Twin Greatness Rod Carew, 78, Finally Becomes US Citizen: ‘I Love This Country’

MINNEAPOLIS — When Rod Carew applied for U.S. citizenship at age 78, the latest chapter in his fascinating life, he used the same approach that made him one of the best pure hitters in Major League Baseball history.

The Hall of Famer prepared diligently for the 10-question citizenship test, just as he would prepare for a showdown with Bob Gibson. Carew braced himself for every possibility as he spent months breaking down the citizenship test question by question.

Carew officially became a U.S. citizen on Aug. 2 and will be sworn in at a later date. The Panama native revealed the accomplishment to friends this weekend during festivities surrounding a Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame event at Target Field.

“I’m so proud of my husband,” said his wife, Rhonda Carew. “He studied those questions and the answers to those questions like there was no tomorrow. He wouldn’t miss a question.”

“I love this country,” said Rod Carew. “It has given me everything and more.”

Rod Carew, who won seven batting titles and an MVP award, needed a push from family and friends to become an American citizen. (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

News of Carew’s new citizenship came as a surprise to almost everyone. Carew’s family moved from Gatun, Panama to Washington Heights in Manhattan when he was 14. He has lived in the United States ever since, first in Minneapolis and later in Southern California, where he raised three children.

Carew was an instant hit on the field for the Twins, winning the 1967 American League Rookie of the Year award and earning the first of 18 consecutive All-Star Game appearances. When he hit .332 as a 23-year-old in 1969, Carew won the first of seven batting titles, second only to Ty Cobb (12) in AL history. In 1977, Carew hit .388 en route to winning his first and only Most Valuable Player award.

Carew played 12 seasons for the Twins and seven with the Angels. He finished a 19-year career with a .328 average, 3,053 hits and 353 stolen bases and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. Off the field, Carew’s name can be heard on hit songs by the Beastie Boys And Adam Sandler.

Carew had never been an American citizen.

“They had no idea,” Carew said with a laugh.

Friends and family begged Carew for years to become a citizen. After he became a U.S. citizen himself in 1971, fellow Hall of Famer and longtime friend Tony Oliva suggested Carew do the same.

“The first time he told me he wasn’t an American citizen, I didn’t believe him because he came to America as a young boy,” said Oliva, 86, who was born in Cuba. “I thought he was playing a game. We’ve known each other for a hundred years. I still thought he was lying. … When they mentioned it the other night at dinner, I opened my eyes and thought, ‘Finally. What have you been waiting for?'”

Carew thought he would become a citizen much earlier in his life, but that never happened.

In the 1960s, he hoped a six-year stint in the Marine Corps Reserves would provide a path to citizenship. But it was never offered, and then baseball and life got in the way.

Until recently he has not concerned himself with it any further.

Now that he is free of health problems following knee replacement surgery, Carew, who had a heart transplant in December 2016, wants to travel internationally again. Previously, Carew had to renew his Panamanian passport every two years.

“He’s said he’s wanted to do it for the last 60 years, but he’s been so wrapped up in baseball and never really found the time,” Rhonda Carew said. “With his knee replacement, he wants to travel because he’ll be able to walk without pain once he gets rehabbed. That was part of what pushed him to keep going, to do it. … It’s just another box checked when he left Panama of all the things he wanted to accomplish. This one just took the longest.”

Carew said the other part of his decision to become a dual citizen of the United States and Panama stems from his admiration for a country he has called home for more than 60 years.

Moving to the United States allowed Carew to pursue his passion for baseball. He hoped to use his playing career as a platform to inspire young Panamanians and has since dedicated his life to charitable endeavors.

Earlier this summer, he sponsored the Rod Carew Children’s Cancer Golf Classic for the 27th consecutive year, an effort to raise money and awareness and honor the life of his daughter Michelle, who died of leukemia in 1991.

Since suffering a heart attack in 2015 and receiving a heart transplant, Carew has worked with the American Heart Association. Now, Carew, who has four cats and a dog, says he’d like to become a spokesperson for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Carew said the United States “has given me everything and more. All the things I’ve done, the projects I’ve taken on, it fills my heart. … I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I kept saying to my wife, ‘I think I’m going to do it.’”

(Photo by Rod Carew, July 20: Julia Nikhinson/Associated Press)