View source for Al Rosen

{{Short description|American baseball player (1924–2015)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Al Rosen
|image=Al Rosen 1953.jpg
|width=200
|alt=Baseball player Al Rosen, a 29-year-old blond man, is pictured in the white uniform of the Cleveland Indians, kneeling with a baseball bat, circa 1953.
|caption=Al Rosen, circa 1953
|position=[[Third baseman]]
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date|1924|2|29}}
|birth_place=[[Spartanburg, South Carolina]], U.S.
|death_date={{Death date and age|2015|3|13|1924|2|29}}
|death_place=[[Rancho Mirage, California]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=September 10
|debutyear=1947
|debutteam=Cleveland Indians
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 30
|finalyear=1956
|finalteam=Cleveland Indians
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.285
|stat2label=[[Home run]]s
|stat2value=192
|stat3label=[[Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=717
|teams=
* [[Cleveland Indians]] ({{mlby|1947}}–{{mlby|1956}})
|highlights=
* 4× [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] ([[1952 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1952]]–[[1955 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1955]])
* [[World Series champion]] ({{wsy|1948}})
* [[AL MVP]] (1953)
* 2× [[List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders|AL home run leader]] (1950, 1953)
* 2× [[List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders|AL RBI leader]] (1952, 1953)
* [[Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame]]
}}

'''Albert Leonard Rosen''' (February 29, 1924 – March 13, 2015), nicknamed "'''Flip'''" and "'''the Hebrew Hammer'''", was an American professional [[baseball]] player and [[General manager (baseball)|executive]]. He played his entire career in [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) as a [[third baseman]] for the [[Cleveland Indians]] from 1947 to 1956.

After serving for four years in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Rosen returned to become a stand-out for the Indians on both offense and defense. A four-time [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]], he was the first rookie to lead the [[American League]] in home runs, going on to drive in 100 or more runs for five consecutive years and twice led the league in [[home run]]s and twice in [[runs batted in]] (RBIs). Rosen was a member of the [[1948 World Series]] winning team, and won the 1953 AL [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|Most Valuable Player Award]].

Following two decades as a stockbroker after retirement from baseball, Rosen returned to the game as a top front office executive in the late 1970s, serving the [[New York Yankees]], [[Houston Astros]] and [[San Francisco Giants]] variously as president, CEO, and general manager. Regarded as an executive who still thought like a player, he became the only former MVP to also earn baseball's Executive of the Year award.<ref name="SIobit">[https://www.si.com/mlb/2015/03/14/al-rosen-dies-cleveland-indians-mvp-san-francisco-giants ''Sports Illustrated'' obit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323152510/http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/03/14/al-rosen-dies-cleveland-indians-mvp-san-francisco-giants|date=March 23, 2017}} "Best remembered for winning the American League's Most Valuable Player award in 1953 as Cleveland's third baseman, Rosen shined brightly but only briefly as a player and would later reach similar levels of accomplishment as a general manager, becoming the only former MVP to also earn the Executive of the Year award."</ref> He was inducted into the [[Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame]] in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/guardians/history/hall-of-fame/members |title=Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame |work=mlb.com |access-date=October 20, 2022}}</ref>

==Early life==
Rosen was born in [[Spartanburg, South Carolina]], to Louis and Rose (née Levin) Rosen. His father left the family shortly thereafter, and Rosen's mother and grandmother moved the family to [[Miami, Florida]], when he was 18 months old.<ref name=sabr>{{cite web |url=http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/40d66568 |title=SABR Baseball Biography Project: Al Rosen |last=Berger |first=Ralph |publisher=[[The Society for American Baseball Research]] |access-date=September 27, 2013 |archive-date=December 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217153840/http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/40d66568 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=navarro3162015>Manny Navarro, "[http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/college/acc/university-of-miami/article14716358.html  Baseball lifer Al Rosen had close ties to UM] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402110539/http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/college/acc/university-of-miami/article14716358.html |date=April 2, 2015 }}", ''The Miami Herald'' (March 16, 2015).  Retrieved March 18, 2015.</ref>

