Goodwin George Rosen (August 28, 1912 – April 6, 1994) was a Canadian

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) before and after World War II for the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. He batted and threw left-handed.

Early years

Rosen was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Canada, to Russian Jewish immigrants from

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

(now,

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

), Samuel and Rebecca Rosen, was the fifth of eight children and was Jewish. Rosen played in the city's playground leagues—including two years with the Elizabeth Playground team under Bob Abate—and attended

Parkdale Collegiate Institute Founded in 1888, Parkdale Collegiate Institute is a public high school located on Jameson Avenue in Parkdale, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the heart of what is considered ' Little Tibet', which is the home of the largest concentratio ...

.Goody Rosen Stats , Baseball-Reference.com
/ref> 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 the

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

in 1941. As a teenager, Rosen was a top player in Toronto's Jewish Fraternal Softball League. Rosen drove to

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, 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.

Professional baseball

Rosen turned professional in 1931, signing a contract with the Rochester Red Wings of the International League, but did not stick with the team. In 1933, while weighing only 135 pounds, he hit .301 while playing for the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

of the AAA

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

, and played under manager

Burleigh Grimes Burleigh Arland Grimes (August 18, 1893 – December 6, 1985) was an American professional baseball player and manager, and the last pitcher officially permitted to throw the spitball. Grimes made the most of this advantage, as well as his unshav ...

. He batted .309 For Louisville in 1934, .293 in 1935, .314 in 1936, and .312 in 1937.Goody Rosen Minor Leagues Statistics & History , Baseball-Reference.com
/ref> When Grimes joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1937, he convinced the team to acquire Rosen in August for $10,000 ($ today) and a player. Rosen hit .312 in 22 games with the Dodgers. In 1938, his first full season, he hit .281, finishing sixth in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

in triples (11), leading all league

s in fielding percentage (.989) and

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

s (19). The next season, he split his time between the Dodgers and their Triple-A International League affiliate, the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; p ...

, for whom he batted .302. He then joined the

of the International League, playing there from 1940 until being re-acquired by the Dodgers during the 1944 season in exchange for

Bill Lohrman William Leroy Lohrman (May 22, 1913 – September 13, 1999) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched in 198 games from 1934 to 1944. Bill played for the Giants, Dodgers, Cardinals, Phillies, and Reds. Bill was born and raised Brookly ...

and

Fritz Ostermueller Frederick Raymond "Fritz" Ostermueller (September 15, 1907 – December 17, 1957) was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1934 to 1948, playing for the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns, Brooklyn Dodgers, and Pittsburgh Pirates. ...

. 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 for

Most Valuable Player Award In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. He led the NL in batting during most of 1945. That season he had a .325

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(3rd in NL), 197 hits (2nd), 126 runs (2nd), 11 triples (3rd), 606 at-bats (6th) and a .460 slugging percentage (6th), a .379 on-base percentage (9th), 14

sacrifice hit In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, an ...

s (10th), 12

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 19 outfield assists. In that season, he also had the distinction of being the fourth Canadian-born major leaguer to be named to the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

, after

George Selkirk George Alexander Selkirk (January 4, 1908 – January 19, 1987) was a Canadian outfielder and front office executive in Major League Baseball. In 1935, Selkirk succeeded Babe Ruth as the right fielder of the New York Yankees—and also inher ...

(1936 and 1939),

Oscar Judd Thomas William Oscar Judd (February 14, 1908 – December 27, 1995) was a Canadian-born professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies. Listed at and , he threw and batte ...

(1943) and,

Jeff Heath John Geoffrey Heath (April 1, 1915 – December 9, 1975) was a Canadian-born American left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his career for the Cleveland Indians. He was one of the American League's most promising power ...

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, the New York Giants. It would be his last year in the major leagues. That year he suffered a career-ending

clavicle The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the r ...

injury upon crashing into a fence. Before the end of the season, he was sent down to the

Jersey City Giants {{about, the baseball team, the football team, American Association (American football) The Jersey City Giants was the name of a high-level American minor league baseball franchise that played in Jersey City, New Jersey, as the top farm system affi ...

of the International League. In 551 games in six seasons, Rosen posted a .291

(557-for-1916) with 310 runs, 71 doubles, 34 triples, 22 home runs, 197 RBI, 218 bases on balls, .364 on-base percentage and, .398 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .989 fielding percentage playing at all three outfield positions. 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."Goody finds own hot stove league is stirring business", ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', January 10, 1947, p. 14 The deal was made, and Rosen played for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

of the International League in 1947. After a season in which he batted .274/.397/.369, he was given an unconditional release, ending his professional baseball career.

Toronto softball, Ontario baseball

In 1948, Rosen switched to softball, playing for the Daltons in the Toronto Ki-Y (

Kiwanis Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. Since 1987, the organizati ...

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

) senior league and then joining the Levys in the

Beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

Fastball League, winning the league championship in 1949. Rosen started the 1950 season playing for the world champion

Tip Top Tailors Tip Top Tailors is a Canadian retail clothing chain, selling primarily menswear: suits, tuxedos , casual wear, sportswear and outerwear; as well, most stores have an in-house tailor (provides tailoring for clothing purchased within the store). T ...

team in the Beaches League but then returned to baseball as player-manager of the Galt Terriers of the

Intercounty Baseball League The Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) is a Canadian amateur baseball league, comprising teams of college players and former professionals from North America and beyond. The teams are located in Southern Ontario. The league was formed in 1919 and ...

. He was named manager of the Ontario all-star team that played the Intercounty 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 at Bloor and Dundas Streets for a time. 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. He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

in Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital on April 6, 1994, at age 81 and was buried at Beth Tzedec Memorial Park.

Achievements

Rosen was inducted into the

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (french: Temple de la renommée du baseball canadien) is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates great players, teams, and accomplishments of baseball in Canada. H ...

in in its second year. His .291 career batting average was eighth-best of all

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish major leaguers (directly behind

Ron Blomberg Ronald Mark Blomberg (born August 23, 1948), nicknamed "Boomer", is an American former professional baseball player and minor league manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a designated hitter, first baseman, and right fielder. He played f ...

), through 2010. Rosen said that his "proudest accomplishment was being the only Jewish Canadian ever to play in the majors."Goody Rosen
/ref> He held that distinction for almost 70 years as it was not until the major leagues saw another Jewish Canadian when

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

-born

Adam Stern Adam James Stern (born February 12, 1980) is a Canadian former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder who played for the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Milwaukee Brewers from 2005 to 2010. Stern is the second Jewish player from Canada ...

suited up for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosen, Goody 1912 births 1994 deaths American League All-Stars Baseball players from Toronto Brooklyn Dodgers players Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Canadian people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Columbus Red Birds players Jewish Canadian sportspeople Jewish Major League Baseball players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball players from Canada Montreal Royals players New York Giants (NL) players Stroudsburg Poconos players Syracuse Chiefs players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees