The Comeback of Goody Rosen

Goody Rosen was a solid outfielder in the thirties and forties, mostly with Brooklyn, and then part of one season for the Giants.

He did manage to bounce around a bit, especially in the minors, but his Baseball-Reference page only has the following for his transactions:

• May 14, 1940: Purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Brooklyn Dodgers.
• May 30, 1944: Traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Bill Lohrman and Fritz Ostermueller.
• April 27, 1946: Purchased by the New York Giants from the Brooklyn Dodgers. 

To start things off, Rosen was property of Louisville, an independent club that eventually fell under the Dodgers banner. Rosen, according to a few partial accounts in various books, was actually sold to the Dodgers near the end of the 1937 season.

Rosen played well to start in Brooklyn, but fell into disfavor with Leo Durocher when The Lip took over as manager, and was sold off in 1940. But, not to Pittsburgh at first.

From the Reading Eagle of Feb. 11, 1940:

“the Brooklyn Dodgers today announced the sale of Goody Rosen, an outfielder, to the Columbus, O., club, of the American Association.”

Columbus was a CARDINALS affiliate in AAA. Rosen did not get along with the manager there and left the team, resulting in a return to the Dodgers in time to sell him back off in May of that year. One source called the Columbus sale a conditional deal.

Rosen was actually dealt to Syracuse in May of 1940, then a Pirates AAA team. The next season he stayed in Syracuse as they became an independent club. From 1942-1944, Syracuse (with Rosen on squad) was adopted by the Cincinnati Reds, explaining the gap between 1940 and 1944 in the transaction list, and why there was no mention of how he got to the Reds from the Pirates.

The deal for Lohman and Ostermueller caused a bit of a ruckus, and also included some money, according to this article from the St. Petersburg Times of June 20, 1944:

“A case in point was the recent Dodger deals which waived two pitchers, Lefty Ostermueller and Black Bill Lohrman, out of the majors……

The Dodgers, guided by the shrewd Branch Rickey, had them waived out and sold them to Syracuse of the International League for minor league outfielder Goody Rosen. The Dodgers threw in $18,000.”

The two pitchers quickly found themselves back in the majors.

Rosen had a solid comeback, he hit .325 in a full 1945 season up top for Brooklyn. An oversupply of young good outfielders allowed the Dodgers to sell Rosen to the Giants, where he famously beat up Brooklyn when the two teams played that season.

Despite a good showing for him in a Giant uniform (.281 BA, .377 OBP in 100 games), the Giants included the then 33-year-old in a post-season housecleaning after a disappointing overall season for the team. From the Spokesman-Review of Sep. 30, 1946:

“The New York Giants, eighth place club in the National baseball league pennant scrap, began preparing for 1947 today by selling Outfielders Goody Rosen and Garland Lawring and pitcher Jack Kraus to Jersey City of the International league in a straight cash deal.”

Rosen would never play for Jersey City. He was tired of the minor leagues at that point and had a successful business in this Toronto home town....from the Milwaukee Journal of Jan. 28, 1947:

“Goody Rosen, who operates a successful restaurant in Toronto, is threatening to stay out of baseball if the Giants do not recall him fom exile in Jersey City”

They didn't, but some accomodation was made for Rosen to spend his last year as a player in Toronto for the Maple Leafs team. I couldn't find that transaction.

Rosen was a very talented player that is still honored by the Jewish community and the Toronto area today.

Rosen pic stolen from the great blog at garveyceyrusselllopes.blogspot.com