Happy Birthday Rod Carew

Rod Carew may be more Twin than Angel but we’ll let it slide for this post. The Angels did retire Carew’s number and induct him into their Hall of Fame so he is more than worthy of the birthday shout out from Halo Hangout. Carew, a gazillion time All Star and 1991 Hall of Fame inductee, turned 67 on the first of October.

Rod stylin’ and profilin’ in Minnesota (Jesse Johnson-US PRESSWIRE)

That Carew is one interesting fella. His mother named him after Dr. Rodney Kline, the doctor who delivered Rod on a train in the Panama Canal Zone. Carew grew up in Washington Heights and never played high school baseball. He was signed by the Twins as an amateur after playing semi-pro. Carew won Rookie of the Year in 1967 and was the MVP in 1977 with five other top 10 finishes. Missing only his final year in 1985, Carew made 18 consecutive All Star Games. He finished his career with a .328/.393/.429 line and 3,053 hits. Despite homering just 92 times, Carew got 90.5% of the Hall of Fame vote in his first year of eligibility.

Of course, there is that one thing. A controversy so big, you might not even remember it happening. Rod Carew is, in fact, not Jewish nor has he ever been Jewish. *crowd gasps* That’s right, I’m pointing my finger at you, Adam Sandler. *makes fart noise with armpit* Sandler famously tossed Carew into Judaism for his 1994 classic “The Chanukah Song.” It went a little something like, “…O.J. Simpson… not a Jew! But guess who is: Hall of Famer Rod Carew! He converted!” Lies, damn lies. Carew married a Jewish woman, sure, but never converted. Dozens of words were maybe written about it across the country.

Now that that is settled, we can break out the ice cream cake and pizza rolls. Happy Birthday, Rod. Surely, Angels fans will never forget the home run you hit off Doyle Alexander in 1985.