Louis Rosenberg (March 5, 1904 – September 8, 1991) was a

Jewish American American Jews or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by religion, ethnicity, culture, or nationality. Today the Jewish community in the United States consists primarily of Ashkenazi Jews, who descend from diaspora Je ...

professional baseball player whose career spanned three seasons, one of which was spent in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Chicago White Sox (1923). During his time in the majors, he played second base and batted .250 with one hit, and one

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

in four

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...

s. Rosenberg also played in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

for two seasons with the Twin Falls Bruins (1926–27),

Logan Collegians The Logan Collegians were a minor league baseball team based in Logan, Utah. Between 1902 and 1927, Logan teams played as members of the 1902 Utah State League, 1921 Class D level Northern Utah League and Class C level Utah-Idaho League in 1926 ...

(1927), and Baltimore Orioles (1927). In the minors, he had a lifetime batting average of .331 with 233 hits, 51 doubles, 15

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, and 16 home runs. During his playing career, he stood at and weighed in at . He batted and threw right-handed. Rosenberg's brother, Harry, also played professional baseball.

Early life

Rosenberg was born on March 5, 1904, in San Francisco, California, to Benjamin and Dora Rosenberg, both of Russia. Lou Rosenberg had eight siblings; sisters Celia, Dora, and Lottie; and brothers Harry, Max, Meyer, Hyman and Samuel Their father worked as a

contractor A contractor is a person or company that performs work on a contract basis. The term may refer to: Business roles * Defense contractor, arms industry which provides weapons or military goods to a government * General contractor, an individual o ...

in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lou Rosenberg's brother, Harry, was a Major League Baseball (MLB) player with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. Lou Rosenberg, like his siblings, did not have a middle name, although some records indicated his middle initial was "C". He was Jewish.

Baseball career

In 1922, Rosenberg was playing in the

California Winter League California Winter League is a former baseball winter league. It was the first integrated league in the 20th century as players from Major League Baseball and Negro league baseball played each other in training games. The league was in existence f ...

. Before 1923, Rosenberg played sandlot ball in San Francisco. The Chicago White Sox signed Rosenberg during

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

in 1923 since they were short players on their roster after

Eddie Collins Edward Trowbridge Collins Sr. (May 2, 1887 – March 25, 1951), nicknamed "Cocky", was an American professional baseball player, manager and executive. He played as a second baseman in Major League Baseball from to for the Philadelphia Athlet ...

and Ernie Johnson failed to report. During his spring training debut, collected three

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. He made his MLB debut on May 22, against the New York Yankees, where in one

he struck out. On July 16, which would later prove to be his final MLB game, Rosenberg collected his first major league hit, which was off of

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

pitcher Slim Harriss. That season, he was used as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

and second baseman. He collected one hit in four at-bats with the White Sox that year. At 19, he was the second-youngest player in the American League that season. On July 24, the White Sox assigned Rosenberg to their

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

team in

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. In April 1926, Rosenberg signed with the Class-C Twin Falls Bruins of the

Utah–Idaho League The Utah–Idaho League was a minor league baseball organization founded in 1926. Playing as a six–team, Class C level league for its duration, the Utah–Idaho League franchises were based exclusively in Idaho and Utah as the name indicates. ...

. With the Bruins that season, he batted .354 with 139 hits, 32 doubles, 10

, and 13 home runs in 105

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

. He was fourth in the league in home runs, and fifth in doubles. At the end of the season it was announced that he would return to Twin Falls in 1927. With Twin Falls that season, he batted .273 with 36 hits, five doubles, and one home run in 36 games played. Mid-season that year, he joined the Class-C

, also of the Utah–Idaho League. With Logan, Rosenberg batted .326 with 58 hits, 14 doubles, five triples, and two home runs in 48 games played. Rosenberg also played for the Double-A Baltimore Orioles of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. He played just one game with the Orioles, and his stats were never kept. Before the start of the 1928 season it was announced that Rosenberg was to play for the Logan Collegians of the Utah–Idaho League, however the team ceased operations before the season.

Later life

Rosenberg resided in San Francisco with his wife, Sylvia, after his baseball career was over. Rosenberg owned a plant nursery business, Sunset Garden Supply. During an interview, when asked who the greatest baseball player of all time was, Rosenberg answered Ty Cobb. He died on September 8, 1991, in San Francisco. He was buried at Eternal Home Cemetery in Daly City, California.

References

;General references # # ;Inline citations

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenberg, Lou 1904 births 1991 deaths American people of Russian-Jewish descent Baltimore Orioles (International League) players Baseball players from San Francisco Chicago White Sox players Jewish American baseball players Logan Collegians players Major League Baseball second basemen Twin Falls Bruins players 20th-century American Jews