Buddy Rosar
| Buddy Rosar | |||
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| Catcher | |||
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Born: July 3, 1914 Buffalo, New York |
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Died: March 13, 1994 (aged 80) Rochester, New York |
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| MLB debut | |||
| April 29, 1939, for the New York Yankees | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 19, 1951, for the Boston Red Sox | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .261 | ||
| Hits | 836 | ||
| Runs batted in | 367 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
Warren Vincent "Buddy" Rosar (July 3, 1914 – March 13, 1994) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1939 to 1951 for the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Athletics, and Boston Red Sox. A five-time All-Star, Rosar was regarded as an excellent defensive catcher, setting a major league record for consecutive games without an error by a catcher. He is one of only three catchers in Major League history to catch at least 100 games in a single season without committing an error.
Rosar was first discovered in 1934 when he was chosen to play in an All-Star game for Buffalo, New York amateur baseball players. The wife of New York Yankees manager, Joe McCarthy, attended the game and was so impressed with Rosar's catching ability that she told her husband about him. McCarthy sent Yankees' scout, Gene McCann to look at Rosar before the team signed him as an amateur free agent. He played for the 1937 Newark Bears team that won the International League pennant by 25½ games to become known as one of the best minor league teams of all time. Rosar hit .387 with the Bears in 1938 to win the International League batting championship.
Rosar made his major league debut with the Yankees on April 29, 1939 at the age of 24. From 1939 to 1942, he served as the Yankees' back up catcher to the future Hall of Fame inductee Bill Dickey. By the middle of the 1940 season, Rosar was out-hitting Dickey with a .343 batting average compared to Dickey's .226 average although, he appeared in only half as many games as, the Yankees were reluctant to relegate Dickey to second string status. On July 19, 1940, he hit for the cycle in a game against the Cleveland Indians. Rosar appeared in 73 games in 1940 and set career-highs with a .298 batting average and a .357 on-base percentage. In 1941, he hit well above .300 until the final month of the season before tapering off to end the year with a .287 average in 67 games as, the Yankees won the American League pennant by 17 games over the Boston Red Sox. Rosar made only one appearance in the 1941 World Series as a late-inning defensive replacement for Dickey in Game 2 as, the Yankees went on to defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers in five games.
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