(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
 Legendary Cleveland-infielder Al Rosen passed away
Nederlands
IN MEMORIAM 
...Al Rosen...
(1924 - 2015)
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 GOODYEAR, Arizona (USA) -
For the third time in a short period, the professional baseball-world lost another of its legendary players, as Al Rosen passed away on Friday, March 13, thirteen days after his 91st birthday.
Rosen played in ten Major League-seasons (1947-1956), all with the Cleveland Indians, with whom he won the World Series in 1948.
In January and early this month, two other baseball-legends also passed away.
On January 23, Ernie Banks, 'Mr. Cub', passed away at age 83.
On March 1, Minnie Miņoso, 'Mr. White Sox', passed away at age 92.
Albert Leonard Rosen signed as an amateur free agent with the Indians in 1942.
But in that year, he also enlisted in the United States Navy and served in the Pacific during World War II.
Rosen left the Navy as a lieutenant in 1946 and made his Major League-debut a year later.
In his ten big league-seasons, Rosen played in 1044 games, became a powerhitter and finished his career with a .285 batting average (1063-for-4374).
Rosen, nicknamed 'Hebrew Hammer', scored 603 runs, batted in 717 and hit 192 homeruns.
In his first full season in 1950, Rosen hit 37 homeruns to set a record for rookies.
This was broken in 1987 when Mark McGwire hit 49.
He was voted Most Valuable Player of the American League unanimously in 1953 when he led the league with 115 runs, 145 runs batted in and 43 homeruns.
He finished with a .336 batting average and missed the Triple Crown by only .001, as Mickey Vernon of the Washington Senators was the best hitter with a .337 average.
Rosen, who played the majority of his games as a brilliant third baseman, played in four All Star Games.
He was the hero of the 1954 All Star Game when he hit two homeruns and batted in five runs.
In 1948, his second season in the Major League, Rosen played in only five big league-games, but nevertheless was on the roster for the Indians for the World Series.
In the Series against the Boston Braves (now Atlanta Braves), Rosen got one at bat.
Rosen also played in the World Series with the Indians in 1954 against the New York Giants (now San Francisco Giants), but this time his team ended up empty-handed.
After he retired as a player in 1956, he initially became a stockbroker.
But 22 years later, he returned to baseball and became a very successful front-office executive.
He was the President/CEO of the New York Yankees in 1978-1979 under George Steinbrenner, then served in the same position with the Houston Astros (1980-1985).
Hearefter, Rosen was the President and General with the San Francisco Giants.
Under his leadership, the Giants won the National League West-title in 1987 and reached the World Series in 1989.
He was named Executive of the Year in 1987 and with that became the only person in Major League-history to earn this award as well as the MVP Award.
In 1980, Al Rosen was elected into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
He later also was elected into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame.
(March 15)
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