Rosen suffered from [[asthma]] as a child, which prompted his family to move further south. While growing up, his two favorite baseball players were [[Lou Gehrig]] and [[Hank Greenberg]]. He attended Riverside Elementary School, Ada Merritt Junior High School, and then [[Miami Senior High School]] for a year before attending Florida Military Academy in [[St. Petersburg, Florida]], on a boxing scholarship.<ref name=navarro3162015/>  After graduating from Florida Military Academy, Rosen enrolled in the [[University of Florida]] in Gainesville, Florida.<ref name=navarro3162015/>  He left the university after a semester to play minor league baseball in North Carolina.<ref name=navarro3162015/>

Rosen enlisted in 1942, and spent four years in the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] fighting in the [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Pacific]] during World War II, delaying his professional baseball career. He navigated an [[Landing Craft Assault|assault boat]] in the [[Battle of Okinawa]].<ref name=sabr/> He left the Navy as a [[Lieutenant (navy)|lieutenant]] the following year, returning to baseball.<ref name=sabr/>

==Minor league career==
Rosen played for the {{Baseball year|1946}} [[Pittsfield Electrics (Canadian–American League)|Pittsfield Electrics]], where he was initially given a back-up role. Upon leading the [[Canadian–American League]] in home runs (16) and RBIs (86), while batting .323, however, he was bestowed his idol Hank Greenberg's nickname, "the Hebrew Hammer".<ref name=sabr/> Rosen played for the [[Oklahoma City Indians]] of the [[Texas League]] in {{Baseball year|1947}}, and had one of the finest individual seasons in league history. He led all hitters in average (.349), hits (186), doubles (47), extra-base hits (83), RBIs (141), total bases (330), slugging percentage (.619), and on-base percentage (.437). He won the [[Texas League Player of the Year Award]].<ref name=sabr/> Rosen played for the New York Yankees' [[Kansas City Blues (American Association)|Kansas City Blues]] farm team in 1948. He was loaned to the Blues for the duration of the team's [[American Association (20th century)|American Association]] season as part of a deal that sent reliever [[Charley Wensloff]] from the Yankees to the Indians.<ref>{{cite news |title=Indians Option Rosen |agency=[[Associated Press]] (AP) |newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |date=April 14, 1948 |page=14 |access-date=September 30, 2016 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19480415&id=G9kNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Y2oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4501,3496716}} {{Cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19480415&id=G9kNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Y2oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4501%2C3496716 |title=Indians Option Rosen |access-date=March 20, 2022 |archive-date=March 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320210538/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19480415&id=G9kNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Y2oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4501%2C3496716 |url-status=bot: unknown |newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]}}</ref> Rosen was named Rookie of the Year in the American Association for his play with the Blues.

