A smiling Rod Carew raised his right hand as he took the U.S. citizenship oath Friday during a ceremony in Santa Ana for the 78-year-old Major League Baseball Hall of Famer.
Carew, a beloved member of the Minnesota Twins and then-California Angels who used a broomstick and bottle caps in place of a bat and balls as a child in Panama, was welcomed as a new U.S. citizen at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Santa Ana Field Office. About 20 family, friends and former teammates were in attendance.
Born in Gatun, Panama on a train in the Canal Zone, Carew moved to New York City as a teenager before a storied MLB career that began in 1964 with the Twins. He played the final years of his baseball career in Anaheim with the Angels.
At the Friday ceremony, Carew said his other family members obtained citizenship years ago.
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Halos reunite. Many stories were told. @LAAngelsPR Congratulations to @RodCarew_29 as he becomes a US citizen. #oldfriends pic.twitter.com/VyTyEINgXt
— Fred Lynn (@19fredlynn) August 22, 2024
"I'm the only one who kind of waited for a very long time," Carew said. "They would ask me when am I going to be dual citizen.
"I don't know how I kept it for so long that I wasn't a citizen. No one ever asked me if I was a U.S. citizen. It now gives us a chance to do things we want to do during my retirement and as long as I'm on this Earth."
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Asked why he waited, Carew said he wanted to make sure children in Panama would view him as an inspirational example of a fellow countryman who went on to accomplish great things.
Carew didn't play baseball in high school, but his natural talent was spotted by the Twins organization when he played for a semi-pro team. He signed as an amateur free agent in 1964 and became an immediate sensation, winning AL Rookie of the Year with a .292 average and a spot on the All-Star team.
Carew batted .273 in this second season, the last in which the slugger would finish under .300 for 15 years.
A national hero in Panama, Carew's first batting title came in 1969 when he his .332 and helped the Twins to an AL West championship. He won four consecutive batting titles in the early 1970s and narrowly missed a fifth.
"He has no weakness as a hitter," MLB pitcher Jim Catfish Hunter once said of Carew. "Anything you throw he can handle."
His best MLB season was in 1977, when Carew was near the .400 mark for most of the year. He finished with a batting average of .388 and the AL MVP Award. He added a seventh batting title in 1979.
Carew, who spent his career at second and first bases, was a Twin from 1967 to 1978 before joining the Angels in 1979 until the end of the 1985 season.
Carew has a long record of philanthropic work raising funds for pediatric cancer research. He also served in the U.S. Marine Corp.
At Friday's ceremony, the Class of 1991 Hall of Fame inductee delivered an emphatic "Yes" when asked whether he planned to exercise his right to vote.
"I've been waiting for this for a long time," Carew said. "I want to be a part of the great things that this country has given us. Any way that I can help, I'd be wlling to help.
"I came here when I was a kid. I have lived my whole life in this country. It has given me nothing but good health and good fortune."
