Age: 29
4th season
with Indians
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 5’10” Weight: 180
Prior to 1953:
Born in South
Carolina, Rosen moved to Miami, Florida with his family as a young child due to
his asthma. Tough and determined, he developed into an outstanding baseball
player in high school, where he was nicknamed “Flip”, and briefly attended the
University of Florida before signing a professional contract with Thomasville
of the Class D North Carolina State League in 1942 where he batted .307 in 86
games before joining the Navy for World War II military service. Upon being
discharged from the Navy in 1946 and under contract to a Cleveland farm team,
the Indians assigned Rosen to Pittsfield of the Class C Canadian-American
League where he batted .323 with 15 home runs. He advanced to Oklahoma City of
the Class AA Texas League in 1947 where he hit .349 with 25 home runs and was
selected as the league’s Player of the Year. Rosen started the 1948 season with
the Indians but, stuck behind veteran star third baseman Ken Keltner, and
needing to improve his fielding, he was sent down to the Kansas City Blues of
the Class AAA American Association. He batted .327 with 25 home runs and 110
RBIs. Recalled to the Indians late in the season, he was used as a pinch-hitter
in the World Series where he failed to reach base in his lone plate appearance.
Rosen spent 1949 with San Diego of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League and hit
.319 with 14 home runs and 51 RBIs. He also appeared in 23 games with the
Indians and batted just .159 with five RBIs. With Ken Keltner nearing the end
of the line by 1950, the Indians replaced him with Rosen who topped the AL with
37 home runs while hitting .287 with 116 RBIs. He also led all AL third basemen
with 322 assists. He had a lesser season in 1951, batting .265 with 24 home
runs (which included four grand slams) and 102 RBIs. In 1952 he was an All-Star
for the first time on his way to batting .302 with 28 home runs and a
league-leading 105 RBIs. Rosen also placed tenth in AL MVP balloting.
1953 Season Summary
Appeared in 155
games
3B – 154, 1B –
1, SS – 1, PH – 1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 688 [4]
At Bats – 599 [7]
Runs – 115 [1]
Hits – 201 [3]
Doubles – 27 [15,
tied with Gil McDougald, Johnny Groth & Tom Umphlett]
Triples – 5 [19,
tied with seven others]
Home Runs – 43 [1]
RBI – 145 [1]
Bases on Balls
– 85 [5]
Int. BB – 4 [14,
tied with eleven others]
Strikeouts – 48
Stolen Bases – 8
[8, tied with Mickey Mantle]
Caught Stealing
– 7 [6, tied with four others]
Average - .336
[2]
OBP - .422 [2]
Slugging Pct. -
.613 [1]
Total Bases – 367
[1]
GDP – 19 [4,
tied with Billy Martin & Jackie Jensen]
Hit by Pitches
– 4 [18, tied with nine others]
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – N/A
League-leading
runs scored were +8 ahead of runner-up Eddie Yost
League-leading
home runs were +1 ahead of runner-up Gus Zernial
League-leading
RBIs were +30 ahead of runner-up Mickey Vernon
League-leading
slugging percentage was +.054 ahead of runner-up Gus Zernial
League-leading
total bases were +52 ahead of runner-up Mickey Vernon
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 22, RBI – 72, AVG – .313, SLG – .587
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 6 AB) vs. Detroit 9/25
Longest hitting
streak – 20 games
Most HR, game –
2 (in 6 AB) at St. Louis Browns 5/10, (in 4 AB) vs. St. Louis Browns 8/21, (in
6 AB) vs. Detroit 9/25
HR at home – 25
HR on road – 18
Multi-HR games
– 3
Most RBIs, game
– 5 at Boston Red Sox 6/25, vs. St. Louis Browns 8/21
Pinch-hitting –
0 of 1 (.000)
Fielding
Chances – 531
Put Outs – 174
Assists – 338
Errors – 19
DP – 38
Pct. - .964
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
MLB Player of
the Year: Sporting News
All-Star
(Started at 3B for AL)
Top 5 in AL MVP
Voting:
Al Rosen, Clev.:
336 pts. – 24 of 24 first place votes, 100% share
Yogi Berra, NYY:
167 pts. – 50% share
Mickey Vernon,
Wash.: 162 pts. – 48% share
Minnie Minoso,
ChiWS.: 100 pts. – 30% share
Virgil Trucks,
StLB/ChiWS.: 81 pts. – 24% share
---
Indians went 92-62
to finish second in the AL, 8.5 games behind the pennant-winning New York
Yankees while leading the league in home runs (160).
Aftermath of ‘53:
The Indians won
111 games and the AL pennant in 1954, while an injury-hampered Rosen
contributed a .300 average and 24 home runs with 102 RBIs. “The Hebrew Hammer”
was limited to 139 games in 1955 and hit .244 with 21 home runs and 81 RBIs. A
chronic back injury and broken finger held him to 121 games in 1956 and he
batted .267 with 15 home runs and 61 RBIs. He retired following the season at
age 32. Overall for his major league career, spent entirely with the Indians,
Rosen batted .285 with 1063 hits that included 165 doubles, 20 triples, and 192
home runs. He further compiled 717 RBIs and scored 503 runs. Appearing in four
postseason games, he batted .231 with three hits, none for extra bases. A
four-time All-Star Rosen finished among the top 15 in league MVP voting three times,
including the one win. In retirement he became a stockbroker and later was
briefly president and CEO of the New York Yankees under owner George
Steinbrenner. He went on to become president and general manager of the Houston
Astros from 1980 to ’85 before moving on to a similar job with the San
Francisco Giants from 1985-92. Rosen died in 2015 at the age of 91.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American Leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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