Editing Rod Carew (section)

===Minnesota Twins===
In the top of the second inning on April 11, 1967, at [[Memorial Stadium (Baltimore)|Memorial Stadium]] against the [[Baltimore Orioles]], Carew hit a single for his first major league hit in his first [[plate appearance]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL196704110.shtml|title=Minnesota Twins at Baltimore Orioles Box Score, April 11, 1967|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=February 3, 2020}}</ref> he would finish the game going 2&ndash;4.<ref name="sabr"/> A few weeks later against the [[Texas Rangers (baseball)#Washington Senators (1961–1971)|Washington Senators]], Carew went 5&ndash;5 with a [[double (baseball)|double]] and a [[stolen base]] for the first 5&ndash;hit game of his career.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN196705080.shtml|title=Washington Senators at Minnesota Twins Box Score, May 8, 1967|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=February 3, 2020}}</ref> He was elected to the first of his 18 consecutive All-Star game appearances, and won the [[American League]] (AL) [[Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award|Rookie of the Year award]]<ref name="sabr"/><ref name="The Ballplayers"/><ref name="BR">{{cite web|title=Rod Carew Statistics|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/carewro01.shtml|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=August 28, 2013}}</ref> receiving 19 of 20 first place votes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1967.shtml#all_AL_ROY_voting|title=1967 Awards Voting|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=February 3, 2020}}</ref> In a game against the [[Detroit Tigers]] at [[Metropolitan Stadium]] on May 18, 1969, [[Cesar Tovar]] led off the bottom of the third with a single.<ref name="steal all bases">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/stealing_second_third_home.shtml|title=Major League Baseball Players Who Stole Every Base in an Inning|work=Baseball-Almanac.com|access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref> With Carew at bat, pitcher [[Mickey Lolich]] [[balk (baseball)|balked]] and Tovar moved to second base, then stole third. Carew walked, then executed a [[double steal]] with Tovar as Tovar stole home and Carew stole second. Carew then stole third base, followed by a steal of home. This marked the 41st time in Major League history and the 20th time in AL history that a runner had stolen every base in an inning.<ref name="steal all bases"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN196905180.shtml|title=Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins Box Score, May 18, 1969|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref> Carew [[Stolen base|stole]] home seven times in 1969, leading the major leagues in this category and just missing [[Ty Cobb]]'s record of eight. Carew's seven steals of home in 1969 was the most in the majors since [[Pete Reiser]] stole seven for the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] in 1946. Manager [[Billy Martin]] had worked with Carew throughout the 1969 season to learn how to steal home,<ref name="Goldman, Rob pp. 150">[[#Gold06|Goldman, Rob]] pp. 150</ref> and teammate [[Sandy Valdespino]] had taught Carew how to bunt more effectively,<ref name="Goldman, Rob pp. 150"/> at the end of the season he led the AL with a .332 batting average, the second-place finisher, [[Reggie Smith]], had a .309 average.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1969-batting-leaders.shtml|title=1969 AL Batting Leaders|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref>

[[File:Rod-carew cleveland 08-31-1975.jpg|thumb|left|Carew with the Minnesota Twins warming up before a game in Cleveland in 1975]]
Carew had hit for the [[cycle (baseball)|cycle]] on May 20, 1970, against the [[Kansas City Royals]], going 4&ndash;5 with a stolen base,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA197005200.shtml|title=Minnesota Twins at Kansas City Royals Box Score, May 20, 1970|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref> this was the first cycle hit by a member of the Twins.<ref name="sabr"/> Later that year, on June 22, he was injured at second base attempting to convert a [[double play]], he had surgery to repair ligaments in his left leg, and missed 92 games.<ref name="sabr"/> In 1972, Carew led the AL in [[Batting average (baseball)|batting]], hitting .318; he had no [[home run]]s for the only time in his career. This was the first time since 1918, when [[Zack Wheat]] won the National League batting championship, that a player won the batting title with no home runs.

The start of the 1973 season was slow, Carew was only hitting .246 by the end of April.<ref name="1973 logs">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=carewro01&t=b&year=1973|title=1973 Batting Game Log|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref> Carew performed well during the summer months, including a 5-hit performance on August 14.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN197308140.shtml|title=Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins Box Score, August 14, 1973|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref> By the end of September he was back in the major league lead with a .353 average.<ref name="1973 logs"/> When the season concluded he won his third batting title, with a major league leading .350 batting average.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/1973-batting-leaders.shtml|title=1973 MLB Batting Leaders|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref> His 203 hits and 11 triples also led the AL.<ref name="BR"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1973-batting-leaders.shtml|title=1973 AL Batting Leaders|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref> The next season, Carew had his best year to date, from his first at bat on April 5, against the [[Kansas City Royals]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA197404050.shtml|title=Minnesota Twins at Kansas City Royals Box Score, April 5, 1974|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref> he never batted below .300 for the entire year.<ref name="1974 logs">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=carewro01&t=b&year=1974|title=1974 Batting Game Log|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref> Through June 27, he was batting .400<ref name="1974 logs"/> but cooled off near the end of the season. His 213 hits were a career-high, and led the majors,<ref name="1974 ml">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/1974-batting-leaders.shtml|title=1974 MLB Batting Leaders|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref> and he collected his fourth career batting title with a .364 batting average.<ref name="BR"/>

In 1975, Carew won his fourth consecutive AL batting title.<ref name="BR"/> He joined [[Ty Cobb]] as the only players to lead the major leagues in batting average for three consecutive seasons. Seeing time predominantly at second base early in his career, Carew moved to [[first base]] in September 1975 and stayed there for the rest of his career.<ref name="sabr"/> Carew missed out on winning another batting title in 1976 as his .331 average was only .002 behind the league leader [[George Brett]]. Carew still collected career highs in games played (156) and stolen bases (49), and had 200 hits for the third time in his career. He became the first player to steal 40 bases while predominantly playing first base in a season since [[George Sisler]] in 1922.<ref name="BR"/>

In the 1977 season, Carew batted .388, which was the highest since [[Boston Red Sox|Boston's]] [[Ted Williams]] hit .388 in 1957; he won the 1977 AL [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award]]. He also set career highs with 239 hits (at that time the most by any player since 1930),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stathead.com/tiny/czyYw |title=Batting Season & Career Finder: For Single Seasons, From 1871 to 1977, (requiring H>=239), sorted by greatest Hits |website=Stathead |access-date=October 16, 2020}}</ref> 100 RBIs and 128 runs scored. In the summer of 1977, Carew appeared on the cover of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' with the caption "Baseball's Best Hitter".<ref name=Time>{{cite news|url=https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19770718,00.html|title=Baseball's Best Hitter (Cover)|access-date=February 2, 2014|newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=July 18, 1977|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015205910/http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19770718,00.html|archive-date=October 15, 2012|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> He won his seventh and final batting title in 1978 when he hit .333.<ref name=BR/> He had finished in the top 15 in AL MVP voting in every season between 1972 and 1978.<ref name=BR/>