==Major League Baseball career==
Rosen made his first appearance in the major leagues in {{Baseball year|1947}} at age 23. In [[1948 Cleveland Indians season|1948]], Rosen played most of the year in [[Minor League Baseball|minor leagues]] with the Kansas City Blues, before joining the Indians in September. He played in the [[1948 World Series]] as a reserve behind regular third baseman [[Ken Keltner]] despite only playing five games during the season after the Indians requested his inclusion on the World Series roster.<ref>{{cite news|title=Rosen and 24 Other Indians Are Ruled Eligible To Compete In World Series|work=[[The Plain Dealer]]|date=September 29, 1948|page=26}}</ref> When Keltner was traded in {{Baseball year|1950}}, Rosen took over as the Indians' third baseman, leading the [[American League]] in home runs with 37, hitting more than any previous American League rookie.<ref>''Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures'', 2008 Edition, p.346, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York; {{ISBN|978-0-451-22363-0}}</ref> It stood as the AL rookie record until [[Mark McGwire]] surpassed it in 1987.<ref>{{cite web|agency=Associated Press Archive|title=Baseball Today|url=http://docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/APAB/lib00581,122CA98E1CEF7498.html|date=August 10, 2008|access-date=October 26, 2011|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708140841/http://docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/APAB/lib00581,122CA98E1CEF7498.html|archive-date=July 8, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> He homered in four straight games in June, a feat unmatched by an Indians rookie until [[Jason Kipnis]] in 2011.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/08/jason_kipnis_on_a_hr_roll_clev.html |access-date=November 4, 2012 |location=Cleveland, Ohio |date=August 4, 2011 |work=[[The Plain Dealer]] |title=Jason Kipnis on a HR roll: Cleveland Indians daily briefing |first=Paul |last=Hoynes |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014231618/http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/08/jason_kipnis_on_a_hr_roll_clev.html |archive-date=October 14, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2011/08/jason_kipnis_on_a_hr_roll_clev.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014231618/http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/08/jason_kipnis_on_a_hr_roll_clev.html|url-status=dead|title=Jason Kipnis on a HR roll: Cleveland Indians daily briefing|first=cleveland com|last=Paul Hoynes|date=August 4, 2011|archivedate=October 14, 2012|website=cleveland}}</ref> Rosen averaged a league-best homer every 15.0 at bats, and led the league as well in [[Hit by pitch|HBP]] (10). He [[batting average (baseball)|batted]] .287 and had 116 [[runs batted in]], while finishing fifth in the league with 100 [[Base on balls|walks]] and a .543 [[slugging percentage]]. His 100 walks remained a team rookie record for a right-handed batter, through 2014.<ref name="docstoc.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2505908/Cleveland-Indians-RecordsHistory|access-date=November 1, 2012|title=Cleveland Indians Records/History|archive-date=July 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701174121/http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2505908/Cleveland-Indians-RecordsHistory|url-status=live}}</ref> He also remained the most recent AL rookie to record at least 100 walks until [[Aaron Judge]] in 2017. Despite his home run title, he finished 17th in the American League [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|MVP Award]] voting.

In {{Baseball year|1951}} Rosen led the league in games played, and was fifth in the league in RBIs (102), extra-base hits (55), and walks (85). He batted .265, with 24 home runs. Rosen hit four [[Grand slam (baseball)|grand slam]]s, a team season record that was not broken until [[Travis Hafner]] hit five in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[Reading Eagle]]|date=July 8, 2006|access-date=November 1, 2012|title=Hafner hits record fifth grand slam|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LGMxAAAAIBAJ&pg=2697,3287400&dq=al-rosen+record&hl=en|archive-date=March 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320210542/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LGMxAAAAIBAJ&pg=2697%2C3287400&dq=al-rosen+record&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref>

Rosen led the American League with 105 RBIs and 297 [[total bases]] in {{Baseball year|1952}}. He also was third in the league in runs (101) and slugging percentage (.524), fifth in hits (171) and [[double (baseball)|double]]s (32), sixth in home runs (28), and seventh in batting average (.302). On April 29, he matched the then team record of three home runs in one game,<ref name="docstoc.com"/> which was surpassed only when [[Rocky Colavito]] tied the [[List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders|Major League single-game record]] with four home runs on June 10, 1959. Rosen came in tenth in the American League MVP Award voting.

In {{Baseball year|1953}}, Rosen led the American League in home runs (43), runs batted in (145), runs (115), slugging percentage (.613), and total bases (367). He also came in second in [[On-base percentage|OBP]], and third in hits (201), and tied for eighth in [[stolen base]]s. He also had a 20-game hitting streak.<ref name="docstoc.com"/> Defensively, he had the best range factor of all third basemen in the league (3.32), and led it in assists (338) and double plays (38). His RBI total is still the most for an Indians third baseman, through 2017, and is fourth most for any Indian in a season.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CLE/leaders_bat_50_season.shtml|title=Cleveland Indians Top 50 Single-Season Batting Leaders - Baseball-Reference.com|website=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=September 20, 2017|archive-date=October 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031040101/https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CLE/leaders_bat_50_season.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>

