Carew Had What It Takes for the Hall of Fame

Having just read about Rod Carew’s selection to the Hall of Fame, I am sitting at my desk looking at a baseball signed by Rod. The baseball is special. Not just because it was from a game in which Rod got his 3,000th hit, but also because it was given to a special kid--a sick kid named Mario.

Mario was befriended by Rod several years ago. He would visit Mario in the hospital and at home in Huntington Beach. He would also call Mario in New York when Mario was being treated at the Sloan-Kettering Hospital. When Rod Carew is inducted in Cooperstown and everyone is applauding his on-field accomplishments, many of us parents whose lives he has touched, will be applauding his deeds that will never show up in a box score.

THE FRANK R. TOPPO FAMILY

Irvine