Goody Rosen appeared on this 1939 Play Ball baseball card.
Goody Rosen never got to play in an all-star game during his time in the major leagues.
Due to travel restrictions during World War II, the 1945 mid-summer classic was not played, so Rosen missed his opportunity as it was his only all-star season.
Born in Toronto in 1912, Rosen played in six seasons in the big leagues from 1937 to 1946. He was with the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1937 to 1939 and rejoined the club from 1944 to 1946. He was traded to the New York Giants in his final season of 1946.
Rosen’s first professional season was in 1932 and he played in the minors with several organizations between his major league stints.
The outfielder finished his career with Toronto in 1947. The Maple Leafs were a Triple-A team for the Boston Red Sox.
The Sporting News All-Stars
The Sporting News began selecting post-season all-stars in 1925. The publication only selected one team from its inception until 1960 prior to the expansion era, so there were just 11 players honored in 1945.
Rosen was the first Canadian to make the team when he was chosen after hitting .325 in 145 games for the Dodgers. He collected 197 hits for the year and had 12 homers and 75 RBI to go with 11 triples.
The other members of the post-season team in 1945 were Phil Cavarretta (1B, Chicago Cubs), Snuffy Stirnweiss (2B, New York Yankees), Marty Marion (SS, St. Louis Cardinals), Whitey Kurowski (3B, St. Louis Cardinals), Tommy Holmes (OF, Boston Braves), Andy Pafko (OF, Chicago Cubs), Paul Richards (C, Detroit Tigers), Hal Newhouser (P, Detroit Tigers), Dave Ferriss (P, Boston Red Sox) and Hank Borowy (P, Chicago Cubs).
Canadian All-Stars
There have been a total of 19 major league all-stars who were born in Canada. Larry Walker leads the way to five appearances in the game.
Current Toronto Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin, Justin Morneau and Joey Votto have each been named four times.
Fergie Jenkins, the only Canadian player in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, was at three contests along with Jason Bay and Eric Gagne.
George Selkirk was the first Canadian to appear in a major league all-star contest in 1936 as a member of the world champion New York Yankees. Selkirk was still with the Yankees when he started in left field for the American League in 1939.