Dick Rosen Appointed to Board Vacancy

Drexel University Professor Richard Rosen was appointed January 12, 2010 by the Society's Board of Commissioners to fill the vacancy left by the recent death of Max Silberman. Rosen will fulfill the balance of Silberman's Vice Chairman's position on the 5 member commissioners board and also that of VP of History and research.

Biography – Dick Rosen

Dick Rosen spent his early days in the streets of Southwest Philadelphia, near 60th and Springfield. He became quite adept at the numerous derivatives of baseball, including boxball, stickball, half ball, hose ball, and wire ball. Baseball came into his life a bit later. He saw his first Major League game in 1948, A’s versus Indians, and was hooked. While he preferred the A’s, he also followed the Phillies.

Rosen’s interest in the history of the game came early. His uncle, who lived close by, had been an ardent Athletics fan since their heyday of the mid- 20s to the early 30s. Dick learned about those teams during frequent conversations with his uncle. Dick believes that he could recite the lineup and batting averages of the 1929 Athletics before he knew the names of his third grade classmates. His first baseball glove had a Sam Chapman signature on it despite its being a lefthanders glove.

Armed with his new glove, a bat (inherited from the uncle), and a tennis ball, Rosen and seven friends went to nearby Cobbs Creek Park to play “baseball”. Such games were few and far between, but the love of the game continued to grow. When the Phils won the NL Pennant in 1950, the locals were ecstatic. By that time, he had seen about 25 games at Shibe Park.

A major change came in 1951, when Dick’s family moved to Western Pennsylvania. His father had been offered a job a sweater mill in Ellwood City, a steel town about 40 miles north of Pittsburgh. Baseball in Ellwood City was well-organized and there was to be no more “street ball” in Rosen’s life. He played in organized baseball leagues for the next eight years; two years in Little league, three in American Legion Knee-Hi, and three in the American Legion League. His love of the game continued as he traveled throughout the Beaver Valley playing ball.

The most memorable team he played against was the team from nearby Wampum, PA. On that team were two future Major leaguers, Harold (Hank) Allen and his brother Richie (Dick) Allen. It was a great opportunity to watch both of the Allens mature into first-rate ball players.

After graduating from Ellwood City High School in 1957, Rosen went off to college eventually getting a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel Institute of Technology in 1963. After this, he attended graduate school at Case Western Reserve Univ. getting advanced degrees in the History of Engineering. He returned to Philadelphia in 1969 to teach history at Drexel; he has been there ever since.

About four years ago, Rosen began to lecture on Connie Mack and the Athletics throughout the state for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council (PHC). This resulted in a WHYY-ARTS TV production on Connie Mack and the Philadelphia Athletics in 2008.

He is very pleased with his close association with the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society and is dedicated to its continued growth.