This week’s passing of George Rose, of Yardley, prompted a glowing tribute from the New York Yankees for his work to advance the organization’s dealings in Japan.
Rose served as the Yankees’ Director of Pacific Rim Operations for about three years starting in 2007.
“Kind, warm and humble, George Rose was unfailingly gracious and always a welcome presence to those around him,” said the Yankees. “He jumped into his baseball career with no prior experience, and quickly became a key staff member on our 1998 and 1999 championship teams. In subsequent years, he was the driving force in building out our operations in Japan, utilizing an incredible ability to facilitate cross-cultural understanding.”
Rose died Sunday in Yardley. He was 57.
In 1998, Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman needed to hire an interpreter for pitcher Hideki Irabu, who’d come to the team from Japan the year before. An acquaintance of Cashman knew Rose and that he was fluent in Japanese. Cashman called Rose, who accepted the job and stayed with the Yankees until Irabu was traded to the Montreal Expos in 1999.
The Yankees said Rose remained informally involved with the team. He was tapped to translate for Hideki Matsui at the Japanese slugger’s introductory press conference in 2003.
As the Yankees’ Director of Pacific Rim Operations, Rose opened a business office for the team in Japan and worked to land sponsorships for the team and the new Yankee Stadium while also coordinating baseball scouting operations in Japan, said the Yankees in the statement.
He later worked as a U.S.-based advisor who, the team said, was “at the forefront of the Yankees’ relationships with Japanese business and sponsorship partners and was deeply involved in the process that led to the acquisition of Masahiro Tanaka in 2014.”
“George was also a man of great faith, and the rare person about whom no one could say a bad word,” the Yankees said. “He will be deeply missed...”
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