I did not embrace the Summer of Love 40 years ago. I was too young.

I watched "Summer of '42" with the kind of fascination reserved for a teenager when Jennifer O'Neill appeared on the screen.

I read David Halberstam's "Summer of '49," a great book that gave us a hint of what the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry was like without the incessant hype.

Now, I've discovered, we've just begun the "Summer of Socks," an event for people who love to knit or crochet. That's fine, but my sock time is devoted to keeping them in pairs. That's a task tougher than keeping Tank Johnson out of jail.

So, I've gone in another direction - the past, to be exact. I want to revisit 1977, or the Summer of Carew, if you followed the Minnesota Twins.

Exactly 30 years ago, Twins first baseman Rod Carew made a serious run at .400, a batting average not reached since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. Carew fell a little bit short, settling at .388, which still ranks as one of the best seasons in the last 50 years. As they usually did back in the 70s, the Twins faltered and watched the Kansas City Royals win the American League West. Carew did claim the AL's Most Valuable Player award for the only time in his Hall of Fame career.

Other players, of course, were stars in 1977. Reggie Jackson, George Brett, Steve Garvey, Tom Seaver and George Foster all stepped to center stage from time to time. Carew, though, appeared on the cover of Time Magazine. His quick hands and precise eye breathed life into a franchise that often seemed lost in the dying years of the Calvin Griffith Era.

Take the summer Sunday afternoon where the Twins and the Chicago White Sox finished a series at old Metropolitan Stadium. Both teams were in the AL West fight. Both had an abundance of hitters - and a decided lack of pitching. The Twins won it by something like 18-12, and Carew banged the ball all over the park. His average surged well past .400 on that day, and a large crowd roared in admiration and respect.

Even though ESPN didn't exist at the time, the media frenzy began. Carew didn't particularly enjoy the attention, but it did serve a purpose. Carew's brilliance in 1977 prompted Gaylord Perry to discuss his well-oiled pitching repertoire.

"Greaseball, greaseball, greaseball," said Perry when asked by Newsweek what he threw to Carew. "That's all I throw him, and he still hits them. He's the only player in baseball who consistently hits my grease. He sees the ball so well, I guess he can pick out the dry side."

Carew could spread Perry's grease - and anything else thrown his way - in several ways. Every bit of fair territory was within his reach. He bunted with skill, often laying one down with two strikes. Occasionally, he hit for power, banging 14 homers on the way to 100 RBIs.

And Twins fans, more intently than the rest of the nation, watched the Summer of Carew. We wondered if he could defy baseball's gravity, the force that always pulled hitters below .400. We wondered if he could actually carry his team to the playoffs with a pitching rotation that featured the likes of Paul Thormodsgard, Geoff Zahn and Pete Redfern. Their 1977 ERAs looked as high as the price of gasoline today.

The answers to all of those questions turned out to be no. And so the Summer of Carew ended. Shortly thereafter, so did his time in a Twins uniform. His relationship with Griffith soured, and he forced a trade to the California Angels, where he played from 1979 through 1985.

One remark from his Minnesota career is worth exhuming.

"I don't know who you could compare (Carew) with," said Calvin Griffith in an interview with the Minneapolis Star and Tribune. "You could put him in a tunnel with the lights out and you still know he's going to hit."

There was nobody like him, maybe that's why his summer of 1977 has slipped into some fog. His reputation as a moody player and an undistinguished fielder has dogged him. George Brett and Tony Gwynn also flirted with .400 in subsequent years. A few critics, citing Carew's lack of power, wonder if he really was all that great. Batting average is overrated, they'll tell you.

So who was he? All I know is this. Rod Carew found a way to maximize his skills. He worked constantly. And over a long career, he used his bat the way an artist wields a brush. Was he the greatest of all-time? No. But he performed at a very high level with grace and style.

The Summer of 1977 will always belong to Rod Carew.

Contact Jim Sullivan at (319) 291-1434 or jim.sullivan@wcfcourier.com