Curse of Rocky Colavito: A Loving Look at a Thirty-Year Slump by Terry Pluto

Curse of Rocky Colavito: A Loving Look at a Thirty-Year Slump Reviews

• 
  Ron

  One of my favourite baseball books. Reading about decades of mediocrity is usually more interesting than writing about winners. This is how it was for the Cleveland Indians of the 1960's through to the 1980's. Matinee idols abound: Joe Charbonneau, Duane Kuiper, Rick Manning. Top players who left for greener pastures, Rocky Colavito, Luis Tiant, Dennis Eckersley. In the 1990's the Indians finally found success, making it to two World Series (losing both). This book tells the tale of the long hard climb back to respectability. As a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, I can appreciate the frustration.
• 
  Dave

  Excellent book about how heartbreaking it used to be to be a Cleveland Indians fan. I moved to Cleveland well after the curse had been (mostly?) lifted, but I can appreciate this tale of years of stupidity, immaturity, and greed. Plus a whole lot of bad luck. Pluto's too good a writer to just poke fun at the ridiculous; he also shapes all of these "characters" into real people. There are great pictures of players who might be legends, if not for alcohol, prejudice, bad judgment, or injury. I especially liked reading about Mudcat Grant, Andre Thornton, "Super Joe" Charboneau and Sudden Sam McDowell. Pluto's also too good a writer not to include some cheap laughs and a little sentiment. But just a little.
  
  And, yes, Pluto also thinks Chief Wahoo is stupid.
• 
  Jacob

  Good book to accompany me into the stretch run of the Indians pennant race. Good writing from Mr. Pluto. He's pretty frank and brutally honest in it. I could see this book pissing off more than a few people who's names came up in it unfavorably.
  
  Go Tribe!!
• 
  Bruce

  I really enjoyed Terry Pluto's history of the Cleveland Indians in some wilderness years. The Indians
  won a pennant in 1954 and and won their next one in 1995. They still haven't won a World Series since 1948, but as I write this they are the American League Central Division winners so who knows
  if this is the year for them.
  
  Terry Pluto grew up in Cleveland and writes this from both the point of view as a sportswriter and a
  long suffering fan. He as was I was in his youth when in 1959 they last seriously contended for the
  American League pennant. That year they had the home run king of the American League in Rocky
  Colavito. On one magic night Colavito joined that select group of sluggers who have hit four home
  runs in a game. He had matinee idol looks, batting power, and a cannon for an arm that was only
  rivaled in his time by Roberto Clemente and Carl Furillo, both right fielders like the Rock. The Indians finished second that year behind the White Sox.
  
  But the Indians had a general manager named Frank Lane who traded players for the hell of it. He
  got the nickname Trader or in some mind's Traitor Lane. He decided on a blockbuster deal, the
  home king for the batting champion. So a day or so before the 1960 season started Rocky Colavito
  who was popular beyond belief in Cleveland was traded for batting champion Harvey Kuenn of
  Detroit. Lane liked trading so much he traded his manager Joe Gordon to Detroit also for their
  skipper Jimmy Dykes. A one and only deal like that in baseball history.
  
  Colavito was the heart of that team and where the Boston Red Sox had the curse of the Bambino, the Indians had the curse of Colavito. They spent the next 35 years or so in the second division of
  the American League both before and after it was split into east and west divisions in 1969. Players
  came and went, promising stars blossomed with other teams.
  
  There was tragedy too, the one I remember best was the death of Walt Bonds a potential outfield
  star in the middle 60s of leukemia., I remember star catcher Ray Fosse who was never the same after his collision with Pete Rose in an All Star game left him with multiple injuries. He was never thesame after that. The strangest of all was Joe Charbonneau who had a Joe Hardy like season in 1981 and just lost it all after that. One thing after another with the Indians until the Mid 90s.
  
  Curiously enough the film Major League was set in Cleveland where we see the futile Indians catch
  fire and win a pennant. Sonovagun they did it in real life in 1995 after the film came out.
  
  Baseball fans especially Cleveland Indian fans will laugh and cry with Terry Pluto, I know I did.
• 
  Kathy McC

  "The Indians didn't knock the Rock, they just traded him. The date was April 17, 1960."
  That was the day my hero worship of Rocky Colavito began. He is still my favorite ball player. I am not alone.
  "Many are aware of Rocky's limitations. But they love him because he is Rocky Colavito. No more than half a dozen players in the history of Cleveland baseball have been accorded the hero worship he enjoys."
  
  I was hoping this book would have more information about The Rock, but I still enjoyed reading about all of the players from various teams that I remember from the late 50s and then the 60s. They were players who played for love of the game, not just the money. Many of the top players didn't make $100,000 a year in the early 60s.
  Writing style was light-hearted and covered a variety of topics.
• 
  Mark

  I rarely give a book any stars at all, but mostly because I tend to start at 2.5 and figure the author has to push me one way or another. Seeing that many others give out 4s and 5s with wreckless abandon, I simply choose not to give out stars unless I REALLY like something.
  
  Well, as a lifelong Cleveland fan, I loved this book. I'll likely ship it to my oldest brother sometime soon, because he and I were introduced to baseball via WWWE in the mid 70s, back in Bedford, Ohio.
  
