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Rocky Colavito (born 1933)
When Time ran this cover of outfielder Rocky Colavito in 1959, he was playing for the Cleveland Indians and was part of a galaxy of promising baseball players who, according to the magazine, were creating an notable upsurge of enthusiasm for America’s national pastime. One of his feats that year was hitting four home runs in one game, and at season’s close his home-run total would reach forty-two. By the end of his fourteen-year career, he could claim 100 or more RBIs in six seasons and an American League outfielding record of 234 consecutive errorless games.
The painter of Colavito’s portrait, Boris Chaliapin, was not a baseball fan. In the interest
of getting a feeling for his subject, however, he attended a game, and in the final portrait he included a likeness of himself in the crowd, just under Colavito’s right elbow.
Boris Chaliapin (1904-1979)
Gouache and ink on board
Time cover, August 24, 1959
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Time magazine
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