it his “fight or flight”, in
which he wanted to use the flight) that nearly caused him to quit the game
several times. The teammates he
remembered most fondly are Tony Oliva and Harmon Killebrew from the Twins and
Don Baylor with the Angels. Oliva and
Carew are still close friends to this date and he remained in touch with “Charlie”
(Killebrew) and “Groove” (Baylor) until their deaths in 2011 and 2017
respectively.
There are three other people who are
often mentioned in the baseball section as being important to his career –
Billy Martin, Calvin Griffith and Gene Autry.
Carew credits Martin with not only helping him stay with the Twins
(Martin was a coach with the Twins at the time) but also to help him become a
better base stealer and bunter, two parts of the game in which he
excelled. While Carew left the Twins
because of some actions and a racist rant by Griffith, they eventually mended
their relationship to the point that Griffith was one of the first people Carew
called after he learned he was elected to the Hall of Fame. Of note, both Martin and Griffith were
prominently mentioned in his induction speech.
Carew also heaped praise for Gene Autry, “Groove” and Reggie Jackson as
important people during his time in Anaheim.
Reading about Carew’s career, his
grief over losing his daughter, his faith and strength during his near-death
experience and his love for his wife and her children (he adopted them soon
after marrying Rhonda) as well as the family of his donor will leave the reader
inspired and joyful. The manner in which
he fought off “curveballs”, whether in the batter’s box or for bigger issues in
his life, is an inspiring story that any reader will enjoy, especially if the
reader is a fan of Rod Carew the player as this reviewer has been since
learning the game.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Nook)
Buying Links:
Great blog and a wonderful story. I remember seeing a short documentary about Carew and his donor.
ReplyDeleteGood player.Good example of what a player should be as a person as well.
ReplyDelete