MLB Hall Of Famer Becomes US Citizen At 78

MLB Hall of Famer Rod Carew was sworn in as a U.S. citizen Friday at the age of 78, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Carew, who starred with the Minnesota Twins and California Angels over a 19-year career, raised his right hand and recited the Oath of Allegiance to the United States at the Federal Building in Santa Ana, California, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The swearing in ceremony comes more than six decades after Carew arrived in New York City from his native Panama when he was 14 years old, the Los Angeles Times reported. (RELATED: Watch The Moment Enes Kanter Becomes An American Citizen)

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“Hi, you guys, I’m an American citizen!” the newspaper reported him saying as former teammate Bobby Grich cheered him on. “I don’t know what took me so long!”

Carew won the American League rookie of the year award in 1967 and took the American League’s most valuable player honor in 1977, hitting .388, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The famed hitter, who also served six years in the Marine Corps Reserve in the 1960s, stated as part of his Oath of Allegiance to “bear arms on behalf of the U.S. when required by law,” according to the newspaper.

“I will support the U.S. any way I can, because this is my home, and it’s one of the greatest countries in the world,” Carew said. “I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. I want to be a part of the great things this country has given us, so any way I can help, I’m gonna help.”

Carew always intended to become a citizen, but his baseball career and life got in the way, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“He would talk about it, then not talk about it, talk about it, then not talk about it,” his wife Rhonda told the newspaper. “He was not focused on it.”