Former Major League Baseball player Rod Carew will be in for the battle of his life. The Hall of Famer is scheduled to undergo heart transplant surgery on Thursday after suffering a major heart attack last year.
Heart donor has been found for Angels legend Rod Carew. He will undergo transplant today pic.twitter.com/dJE0HQKQQZ
— KCAL News (@kcalnews) December 15, 2016
The interesting dynamic here is that Carew was placed on the heart transplant list just a few days ago. That he was able to find a match and and go through this potentially life-saving operation in such a short period of time is pretty awesome.
Carew, 71, is considered one of the best pure hitters in the history of the game. Over the course of his 19 years in the Majors, the former infielder hit .328 and posted an absurd .393 on-base percentage. He also added 1,000-plus RBI and over 3,000 hits to his resume.
An 18-time All-Star with the Minnesota Twins and California Angeles, Carew earned the 1977 AL MVP award after hitting .388 while leading the league in hits and runs scored.
Our best wishes go out to Carew as he looks to overcome this latest obstacle.