In 1955 at the age of 21, Rocco Domenico Colavito Jr. joined the Cleveland Indians, and despite his NYC roots he quickly became a fan favorite across Northeast Ohio.

Now, at 87, the Italian American slugger will be honored with a bronze statue, which will be installed at Tony Brush Park in Cleveland’s Little Italy neighborhood.

The unveiling date is tentative, but it may take place on Aug. 10 to coincide with Colavito’s birthday. The $140,000 in funding was provided by Cuyahoga County and the Italian American Brotherhood Club, according to cleveland.com.

Rocky cemented his legacy with the team when he hit four consecutive homers against the Baltimore Orioles at Memorial Stadium on June 10, 1959.

At the time, only two other players had hit four homers in a row: Bobby Lowe of the Boston Beaneaters in 1894, and Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees in 1932, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.

In a controversial move, he was traded off to the Detroit Tigers the following season in 1960, but Rocky’s love of the team and town never waned.

Read on: The Real Field of Dreams: How Baseball Brought Italians Into the Mainstream

 

Make a pledge and become a member of Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA) today.