Panama native and baseball great Rod Carew becomes U.S. citizen at 78

Baseball great Rod Carew officially became a U.S. citizen on Friday during a ceremony in Orange County. 

Carew, now 78, originally hails from Panama, where he lived until his family moved to America when he was 14-years-old. 

He took the Oath of Allegiance at the U.S. Citizenship Immigration Services office in Santa Ana, where he received the oath from USCIS San Diego District Director Alanna Ow. 

About twenty of his closest family, friends and former teammates were on hand for the ceremony.

"Thank you for celebrating my number one goal in this life" Carew said after earning his citizenship. 

Carew is widely regarded as one of baseball's greatest hitters of all time, finishing his incredible 19-year career with 3,053 hits and a lifetime batting average of .328. 

He originally played for the Minnesota Twins from 1967 to 1978 before he was traded to the then California Angels in 1979. He stayed with the team until he retired in 1985. 

A few years after his playing days were over, Carew would then wind back up with the Halos in 1992 as a hitting coach, a position he would remain in until 1999. 

Carew was named an all-star in 18 of his 19 seasons, earned one MVP Award in 1977 and was a seven-time American League batting champion. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame with 90.5% of votes in 1991. 

On top of his baseball career, Carew also served as a combat engineer in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.

He has his No. 29 retired by both the Twins and the Angels.