Rod Carew looks on after throwing out the first pitch

Baseball Hall of Famer Rod Carew was in good condition after undergoing a heart and kidney transplant on Friday and is expected to make a full recovery, the Minnesota Twins said Friday.

The Major League Baseball club said the 71-year-old Carew was in surgery for 13 hours in Los Angeles.

Carew suffered a serious heart attack while playing golf in Corona, California, on September 20, 2015.

He underwent six hours of surgery and was close to death before stabilizing for a few days but then suffered heart failure on the left side of his heart. A device had been implanted to keep his heart pumping.

Carew, an 18-time All-Star, spent 12 seasons with the Twins and seven with the Angels during a career that ended in 1985. He won seven American League batting titles and was named AL MVP in 1977 when he batted .388 for the Twins.

He finished his career with 3,053 hits and a .328 batting average. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991.

Source: AFP