Editing Rod Carew (section)

===California Angels===

[[File:Rod Carew Angelscard.png|thumb|upright|Carew with the Angels.]]

In 1979, allegedly frustrated by the Twins' inability to keep young talent, some [[racism|racist]] comments by [[Calvin Griffith]], and the Twins' overall penny-pinching negotiating style,<ref name="theatlantic.com"/> Carew announced his intention to leave the Twins. On February 3, Carew was traded to the [[Los Angeles Angels|Angels]] for [[outfield]]er [[Ken Landreaux]], [[catcher]]/[[first baseman]] [[Dave Engle]], right-handed [[pitcher]] [[Paul Hartzell]], and left-handed pitcher [[Brad Havens]].<ref name="Total Baseball">{{Cite book|author1=Charlton, James|author2=Shatzkin, Mike|author3=Holtje, Stephen|title=The Ballplayers: baseball's ultimate biographical reference|publisher=Arbor House/William Morrow and Company|location=New York|year=1990|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ballplayersbaseb00shat/page/155 155–156]|isbn=0-87795-984-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/ballplayersbaseb00shat/page/155}}</ref> Although it would have represented an infusion of talent, the Twins were unable to complete a possibly better deal with the [[New York Yankees]] in January in which Carew would have moved to the Yankees in exchange for [[Chris Chambliss]], [[Juan Beníquez]], [[Dámaso García]], and [[Dave Righetti]].<ref>{{cite news |date=January 30, 1979 |title=Yankees, Twins still dickering |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2E1SAAAAIBAJ&dq=Yankees%2C+Twins+still+dickering&pg=PA24 |access-date=June 19, 2009 |work=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |publisher=[[United Press International]] |pages=3c |via=Google News}}</ref> In 2020, Carew denied the longtime allegations that the controversial comments which Griffith made in 1978 suggesting support for Minnesota having a low African-American population and the idea that blacks preferred wrestling to baseball was what triggered his trade to the Angels when he stated, "When he traded me prior to the 1979 season, Calvin told me he wanted me to be paid what I was worth. Later that year the Angels made me the highest paid player in baseball. A racist wouldn't have done that."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Carew|first=Rod|title=STATEMENT FROM ROD CAREW ON CALVIN GRIFFITH|work=KSTP|url=https://kstp.com/kstpImages/repository/cs/files/STATEMENT%20FROM%20ROD%20CAREW%20ON%20CALVIN%20GRIFFITH.pdf|access-date=June 19, 2020|archive-date=June 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622101703/https://kstp.com/kstpImages/repository/cs/files/STATEMENT%20FROM%20ROD%20CAREW%20ON%20CALVIN%20GRIFFITH.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Rod Carew at Yankee Stadium.jpg|thumb|right|255px|Carew bats at [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]] in 1979.]]

Though Carew did not win a batting title after 1978, he hit between .305 and .339 from 1979 to 1983.<ref name=BR/> In 1982, Carew broke his hand early in the season. Newspaper reports characterized him as swinging one-handed that season due to pain, but he put together a 25-game hitting streak at one point in the season.<ref name="Hand">{{Cite news |date=June 25, 1982 |title=As hand heals, Rod Carew soars |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1320&dat=19820625&id=ESsgAAAAIBAJ&pg=5454,2816726 |access-date=February 2, 2014 |work=[[Gainesville Sun]]|via=Google News}}</ref> He played in 138 games that year and hit .319. The Angels went to the playoffs in 1982, which was Carew's fourth and final appearance in postseason play. The team lost a five-game series (three games to two) to the [[Milwaukee Brewers]]. Carew played in all five games, but he hit .176 (three hits in 17 at-bats).<ref name=BR/> Carew grounded out to end the fifth and final game by hitting a routine groundball to shortstop [[Robin Yount]] off a pitch from [[Pete Ladd]], a minor-league journeyman who replaced the injured Brewers closer [[Rollie Fingers]].

On August 4, 1985, Carew joined an elite group of ballplayers when he got his [[List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders|3,000th base hit]] against Minnesota Twins left-hander [[Frank Viola]] at the former [[Anaheim Stadium]].<ref name="The Ballplayers"/> The 1985 season was his last. After the season, Rod Carew was granted free agency, after the Angels declined to offer him a new contract. He received an offer from the [[Boston Red Sox]] to be their minor league hitting instructor. His only offer to continue his playing career in 1986 was from the [[San Francisco Giants]]. He declined the offer and opted to retire.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 3, 1986 |title=After 19 Years, Carew Says He's Had Enough |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-06-03-sp-9397-story.html |access-date=2025-03-09 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> Carew suspected that baseball owners were [[Baseball collusion|colluding]] to keep him (and other players) from signing.<ref name=Chass/> On January 10, 1995, nearly a decade after his forced retirement, arbitrator Thomas Roberts ruled that the owners had violated the rules of baseball's [[Baseball collusion#Collusion II|second collusion agreement]]. Carew was awarded damages equivalent to what he would have likely received in 1986: [[United States dollars|$]]782,035.71.<ref name=Chass>{{cite news|last=Chass|first=Murray|title=Baseball; Collusion Case Grants Unusual Damages|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/18/sports/baseball-collusion-case-grants-unusual-damages.html|access-date=August 28, 2013|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 18, 1995}}</ref> Carew finished his career with 3,053 hits and a lifetime [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] of .328.<ref name=ESPN>{{cite news|work=[[ESPN.com]]|title=Rod Carew Stats|url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/55/rod-carew|access-date=August 28, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114151134/http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/55/rod-carew|archive-date=November 14, 2012|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Through 2017, Carew still holds many places in the Twins record books, including: highest career batting average (.334), second-highest on-base percentage (.393, tied with [[Buddy Myer]]), fourth-highest in intentional walks (99), fifth in hits (2,085), and fifth in stolen bases (271).<ref name="Twins 10 Career">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/leaders_bat.shtml|title=Minnesota Twins Top 10 Career Batting Leaders|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=February 3, 2020}}</ref> He also holds many spots in the Angels record books, including: highest career on-base percentage (.393), second-highest batting average (.314), and sixth-highest in both intentional walks (45) and sacrifice hits (60).<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ANA/leaders_bat.shtml|title=Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Top 10 Batting Leaders|access-date=August 28, 2013|archive-date=October 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022015521/http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ANA/leaders_bat.shtml|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Carew's career total of 17 steals of home ties him for 17th on the all-time MLB list with former [[New York Giants (baseball team)|New York Giant]] MVP [[Larry Doyle (baseball)|Larry Doyle]] and fellow Hall of Famer [[Eddie Collins]].<ref name="The Ballplayers"/><ref name="baseball-almanac.com"/>