He batted .336, and missed winning the batting title – and with it the [[Major League Baseball Triple Crown|Triple Crown]] – on the last day of the season, by just over one percentage point. He was elected American League MVP by a unanimous vote, the first to be elected unanimously since the original "Hebrew Hammer", [[Hank Greenberg]].<ref name=warsinskey>{{cite web|url=http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2013/09/cleveland_indians_infielder_al.html|title=Cleveland Indians infielder Al Rosen's quest for baseball's 1953 Triple Crown went down to the wire 60 years ago Friday|access-date=September 27, 2013|first=Tim|last=Warsinskey|publisher=Cleveland Plain Dealer ([[cleveland.com]])|date=September 26, 2013|archive-date=October 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018131849/http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2013/09/cleveland_indians_infielder_al.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 2001 edition of the ''New Historical Baseball Abstract'', [[Bill James]] named Rosen's 1953 season the greatest ever by a third baseman.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/is-alex-bregman-having-the-best-season-ever-by-a-jewish-baseball-player|title=Is Alex Bregman Having the Best Season Ever by a Jewish Baseball Player? - Tablet Magazine |date=September 27, 2019 }}</ref> It is ranked 164th overall,<ref>Baseball-Reference.com [https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/WAR_season.shtml Single-Season Leaders & Records for Wins Above Replacement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418181154/https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/WAR_season.shtml |date=April 18, 2021 }}</ref> and 48th best by a position player<ref>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/WAR_bat_season.shtml Baseball-Reference.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503034618/https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/WAR_bat_season.shtml|date=May 3, 2021}} Single-Season Leaders & Records for WAR Position Players</ref> by [[Baseball-Reference.com]] as of Rosen's passing.

In {{Baseball year|1954}} he hit an even .300, led the league in [[sacrifice fly|sacrifice flies]] with 11, was fourth in SLG (.506), and fifth in home runs (24), RBI (102), and OBP (.404). He also hit consecutive home runs in the All-Star game despite a broken finger, earning him the game MVP. His five RBI in the game matched the record set by [[Ted Williams]] five years earlier, which still stood through the 2011 season.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110711&content_id=21737670&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb |access-date=November 1, 2012 |title=Fascinating facts about the All-Star Game |first=Roger |last=Schlueter |work=[[MLB.com]] |date=July 11, 2011 |archive-date=October 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023120050/http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110711&content_id=21737670&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Baseball Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame]] manager [[Casey Stengel]] said of him: "That young feller, that feller's a ball player. He'll give you the works every time. Gets all the hits, gives you the hard tag in the field. That feller's a real competitor, you bet your sweet curse life."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,858499,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905064904/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,858499,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 5, 2009 |title=Sport: Top of the League |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=July 5, 1954 |access-date=April 9, 2010}}</ref>  Cleveland won the pennant, but lost the [[World Series]]. In spite of Rosen's 5th straight year with 100 or more RBIs Cleveland cut his $42,500 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|42500|1954|r=-2}}}} today) salary to $37,500 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|37500|1955|r=-2}}}} today) for 1955.

In {{Baseball year|1955}} Rosen finished in the top ten in the league in at-bats per home run, walks, and sacrifice flies. Rosen appeared on the cover of ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' in 1955. By 1956, back problems and leg injuries caught up with Rosen and he retired at age 32 at the end of the season.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/rosenal01.php |title=Al Rosen Facts from |publisher=The Baseball Page.com |access-date=April 9, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221051412/http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/rosenal01.php |archive-date=December 21, 2010 }}</ref>

==After baseball==
After retiring in {{Baseball year|1956}} Rosen pursued a career as a [[stockbroker]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historicbaseball.com/players/r/rosen_al.html|title=Al Rosen – Exploded on the scene in the AL|publisher=Historicbaseball.com|access-date=April 9, 2010|archive-date=November 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104102434/http://www.historicbaseball.com/players/r/rosen_al.html|url-status=live}}</ref> an occupation he held for the next 22 years.<ref name=Chron>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/sports/baseball/08steinbrenner.html|access-date=November 4, 2012|date=May 7, 2010|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Chronicling Steinbrenner and His Turbulent Tenure|first=Richard|last=Sandomir|author-link=Richard Sandomir|archive-date=November 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108170559/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/sports/baseball/08steinbrenner.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1973, Rosen left investments for [[Caesars Palace]] in [[Las Vegas]], where he worked for five years.

