Early Life
Rosen was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He and his family moved to Miami, Florida when he was three years old. He grew up in the southwest section of Miami, which is now the heart of Little Havana. Rosen grew up without a father, and was raised by three women: his grandmother, mother and aunt.
Rosen suffered from asthma as a child, which prompted his family to move further south. While growing up, his two favorite baseball players were Lou Gehrig and Hank Greenberg. After graduating from Florida Military Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida, Rosen enrolled in the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for the Florida Gators baseball team in 1941-42. He left the university after his second semester to play minor league baseball.
Rosen enlisted in 1942, and spent 4 years in the U.S. Navy fighting in the Pacific during World War II, delaying his professional baseball career. He navigated an assault boat in the initial landing on Okinawa in the bitter battle for the island. In 1946, he left the Navy as a lieutenant and returned to his emerging baseball career.
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