All-Time Indians: Al Rosen

One of the greatest hitters in Indians history, Al Rosen played only ten seasons (seven full seasons) at the highest level of professional baseball, but he played them all for Cleveland and made the most out of his short career.

Originally signed as an 18 year old out of the University of Florida, Rosen signed with the Indians in 1942, but quickly had his time with the team disrupted when he joined the Navy in 1943. A Polish-American Jew, Rosen certainly had plenty of motivation to join the fight and he stayed in the Navy until he was discharged in 1946.

This delayed his entry to the Major Leagues until he was 22 after a great season in AA. He would only play seven games in that 1947 season, however, and five in 1948 after another great minor league season in AAA. Despite being just a minor footnote to an otherwise great season, Rosen would receive his lone World Series ring that year thanks to a pinch hit appearance when he popped out in game five against Warren Spaghn.

Ken Keltner had taken over as the team’s starting third baseman in 1938 and by the time the Indians had won the World Series in 1948, he had become the greatest third baseman in franchise history, both offensively and defensively. In 1949, however, the 32 year old was running out of steam and batted just .232/.335/.382, the worst offensive season of his career. While Rosen would still play most of the year in AAA, it was Keltner struggling that ultimately opened a position for him to become a regular. Rosen played in just 23 games in 1949, but as a rookie in 1950 he would lead the league in home runs with 37.

Despite having over 100 RBI, 100 walks, 100 runs and 20 doubles, Rosen didn’t receive a Rookie of the Year vote, but did come in 17th in MVP voting. Interestingly, Whitey Ford, who came in second in the Rookie of the Year, finished behind him in MVP voting with the illustrious Walt Dropo winning the award.

After breaking into the league in style, Rosen would take a step back in 1951, hitting just .265/.362/.447 with 24 home runs although he would surpass the century mark in RBI again with 102. While the teams of the 1950’s were known primarily for their pitching, Rosen lead an offensive trio that stands up with any age as Luke Easter and Larry Doby lead the club from 1950 through 1952 (after which Doby and Rosen stayed dominant through 1955). The three hit at least 20 home runs per season each of those three years and knocked in a cumulative 905 runs over that span while no other Indians hitter hit 20 home runs or knocked in 100 and the only other Indian to score 100 was Bobby Avila in 1952.

The 1952 season would be Rosen’s third of six straight with at least 100 RBI, but his first All-Star appearance as he was selected as the AL’s starting third baseman and hit clean-up behind his teammate, left fielder Dale Mitchell. With 28 home runs and 32 doubles (his second straight season with at least 30) he finished 10th in the MVP voting, behind each of the Indians big three pitchers, Bob Lemon, Early Wynn and Mike Garcia, one of eight Indians to receive a vote.

Rosen would finally reach the pinnacle of award voting in 1953 while the list of his fellow teammates who received MVP votes would reach their pinnacle the following season. In his historic 1953 season, Rosen batted .336 and lead the AL with a .613 slugging percent, 1.034 OPS, 43 home runs, 145 RBI and 113 runs scored. What is truly incredible is that Rosen did this nearly all on his own as only Doby had a great offensive season besides with Mitchel and Avila playing well, but not providing much support. As a team, the Indians scored just 770 runs, down from 840 in their championship 1948 season and far from the best offensive years in the 1930’s. Rosen was directly responsible for 215 of those. His 145 RBI that season remain third in the annuls of Indians history behind only Manny Ramirez (165 in 1999) and Hal Trosky (162 in 1936).

For his efforts, Rosen won the MVP, taking all 24 first place votes with his league best 10.1 WAR (Yogi Berra came in second). This would be the second Indians MVP in less than a decade (the other was Lou Boudreau in 1948), but it would be the last through at least 2016. Despite winning 92 games, the Indians would come in second for the third year in a row as the Yankees continued their dominance over the American League.

The 1954 season wouldn’t be quite the statistical accomplishment for Rosen, but it was significantly better for the team as a whole. Rosen would play in just 137 games and hit 24 home runs with 102 RBI, his last 100 RBI season. He still batted .300 (for the third straight season) and was the team’s second best offensive performer behind his Hall of Fame teammate, Doby. That year, Doby had a fair claim for the MVP himself, with 32 home runs and 126 RBI, but lost to Berra, coming in second.

It was Berra’s Yankees who would come in second in the AL, however, as the Rosen, Doby and the Tribe’s trio of aces would storm to an MLB record 111 wins and a .721 winning percent. While they would lose in a sweep to the Willie Mays and the New York Giants, it was still an incredible feat and would go down as the last great Indians season for four decades. None of the Indians hitters would play well in the series aside from Doby and Rosen was no exception. He had just three hits in 13 plate appearances and none for extra bases. Without his offensive production, the team wouldn’t have won 111 games and without it in the World Series, they didn’t win a single game. Despite poor and limited play in his two World Series, Rosen was still one of just five players to compete for the Indians in both the 1948 and 1954 Fall Classic.

Rosen’s decline would be swift and coincide with the Indians decline as a whole. He would be selected to the All-Star game in 1955, his fourth straight, but this was despite hitting .233/.351/.387 by the All-Star break. He would improve to slug just over .400, hit 21 home runs and knock in 81, but the end was nearing.

Still dealing with injury issues from his broken finger in 1954 in addition to other problems, he played in just 121 games in 1956, his final season playing baseball. He added another 15 home runs that year, bringing his career total to 192, behind only Hal Trosky, Earl Averill and Doby at the time and now ninth in Indians history.

After his career as a player, Rosen left baseball for twenty years, coming back to the sport in 1978 when he became president of the New York Yankees although he would leave after just two seasons. In 1980, he became the GM of the Astros, then moved on to the Giants in 1985. He retired for good after the 1992 season and was inducted into the Indians Hall of Fame after it reopened in 2006 (it had been closed since 1972). He died in March of 2015.