  If you grew up as an Indians fan, with the resulting "L" branded on your forehead, this book is for you.
• 
  Mr. Gottshalk

  I enjoyed reading this very well-researched book of anecdotes about how bad the Cleveland Indians were from 1957 through 1994 (when the book was published). As a baseball card collector, a lot of names jogged my memory of cards I’ve collected for years and years, but I never really considered am that all these players have their own life stories that go beyond baseball. It’s hard to believe how much bad luck the Indians have had in the past. Recently, as the Indians have changed uniforms and are now the Cleveland Guardians, they have had greater success. The ghosts of the past are quiet, for now.
• 
  Troy

  My only regret is not reading this book a few years ago when I could've discussed the events with my dad. My dad always talked about Rocky, Sudden Sam,, SuperJoe, and others from the glory years of ineptitude. I love the back stories and insight into the life of the Cleveland Indians. Great work by Pluto.
• 
  Mike Langford

  I read this book on a couple of 4-hour flights. I hate flying, but this book was so tragically comical that it made the skies fell almost inviting.
• 
  Dan

  
  Any baseball team can have a bad decade. All it takes is a few bad trades mixed with a few underperforming players and suddenly your team resides in the cellar of their respective division.
  
  But three bad decades? That's quite an accomplishment (sort of). Terry Pluto does indeed take a lovingly look at his hapless Cleveland Indians from 1960-1993 and shows us not just the bad trades and inept managers, but also the really weird stuff that just happens to the Indians. Like a star pitcher discovering (while he's an Indian) alcohol for the first time and becoming an alcoholic. Or, because of a contract mistake, giving a player a $2.5 Million 5 year contract instead of a $75,000 one year contract. Or, and this is my favorite, a veteran player in the 80s sobbing at his locker after a loss because he wants to be traded.
  
  What I really enjoyed about the book, was that Pluto is so obviously a fan of the Indians, not just a sports historian.
• 
  Cora

  Interesting time to read this book, since some of our Cleveland Indians were fighting their way through slumps! Terry Pluto, a great Cleveland sports writer, focuses on that long dark era between the 1960s and early 1990s. He ends just before the Tribe's exciting mid-90s resurgence. It was cool to get an inside glimpse of baseball ownership and management, their impact on teams, and some Tribe history.
• 
  Steve

  An insightful, although sometimes dry, "loving look at a thirty year slump." Pluto has plenty of behind the scenes gossip and enough entertaining stories to tell to keep the book moving along. His ultimate conclusion: an amazing string of coincidences and bad trades had more to do with the slump than Colavito.
• 
  Donald Ozello

  Cleveland based sportswriter Terry Pluto does a fantastic job describing how the Indians began and stayed in a long stretch finishing at the bottom or close to the bottom of the AL East standing. If you are a Cleveland sports fan or a MLB fanatic you should read this book. It is informative, interesting and fun.
• 
  April Helms

  Probably more for diehard sports fans. I found it somewhat interesting. Rocky Colavito, considered one of the best baseball players the Indians had ever seen, was traded abruptly by "Trader" Lane -- and hence Cleveland has been cursed since.
• 
  Lauren

  Any diehard Indians' baseball fan that grew up in the 50's and or 60's will relate to this book, tracking the Indians' streak of bad luck, poor ownership, etc... starting with the trade of Rocky Colavito just prior to the 1960 season.
• 
  Anthony Nelson

  An enjoyable look at Cleveland's 30 years of failure and mistakes. Pluto obviously writes with tremendous knowledge and intimacy with the local scene, which is mostly great but occasionally leads to what seems a bit like score settling with certain players.
• 
  Evan

  This book had me laughing out loud on more than a few occasions.
  
  What a boring review!
  
  
  
• 
  Robert

  Ah, those lovable Cleveland Indians and their Mistake by the Lake.
• 
  Terry

  Fun book to read. Very interesting stories. The
  part about the Kuntz sisters with Mudcat Grant
  was hilarious. Loved it!
• 
  Chris Dean

  Nice history of a era (1960-1994) and a team that is largely forgotten. Lots of funny stories mixed in with the tragedies of Tony Horton, Max Alvis, Steve Olin, etc.
• 
  Jonathan Shaver

  Hands down, the best sports book I've ever read. I am a tad biased being a life-long Tribe fan though so take what I say with a grain of salt.
• 
  Dana Crano

  To a Cleveland Indians fan this book is a must-read. For me, dating a huge Cleveland Indians fan, reading this book was a labor of love. I got through it. Enough said.
• 
  Marshall Merims

  Fun reading for all baseball fans of players from the 1960's through the 1980's. These were lean years for the Cleveland Indians organization and some believe it all began when they traded star player Rocky Colavito. Many unfortunate events occurred to the Indians players over the next 30 years. Hard-throwing pitcher Sam McDowell broke two ribs while pitching. Two players collided on the field causing broken bones and unconsciousness. Catcher Ray Fosse got steam rolled by Pete Rose in the 1970 all-star game. Ten-cent beer night causes a forfeit due to unruly fans pouring onto the field. Pitcher Wayne Garland signs a 10-year contract (after having a 20-win season for Baltimore) wins just 28 games over the 5 seasons until retirement. Dennis Eckersley is traded to the Red Sox where he has a 20 win season and later saves 320 games. One year wonder Joe Charboneau never pans out after his 1980 rookie season. And during spring training of 1993, two players die and another is seriously injured in a Florida boating accident. There are dozens more stories about bad luck and poor business decisions. Half the book was about too much extraneous details unrelated to the "bad luck" of the team which I felt watered down the book. Still enjoyed the many stories about dark and gloomy tiems that they endured. Oh, and they even traded for Rocky in 1965 to get him back on the team, but that didn’t reverse the curse.