==Baseball executive==
In 1978, Rosen became president and CEO of the New York Yankees.<ref name=Chron/> They won the [[1978 World Series]], but Rosen quit on July 19, 1979. [[Tommy John]] thought he left because owner [[George Steinbrenner]] had replaced [[Bob Lemon]], a friend of Rosen's, with [[Billy Martin]] as the team manager a month before.<ref>{{cite book|last1=John|first1=Tommy|last2=Valenti|first2=Dan|title=TJ: My Twenty-Six Years in Baseball|publisher=Bantam|location=New York|year=1991|isbn=0-553-07184-X|page=202}}</ref> The two had made a pact to stick together against Steinbrenner (rather than have a Rosen serve as a go-between for feuds) by the mid-summer of 1978, but the combination of Martin's resignation later that year and subsequent return made it impossible for Rosen to continue; the final straw was when Rosen wanted a game to start earlier to accommodate a national telecast, but Steinbrenner sided with Martin, who wanted it to start on time.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/al-rosen/ | title=Al Rosen – Society for American Baseball Research }}</ref> Rosen served as a supervisor of credit operations at Bally's in [[Atlantic City]] before a loan going sour led to him resigning.

Rosen then served as team president and general manager of the [[Houston Astros]] (1980–1985).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-03-14 |title=Former Astros president and general manager Al Rosen dies |url=https://www.blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2015/03/14/former-astros-president-al-rosen-dies/amp/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305072743/https://www.blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2015/03/14/former-astros-president-al-rosen-dies/amp/ |archive-date=2016-03-05 |website=Chron}}</ref> Rosen was hired two weeks after the 1980 season ended for the Astros by owner [[John McMullen (engineer)|John McMullen]], who in a controversial decision had fired [[Tal Smith]] despite forming a core that won the National League West title. From 1981 to 1985, the Astros went 386–372 with one playoff appearance [1981 NLDS] before a mutual agreement was reached by both as Rosen departed in September 1985.

He was hired as president and [[general manager]] by [[Bob Lurie]] of the [[San Francisco Giants]] a week after he left the Astros, where he would serve until 1992. Notably, one of his first actions was to remove the television and stereo systems from [[Candlestick Park]] as a means to have the players totally focused on baseball.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/03/14/former-giants-g-m-al-rosen-who-revived-franchise-in-mid-80s-dies-at-91/ | title=Former Giants G.M. Al Rosen, who revived franchise in mid-80s, dies at 91 | date=March 14, 2015 }}</ref> [[Roger Craig (baseball)|Roger Craig]] was retained as manager after taking over for [[Jim Davenport]] in September, complete with Rosen allowing Craig full control. Through acquisitions (such as [[Rick Reuschel]]) and promoting draft picks such as [[Will Clark]], Rosen and his maneuvering brought San Francisco from last place in {{Baseball year|1985}} to the NL West title in {{Baseball year|1987}} and the National League pennant in {{Baseball year|1989}}, earning him the National League Executive of the Year honors.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://baseballbiography.com/al-rosen-1924 |title=Al Rosen profile at |publisher=baseballbiography.com |access-date=April 9, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last1=Shea | first1=John | url=https://www.sfgate.com/giants/shea/article/Al-Rosen-dies-6134588.php | title=Former Giants GM al Rosen dies at 91 | work=SFGATE: [[San Francisco Chronicle]] | date=March 15, 2015 }}</ref> Regarded as a GM who still thought like a player, he became the only MVP in history to also earn the top executive award.<ref name=SIobit/> The Giants went 589–475 with Rosen as general manager. An announcement of the sale of the team by Lurie in June 1992 (which was bought by [[Peter Magowan]] in January 1993 after a scuttled sale to Florida investors) precluded the departure of Rosen, who resigned in late November 1992. He was replaced by [[Bob Quinn (baseball, born 1936)|Bob Quinn]]. Quinn fired Craig as manager the following month. To replace him, Quinn named [[Dusty Baker]] as manager; Rosen had hired him to serve as first base coach of the Giants in 1988 after telling him he would be better suited for the role rather than assistant general manager.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-12-02-sp-1248-story.html|title=Quinn In, so Craig's Out : Baseball: The new Giant owners name their new general manager and fire the manager after seven years.|date=December 2, 1992|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

In 1979, Rosen appeared with [[Spec Richardson]] (general manager of the [[San Francisco Giants]]) in a television commercial entitled "Baseball Executives" for Miller Lite, as one of the commercials in the legendary "Great Taste, Less Filling" advertising campaign. The idea was two major league high-level baseball executives are discussing a big trade in a formal, stuffy members only club, only to reveal that they are actually trading baseball cards much like a couple of children, ending on a throw-down of a bunch of baseball cards on the polished wooden table. The commercial ran heavily during the summer of 1979 along with every game of the [[1979 World Series|World Series]] that year.

