| Goody Rosen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born:(1912-08-28)August 28, 1912 Toronto, Ontario,Canada | |
| Died: April 6, 1994(1994-04-06) (aged 81) Toronto, Ontario, Canada | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 14, 1937, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 26, 1946, for the New York Giants | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .291 |
| Home runs | 22 |
| Runs batted in | 197 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Member of the Canadian | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 1984 |
Goodwin George Rosen (August 28, 1912 – April 6, 1994) was a Canadian professionalbaseballoutfielder. He played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) before and after World War II for theBrooklyn Dodgers andNew York Giants. He batted and threw left-handed.
Rosen was born inToronto, Canada, toRussian Jewish immigrants fromMinsk (now,Belarus), Samuel and Rebecca Rosen, was the fifth of eight children and was Jewish.[1][2] Rosen played in the city's playground leagues, including two years with the Elizabeth Playground team underBob Abate,[3] and attendedParkdale Collegiate Institute.[4] His older brother Jake was a boxer who fought out of New York and Chicago in the 1920s under the name Johnny Rosen. Another brother, Willie, had a tryout with theSyracuse Chiefs in 1941. As a teenager, Rosen was a top player in Toronto's Jewish Fraternal Softball League. Rosen drove toTampa, Florida, to try out with some minor league professional baseball teams, but he was told he was too small (5 ft 9 in) and returned to Toronto to play for the St. Mary's senior team.
Rosen turned professional in 1931, signing a contract with theRochester Red Wings of theInternational League, but did not stick with the team. In 1933, while weighing only 135 pounds, he hit .301 while playing for theLouisville Colonels of the AAAAmerican Association,[1] and played under managerBurleigh Grimes. He batted .309 For Louisville in 1934, .293 in 1935, .314 in 1936, and .312 in 1937.[5]
When Grimes joined theBrooklyn Dodgers in 1937, he convinced the team to acquire Rosen in August for $10,000 ($219,000 today) and a player. Rosen hit .312 in 22 games with the Dodgers.[1]
In 1938, his first full season, he hit .281, finishing sixth in theNational League intriples (11), leading all leagueoutfielders infielding percentage (.989) andassists (19).[4] The next season, he split his time between the Dodgers and their Triple-AInternational League affiliate, theMontreal Royals, for whom he batted .302.[5]
He then joined theSyracuse Chiefs of the International League, playing there from 1940 until being re-acquired by the Dodgers during the 1944 season in exchange forBill Lohrman andFritz Ostermueller.[4]
With the Dodgers, he enjoyed the best year of his career in 1945, when he was voted an All-Star and finished 10th in voting forMost Valuable Player Award.[6][4] He led the NL in batting during most of 1945.[7] That season he had a .325batting average (3rd in NL), 197hits (2nd), 126runs (2nd), 11 triples (3rd), 606 at-bats (6th) and a .460slugging percentage (6th), a .379on-base percentage (9th), 14sacrifice hits (10th), 12home runs and 19 outfield assists.[4]
In that season, he also had the distinction of being the fourth Canadian-born major leaguer to be named to theAll-Star Game, afterGeorge Selkirk (1936 and 1939),Oscar Judd (1943) and,Jeff Heath who was also named to the 1945 All-Star game after two previous appearances (1941 and 1943).
Three games into the 1946 season, Rosen was traded to the Dodgers' cross-town rivals, theNew York Giants.[4] It would be his last year in the major leagues. That year he suffered a career-endingclavicle injury upon crashing into a fence.[8] Before the end of the season, he was sent down to theJersey City Giants of the International League.
In 551 games in six seasons, Rosen posted a .291batting average (557-for-1916) with 310runs, 71doubles, 34triples, 22home runs, 197runs batted in, 218bases on balls, .364on-base percentage and, .398slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .989fielding percentage playing at all three outfield positions.[4]
Rosen rejected an offer from Jersey City to return in 1947 and said he would only continue to play if he were sent to Toronto, where he had opened a restaurant.[9] The deal was made, and Rosen played for theToronto Maple Leafs of the International League in 1947.[5] After a season in which he batted .274/.397/.369, he was given an unconditional release,ending his professional baseball career.[10]
In 1948, Rosen switched to softball, playing for the Daltons in the Toronto Ki-Y (Kiwanis-YMCA) senior league and then joining the Levys in theBeaches Fastball League, winning the league championship in 1949. Rosen started the 1950 season playing for the world championTip Top Tailors team in the Beaches League but then returned to baseball as player-manager of the Galt Terriers of theIntercounty Baseball League. He was named manager of the Ontario all-star team that played theIntercounty Maple Leafs in an exhibition game in August. Rosen returned to softball and the Beaches League in 1951, playing for Peoples Credit Jewellers, then officially retired.
After his retirement he owned and ran the Dunsway Restaurant in Toronto atBloor andDundas Streets for a time.[9] He was also a business executive with a major Canadian brewery,John Labatt Limited, in their sales staff and was still so popular in baseball circles he was answering around 2,000 pieces of fan mail annually in his later years.[11] He died ofpneumonia in Toronto'sSunnybrook Hospital on April 6, 1994, at age 81 and was buried atBeth Tzedec Memorial Park.[11][12]
Rosen was inducted into theCanadian Baseball Hall of Fame in1984 in its second year.[13]
His .291 career batting average was eighth-best of allJewish major leaguers, through 2010.[14] He held the distinction of being the only Jewish-Canadian major leaguer for almost 70 years untilLondon, Ontario-bornAdam Stern suited up for theBoston Red Sox.[7]