Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Al Rosen, the 1953 American League's Most Valuable Player and a member of the Cleveland Indians' last World Series champion team, died Friday night at the age of 91.
Rosen spent his entire 10-year major league career with the Indians from 1947-56 and was selected to four All-Star teams. His signature season came in 1953, when the third baseman topped the AL with 43 home runs and 145 RBI while batting .336 and being edged out by Washington's Mickey Vernon for the batting title.
From a five-year stretch from 1950-54, Rosen surpassed the 100-RBI mark five times and batted over .300 in three of those seasons. Injuries forced his retirement from the game following the 1956 campaign, with Rosen amassing 192 homers, 717 RBI and a .285 average in 1,044 career games.
"We lost a cherished member of the Indians family (Friday) night. Watching Al play was a true joy and something Indians fans of our generation still cherish," Larry Dolan, father of Indians owner Paul Dolan, said in a statement released by the organization.
Rosen later made his mark in baseball's front office, earning MLB's Executive of the Year Award in 1987 as the president and general manager of the NL West champion San Francisco Giants.
Prior to his baseball career, Rosen served in World War II as a Navy officer in the Pacific theater.
"Al embodied the true meaning of success, as a player and person," Paul Dolan said.
Rosen played in only five regular-season games during the Indians' 1948 World Series title, the most recent for the long-suffering franchise, but played a key role in Cleveland's run to the 1954 AL pennant.
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