==Personal life==
Rosen's wife of 19 years, the former Teresa Ann Blumberg, died on May 3, 1971. He remarried to second wife, Rita (née Kallman) several years later. He had three sons, and a stepson and stepdaughter. Rosen occasionally consulted for baseball teams, including a stint with the Yankees as special assistant to the general manager in 2001 and 2002. He was featured in the 2010 movie narrated by [[Dustin Hoffman]], ''[[Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story]]''.<ref name=sabr/>

Rosen died on March 13, 2015, in [[Rancho Mirage, California]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://m.mlb.com/news/article/112723684/al-rosen-the-1953-al-mvp-with-indians-and-an-executive-for-yankees-astros-and-giants |title=Rosen, 1953 MVP and four-time All-Star, dies at 91 |work=mlb.com |access-date=March 14, 2015 |archive-date=September 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921144510/http://m.mlb.com/news/article/112723684/al-rosen-the-1953-al-mvp-with-indians-and-an-executive-for-yankees-astros-and-giants/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/mvp-yankee-exec-al-rosen-dies-91-article-1.2149520|title=Former MVP, Yankee exec Al Rosen dies at 91|website=[[New York Daily News]]|date=March 15, 2015 |access-date=September 20, 2017|archive-date=June 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630122157/https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/mvp-yankee-exec-al-rosen-dies-91-article-1.2149520|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Jewish heritage==
Rosen was Jewish.<ref>{{cite news |title='Hebrew Hammer' Al Rosen, Cleveland Indians all-star and '53 MVP, dies |url=https://www.jta.org/2015/03/15/obituaries/hebrew-hammer-al-rosen-member-of-cleveland-indians-48-title-team-dies-at-91 |access-date=May 8, 2024 |work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |date=March 15, 2015}}</ref> He was tough, an amateur [[boxing|boxer]], and had a reputation for standing up to anyone who dared insult his ancestry. While some reports have him commenting that, as a minor leaguer, he wished his name were something less obviously Jewish, he is later known to have remarked that he wished it were ''more'' [[Jewish]]&mdash;something like Rosenstein.<ref name=Maoz>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/front-page/the-vanishing-jewish-baseball-player/2005/04/06/ |title=The Vanishing Jewish Baseball Player |last=Maoz |first=Jason |publisher=The Jewish Press |date=April 6, 2005 |access-date=September 27, 2013 |archive-date=April 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403081621/https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/front-page/the-vanishing-jewish-baseball-player/2005/04/06/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=rdrosen>{{cite web|url=https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2012/9/25/3403920/jewish-baseball-players-al-rosen |title=Mortal Gods |last=Rosen |first=R.D. |publisher=sbnation.com |date=September 25, 2012 |access-date=September 27, 2013 |archive-date=December 7, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207005917/http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2012/9/25/3403920/jewish-baseball-players-al-rosen |url-status=live
}}</ref> When [[Ed Sullivan]], himself a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] with a Jewish wife, suggested that Rosen might be Catholic, pointing to his habit of drawing a "cross" in the dirt with his bat, Rosen said the mark was an "x" and told Sullivan he wished his name were more Jewish so he wouldn't be mistaken for Catholic.<ref name=sabr/><ref name=Maoz/>

