Teammates Past and Present Can Appreciate What Carew Has Done

Reggie Jackson, who knows the value of being in the record book, couldn’t overemphasize the significance of what Angel teammate Rod Carew had achieved Sunday afternoon.

“Getting 3,000 hits is really something,” Jackson said. “They can write that you can’t run, you can’t play defense and you can’t do this or that, but somewhere in the story they’ll have to say he got 3,000 hits, like they have to say I have 500 homers.

“Not 2,996 hits, not 2,998 hits but 3,000. No one can ever take that away.”

Jackson, who didn’t start Sunday, was one of the first players off the Angel bench to congratulate Carew after the seven-time American League batting champion looped a single to left field off Minnesota’s Frank Viola in the third inning to reach the 3,000 mark.

Two others who wanted to congratulate Carew but couldn’t were Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva, who were teammates of Carew in Minnesota.

Killebrew, a Twins television announcer, became momentarily choked up when Carew got his big hit before paying a tribute to the man who used to bat in front of him.

“Getting 3,000 hits is never something you think about when a player first comes into the league, but it was with Rod,” Killebrew said. “He was an outstanding hitter from the very start.

“It was a hitter’s dream to have Rod bat in front of you.”

Oliva, the Twins’ first-base coach, was just happy to be in attendance.

“It was great to be here to see it,” he said. “It was also great to have 40,000 people here to see it, and to have the game televised back home to Minnesota, where Rod still has many fans.

“Rod has worked hard and long for this. I remember when we were still playing together that he would still take extra batting practice when he was hitting .350. He has always taken special pride in his hitting, and that’s what has made him a special player.”

Carew still makes hitting look effortless, but to those who know him, it hasn’t been that way the last few weeks as he closed in on 3,000.

Angel Manager Gene Mauch said pressure on the first baseman had intensified because of the threat of a players’ strike.

“I hate to say Rod was pressing, because he never does that, but on our last trip he was jumping at the ball, trying to hit every pitch for a base hit instead of being selective like Rod Carew usually is,” Mauch said.

“Today, though, you could tell he was taking things nice and easy. He seemed to know he was going to do it.”

Jackson said to look for Carew’s .264 batting average to start going up.

“He’ll probably go back to hitting .320 now,” Jackson said. “The pressure will be off, and people just don’t seem to know what the pressure can be like when you’re getting close to a record.

“When you get a haircut, go to the laundry or are at a restaurant, everyone has a comment for you about getting getting close to 3,000. And then when you get to the ball park, every member of the press wants to talk to you about it.”

Jackson said that Carew will come to appreciate getting 3,000 hits even more as time goes on.

“It means more to you the further it gets behind you,” Jackson said. “It’s been that way for me getting 500 home runs, and I think it will be that way for him getting 3,000 hits.”