Al Rosen, the president and general manager of the San Francisco Giants from 1985 to 1992, died March 13 in Rancho Mirage, Riverside County. He was 91.
A four-time all-star known as the “Hebrew Hammer,” Rosen was a slugging third baseman for the Cleveland Indians from 1947 through 1956. He was the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 1953 and part of the Indians’ 1948 World Series championship team — the last time Cleveland won the title.
Rosen hit 24 or more home runs and drove in 100 or more runs in five straight seasons, laying the groundwork for a potential Hall of Fame career. However, he retired at 32 after the 1956 season, suffering from a back injury from a car accident a year earlier and other injuries.
Rosen’s boyhood idol was Detroit Tigers’ first baseman Hank Greenberg, the all-time Jewish leader in home runs with 331 (Rosen is fifth with 192) and runs batted in with 1,276 (Rosen is seventh with 717).
Greenberg was the general manager of the Indians when Rosen played for the club, and according to the 2010 documentary “Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story,” the two men spent a lot of time together because both were Jewish.
Perhaps because of that relationship, Rosen went on to become a general manager himself, first with the Houston Astros and then with the Giants, hired by then-owner Bob Lurie. In San Francisco, Rosen overhauled a team that lost 100 games in 1985, bringing in a new, positive attitude in addition to new personnel. He hired Roger Craig as his manager, and the Giants won the National League West in 1987 for their first division title in 16 years and then the N.L. pennant in 1989, their first in 27 years.
Giants CEO Larry Baer released a statement after Rosen’s death last week, offering condolences to his widow, Rita, and saying, “We will miss him and always remember him as part of our very important Giants family.” — jta & j. staff