Once a White Sox opponent called him a "Jew bastard". Sox pitcher [[Saul Rogovin]], also Jewish, remembered an angry Rosen striding belligerently to the [[dugout (baseball)|dugout]] and challenging the "son of a bitch" to a fight. The player backed down.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nyc.sabr.org/PDF/2004summer.pdf|access-date=November 1, 2012|publisher=[[The Society for American Baseball Research]], Casey Stengel Chapter|location=New York|date=July 2004|pages=10–12|title=JEWS and BASEBALL|work=You could look it up|first=Joseph|last=Dorinson|volume=5|number=1|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20110708055806/http://nyc.sabr.org/PDF/2004summer.pdf|archive-date=July 8, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Rosen challenged another opposing player who had "slurred [his] religion" to fight him under the stands. And during a game, when [[Red Sox]] bench player [[Matt Batts]] taunted Rosen with [[anti-Semitic]] names, Rosen called time and left his position on the field to confront Batts.<ref name=rdrosen/> [[Hank Greenberg]] recalled that Rosen "want[ed] to go into the stands and murder" fans who hurled anti-Semitic insults at him.

A 2010 documentary, ''[[Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story]]'', highlighted Rosen, who in it is frank about how he dealt with anti-Semitism: "There's a time that you let it be known that enough is enough.&nbsp;... You flatten [them]."<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Dick Friedman|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1179686/index.htm|title=Faith In The Game: a new film illuminates the Jewish contribution to the national pastime|magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]]|date=November 25, 2002|access-date=December 12, 2010|archive-date=September 21, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921062258/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1179686/index.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

During his career, Rosen refused to play on the [[High Holy Days]], as would baseball [[National Baseball Hall of Fame|Hall of Famer]] [[Sandy Koufax]], arguably the most famous American Jewish baseball player.

Through 2014, he was fifth in career home runs (behind [[Sid Gordon]]), seventh in RBIs (behind [[Ryan Braun]]), and tenth in hits (behind [[Mike Lieberthal]]) among all-time Jewish major league baseball players.<ref name=JML>{{cite web|title=Career Batting Leaders through 2014|url=http://www.jewishmajorleaguers.org/|work=Career Leaders|publisher=Jewish Major Leaguers|access-date=March 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120826042258/http://jewishmajorleaguers.org/|archive-date=August 26, 2012|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

==Awards==
* Member of the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame ({{Baseball year|2006}}).
* Member of the [[National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame]] (1980).
* Member of the [[International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=W-EI-7OhJ9QC&pg=PA174|title = October Men: Reggie Jackson, George Steinbrenner, Billy Martin, and the Yankees' Miraculous Finish in 1978|isbn = 0151006288|last1 = Kahn|first1 = Roger|year = 2003| publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |access-date = September 18, 2015|archive-date = May 14, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160514143930/https://books.google.com/books?id=W-EI-7OhJ9QC&pg=PA174|url-status = live}}</ref>
* Member of the Texas League Hall of Fame ({{Baseball year|2005}}).

==See also==
{{Portal|Baseball||Biography}}
*[[Cleveland Indians all-time roster]]
*[[List of Florida Gators baseball players]]
*[[List of New York Yankees owners and executives]]
*[[List of Jewish Major League Baseball players]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last=Ruttman|first=Larry|author-link=Larry Ruttman|title=American Jews and America's Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball|year=2013|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln, Nebraska and London, England|isbn=978-0-8032-6475-5|pages=67–78|chapter=Al Rosen: First-Ever Unanimous Most Valuable Player Selection, the Luckiest Jew Alive}} This chapter in Ruttman's history, based on a January 14, 2009, interview with Rosen conducted for the book, discusses Rosen's American, Jewish, baseball, and life experiences from youth to the present.
*{{cite book|last=Wancho|first=Joseph|title=Hebrew Hammer: A Biography of Al Rosen, All-Star Third Baseman|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|year=2022|pages=230|isbn=978-1-4766-8131-3}}

==External links==
{{Baseballstats|br=r/rosenal01|fangraphs=1011208|brm=rosen-001alb}}
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  title=''[[Sporting News]]'' [[Major League Baseball]] [[Sporting News Executive of the Year Award|Executive of the Year]]|
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  after=[[Fred Claire]]
}}
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{{1948 Cleveland Indians}}
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{{The Sporting News MLB Player of the Year Award}}
{{SN Executive of the Year}}
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{{Houston Astros general managers}}
{{San Francisco Giants general managers}}
{{San Francisco Giants Presidents}}
{{Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame}}
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