Angels Legend Adds New Title To His Resume: U.S. Citizen

An Angels legend and MLB Hall of Famer has finally become a US citizen.

Apr 25, 2017; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia (left) shakes hands with Rod Carew during a MLB baseball game between the Oakland Athletics and the Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

One of the greatest hitters in the history of baseball, Rod Carew recently took steps to become an American citizen.

On Aug. 2, 2024, according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic, Carew officially passed the 10-question citizenship test after diligently studying.

“I’m so proud of my husband,” his wife, Rhonda Carew, told The Athletic. “He studied those questions and the answers to those questions like there was no tomorrow. He was not going to miss a question.”

At 14 years old, Carew and his family moved from Gatun, Panama to Washington Heights in Manhattan. He has lived in the United States ever since.

“The first time he told me he wasn’t an American citizen, I didn’t believe him because he came to America as a young kid,” said fellow MLB Hall of Famer Tony Oliva, via Hayes. “I was thinking he was playing around. We’ve known each other for a hundred years. I still was thinking he was lying. … When they mentioned it at the dinner the other night, I opened my eyes like, ‘Finally. What did you wait for?’”

“He’s said for the last 60 years he’s wanted to do it, but he was all wrapped up in baseball and just never really found the time to do it,” Rhonda Carew said, via Hayes. “With his knee replacement, he wants to travel because he can walk without the pain once he’s rehabbed. That was part of what prompted him to push it forward, to get it done. … It’s just one more box checked off when he left Panama of all the things he wanted to accomplish. This one just took the longest.”

With a career as lengthy and public as Carew's, it's hard to think that he has been able to keep this secret for so long.

Carew made his Major League debut in 1967 with the Minnesota Twins, where he would play for 12 years. Afterward, he would then play with the then-named California Angels until 1999.

In his 19 year career, Carew won American League (AL) Rookie of the Year (1967), the Roberto Clemente Award (1977), and AL MVP (1977). He was also a seven-time AL batting champion and an 18-time All-Star.

Carew also served as a coach for the Angels from 1992-99 as well as the Milwaukee Brewers from 2000-01.

Carew was named to both the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame and the Angels Hall of Fame. Both organizations retired his number. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.

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