lot more than that." Griffith denied charges of bigotry, but his Waseca remarks allegedly spurred Carew's trade before the 1979 season and "haunted Calvin for the rest of his life." Upon hearing the comments for the first time before a game, Carew stated: "I will not ever sign another contract with this organization. I don’t care how much money or how many options Calvin Griffith offers me. I definitely will not be back next year. I will not come back and play for a bigot," further stating, "He respects nobody and expects nobody to respect him. Spit on Calvin Griffith." Carew's anger seemed to lessen by 1991 when he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and called Griffith to thank him for jump-starting his career. Carew claimed that Griffith was "the first person" he called after being inducted. In June 2020, Carew issued a response to the removal of Griffith's statue that acknowledged that the controversial comments Griffith made were “irresponsible, wrong and hurtful.” However, Carew also downplayed the public remarks he made in 1978 regarding his departure from the Twins, and stated that a basis for his trade to the Angels was the fact that both he and Griffith agreed that he should play a team which could pay him better, stating, "When he traded me prior to the 1979 season, Calvin told me he wanted me to be paid what I was worth. Later that year the Angels made me the highest paid player in baseball. A racist wouldn't have done that." Carew went on to say he had forgiven Griffith for his mistake and did not believe that he was a racist, noting he believed Griffith's “thoughts on race evolved over time”. While Carew always supported the statue of Griffith, he stated that he understood and respected the Twins' decision to remove it. Death Griffith died on October 20, 1999, at the age of 87 from complications related to pneumonia, a kidney infection and a high fever. He was buried in Washington, D.C., a city he rarely visited after moving the Senators to Minnesota. Griffith was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010. References External links Minor league playing and managing record, from Baseball Reference "The Last of the Pure Baseball Men," Atlantic Monthly profile by Michael Lenehan, 1981 BaseballLibrary – career highlights Minnesota Public Radio - Calvin Griffith Dead at 87