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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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 catch ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) before and after World War II for the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

and

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

. He batted and threw left-handed.

Early years

Rosen was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada, to

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

immigrants from

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

(now,

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

), 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 concentrat ...

.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 most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

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. Tampa'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 t ...

, 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 The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Fie ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

, 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 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, 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 unsh ...

. 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

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 National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

(11), leading all league

s in

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

(.989) and assists (19). The next season, he split his time between the Dodgers and their Triple-A

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; pi ...

, 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 and

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

. 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 (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 particular competition, or ...

. 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 Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

(2nd), 126 runs (2nd), 11 triples (3rd), 606 at-bats (6th) and a .460

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

(6th), a .379

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

(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, a ...

s (10th), 12

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

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 showcases 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 division, bu ...

, 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 (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, the

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

clavicle The clavicle, collarbone, or keybone is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately long that serves as a strut between the scapula, shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on each side of the body. The clavic ...

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

Jersey City Giants {{Infobox Minor League Baseball , name = Jersey City Giants , founded = 1937 , city = Jersey City, New Jersey , misc = , logo = , uniformlogo = , class level = , past ...

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

(557-for-1916) with 310 runs, 71 doubles, 34

, 22

home runs 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 ...

, 197

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

, 218

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

, .364

and, .398

. He finished his career with a .989

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. 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. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

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. In 1987, the organization ...

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

) 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 (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

Fastball League, winning the league championship in 1949. Rosen started the 1950 season playing for the world champion Tip Top Tailors 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 baseball league, comprising teams of college players and others from North America and beyond. The teams are located in Southern Ontario. The league was formed in 1919 and has enjoyed much succ ...

. 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 Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

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 () is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates the great players, teams, and events from Canadian baseball history. History The museum was founded in November 1982 in ...

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

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish major leaguers, through 2010. He held the distinction of being the only Jewish-Canadian major leaguer for almost 70 years until

London, Ontario London 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 (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

-born Adam Stern 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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosen, Goody 1912 births 1994 deaths American League All-Stars Baseball players from Toronto Brooklyn Dodgers players Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees 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 Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball players from Canada 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Montreal Royals players New York Giants (baseball) players Stroudsburg Poconos players Syracuse Chiefs players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Jewish baseball players