The Twins on Friday announced that Hall of Famer Rod Carew has undergone a successful heart transplant. Here's the full statement released by the team:
The entire Minnesota Twins family is happy to report thatRod Carew had a successful heart and kidney transplant surgery today at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and is expected to make a full recovery. After a 13-hour procedure that started shortly after midnight Pacific time, Rod is resting in recovery. We ask that all of Twins Territory and the entire baseball community keep Rod, his wife Rhonda, and the entire Carew family in your thoughts and prayers as Rod recovers."
The 71-year-old Carew suffered a heart attack on September 20, 2015 and shortly thereafter had a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implanted in his heart, which was a temporary solution to keep his heart pacing. The seven-time American League batting champion and first-ballot Hall of Famer later partnered with the Twins on the "Heart of 29" campaign, a year-long effort to raise funds for the American Heart Association.
Prior to the successful transplant, a mechanical device that pumps blood had been keeping Carew alive and had done so since he suffered a massive heart attack in September of 2015. Earlier this week, Carew learned that he had been successfully matched with a donor.
Across parts of 19 seasons for the Twins and Angels, Carew batted .328 with a .393 on-base percentage and compiled 3,053 hits and 353 stolen bases. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991 on the first ballot.
