The New York Yankees mourn the passing of Yankees Executive Advisor, Pacific Rim Operations, George Rose, a beloved member of the Yankees organization, who began his service with the team in 1998. Rose passed away this morning at his home in Yardley, Penn., at age 57. He is survived by wife, Carrie; son, Sean; brother, Mike; sister, Kathleen; and their respective families.

“Kind, warm and humble, George Rose was unfailingly gracious and always a welcome presence to those around him,” said the New York 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. George was also a man of great faith, and the rare person about whom no one could say a bad word. He will be deeply missed by his friends and colleagues at both the Yankees and Yomiuri and by all who had the privilege of spending time with him. The Yankees offer their heartfelt condolences to his wife, Carrie; son, Sean; and George’s entire extended family.”

Rose was born on January 7, 1966, and was a native of Garden City, N.Y. He graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with an English degree in 1988.

Having no prior knowledge of Japanese, Rose applied to the Japanese government-sponsored JET Program (Japanese Exchange and Teaching Program), which brings university graduates to Japan as Assistant Language Teachers. He was accepted into the program, and in July of 1989, went to live in Soma, a small city on the Pacific Ocean in Fukushima Prefecture. Rose spent two years there and was the only American living in the city.

After returning from Japan, he worked for a Japanese import-export company in New York City for five years, then embarked on an MBA at Columbia University. In the spring of Rose’s final semester in February 1998, he received a call from General Manager Brian Cashman. They had a mutual acquaintance who informed Cashman of Rose’s fluency in Japanese. Cashman offered Rose the role of interpreting for Hideki Irabu, who had joined the team in mid-1997 but needed a translator for the 1998 season. In less than a week, Rose dropped out of Columbia and headed down to Tampa. Rose and Irabu established a great relationship, and Rose remained in the role for the Yankees’ 1998 and 1999 World Series championship seasons.

After Irabu was traded to the Montreal Expos in December of 1999, Rose finished his MBA at Columbia and worked on Wall Street. Despite having another full-time job, he remained informally involved with the club, including translating for Hideki Matsui at his introductory press conference in 2003. In 2007, Rose was asked to become the Yankees Director of Pacific Rim Operations, opening a business office in Japan to engage companies in sponsorships for the team and the new Yankee Stadium, while also coordinating baseball scouting operations in Japan.

After spending approximately three years in Japan, Rose moved back to the United States and entered into an advisory role with both the Yankees and Yomiuri, which operates the Giants baseball team and the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper. During that time, Rose 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. Rose maintained his advisory roles with the Yankees and Yomiuri until his passing.