At 5-foot-9, 150 pounds, Goody Rosen overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to play in the majors. The scrappy Canuck, who shagged balls at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Stadium as a kid, made his major league debut as a pinch runner for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the first game of a doubleheader on September 14, 1937. In the second game, he would bat leadoff and record two hits.
Not only was Rosen a steady bat at the top of the Dodgers order, he was one of the best defensive outfielders of his time. He 19 outfield assists in 1938 reflect his strong throwing arm. His finest big league season was in 1945, when he hit .325 (third in National League) and finished in the top ten in hits, total bases, triples and on-base percentage. His performance earned him a 10th place finish in the MVP voting.
After five seasons in Brooklyn, the Canadian sparkplug was sold to the cross-town rival New York Giants on April 27, 1946. The next day, arguably his best in baseball, he notched seven hits in nine at bats and drove in the winning run in each game of a doubleheader sweep of his former team. Rosen finished his career with a stellar .291 batting average, recording 557 hits in 551 career games.
CAREER MAJOR LEAGUE STATISTICS
| G | AB | R | H | D | T | HR | RBI | TB | BB | SO | SB | OBP | SLG | AVG |
| 551 | 1916 | 310 | 557 | 71 | 34 | 22 | 197 | 762 | 218 | 166 | 12 | .364 | .398 | .291 |
To view Goody’s season by season Major League statistics click HERE.
