Former softball great Rosen dies at age 88

Harry "Coon" Rosen, a legendary fast-pitch softball hurler of the 1930s and '40s who was considered "the forgotten hero" of the game until his 1990 induction into the hall of fame, has died in Sun City near Palm Springs, Calif. He was 88.

A 23-year resident of Las Vegas, Rosen, the first manager of the old MGM Grand's jai alai fronton, died Jan. 4 of complications from surgery.

There were no services. Interment was in Las Vegas.

In a storied career dating to his winning the first American Softball Association fast-pitch championship in 1933, Rosen won more than 3,000 games, pitched 300 no-hitters and hurled 195 perfect games.

Known for his figure-eight arm-movement, Rosen's 100 mph pitches had an incredible two- to three-foot rise and an equally devastating drop that frustrated the game's greatest hitters.

At age 59, in a charity exhibition at the Houston Astrodome, he pitched five innings of no-hit ball against professional athletes, including members of the Houston Astros, before a crowd of 30,000 fans.

In his 80s, Rosen still practiced his pitching skills two to three times a week. Even in his advanced years, his pitches could make a "catcher's mitt pop like a firecracker," according to the May 1990 edition of the Sierra Softball magazine, a regional publication.

Born in 1908 in Lincoln, Neb., Rosen was raised in Chicago, where at age 12 he led the Von Humboldt Grammar School to the city YMCA softball title.

In 1931, as a pitcher and first baseman, Rosen helped lead the University of Illinois baseball team to the Big Ten title. He received an offer from the St. Louis Cardinals to play pro ball, but turned it down because his father disapproved of a professional sports career.

Instead, Rosen, in his spare time, played fast-pitch softball, leading the J.L. Friedman Boosters to the first ASA title with a 5-1 victory over Briggs Beautyware of Detroit in the finals of the world championship at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. The tournament was witnessed by more than 350,000 spectators.

Over the next 12 years, Rosen was named a first-team All-American eight times and won the most valuable player award five times.

In 1935, Rosen was the subject of a "Ripley's Believe It or Not" cartoon, which noted he fanned 37 batters and allowed one hit in a doubleheader, yet lost both games 1-0. Rosen later said errors resulted in the defeats.

Over the years, Rosen faced and beat teams led by future hall of fame pitchers Harold "Shifty" Gears, Al Linde and Clyde "Dizzy" Kirkendall.

However, Rosen stopped playing regularly in 1950, and "he became the forgotten hero of fast-pitch softball," Sierra Softball said.

The ASA Hall of Fame, established in 1957, finally enshrined Rosen on July 3, 1990, in Oklahoma City.

During 26 years as a San Diego resident, he was general manager of the Caliente Race Track and jai alai fronton in Tijuana. Rosen came to Las Vegas in 1973 to run the newly opened MGM Grand Fronton. The resort is now called Bally's and no longer features a fronton.

Rosen also is a member of the Chicago and Arizona sports halls of fame and his softball exploits are recognized by the San Diego Hall of Champions.

Rosen is survived by his fiancee, Anne La Sala of Sun City and Las Vegas, two daughters, three sisters, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

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