More injuries had a negative effect on his 1955 statistics – a .244 average with 21 home runs.
Rosen’s 1,000th career hit came on June 24, 1956. Injuries kept him out of 33 games that year and when the season ended his average stood at .267 with 15 home runs.
Only 32 at the time, Rosen’s 10-year with Cleveland ended with a lifetime batting average of .285 and 192 home runs. He could have played in 1957 and beyond if he’d accepted a trade to Boston worked out by Indians general manager Hank Greenberg, Rosen’s boyhood idol.
Rosen, though, opted to retire as his wife was having health issues and he was happy in Cleveland where he was active in Jewish causes and had a good position with the investment firm of Bache and Company. Rosen was a hero to Jewish fans not just because of his skills on the field but also because he didn’t play on the High Holidays and, with his boxing skills, never allowed an anti-Semitic taunt by an opposing player to go unanswered.
Rosen worked as a stockbroker in Cleveland for two decades before serving as a vice president at a top Las Vegas hotel. He got back into baseball in the late 1970s and served in senior executive positions with a succession of teams – the Yankees, Astros, and Giants.
When Rosen’s friend Bob Lurie sold the Giants in 1992, Rosen resigned, reasoning that the new ownership should pick its own management team. Rosen, 68 at the time, slid away from the game gracefully and into retirement with his wife in the San Francisco area.
He died on March 13, 2015 at age 91 in Rancho Mirage, California, of natural causes.
He was a proud Jew and we were proud of his baseball accomplishments.