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{{infobox basketball club
| name           = Cleveland Rosenblums
| color1          = <!-- or | colour1 = -->
| color2          = <!-- or | colour2 = -->
| logo            =
| nickname        = 
| leagues         = Independent 1919–1925 <br /> [[American Basketball League (1925–55)|American Basketball League]] 1925–1931 
| founded         = 1919
| arena           = 
| colors          = <!-- or | colours = -->
| folded         = 1931
| a_pattern_s     = 
}}
The '''Cleveland Rosenblums''' (also known as the ''Rosies'') were an American [[basketball]] team based in [[Cleveland|Cleveland, Ohio]] that was one of the original members of the [[American Basketball League (1925–1955)|American Basketball League]]. The Rosenblums played in the league between 1925 and 1930, winning three championships before dropping out.

==Early years==

[[File:Max Rosenblum.png|thumb|right|175px|Team owner [[Max Rosenblum]], c. 1918]]
The Rosenblums were organized in the late 1910s and were owned by Cleveland [[department store]] owner, [[Max Rosenblum]] (1877–1953).<ref>{{cite book|title=The Top 20 Moments in Cleveland Sports History|author=Bob Dyer|page=154|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2007|isbn=978-1-59851-030-0}}<!--|accessdate=October 3, 2011-->("A team called the Cleveland Rosenblums, named after owner Max Rosenblum, a department store magnate, had come and gone despite winning the ABL title in 1928–29.")</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Sports in Cleveland: An Illustrated History|author=John J. Grabowski|page=58|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=1992|isbn=0-253-20747-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Cleveland: The Making of a City|author=William Ganson Rose|page=837|publisher=Kent State University Press|year=1990|isbn=0-87338-428-8}}<!--|accessdate=October 3, 2011--></ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Cleveland Indians: Cleveland Press Years, 1920–1982|author=David Borsvold|page=21|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2003|isbn=0-7385-2325-9}}<!--|accessdate=October 3, 2011--></ref>  Originally known as the "Rosenblum Credits,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=RM2 | title=Rosenblum, Max | date=11 May 2018 }}</ref>" the 1919 team compiled a record of 18–2 and was selected by Cleveland sporting editors as "the recognized champions of Ohio."<ref>{{cite news|title=Cleveland Stars Will Play Coffey|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|date=March 7, 1919|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=u7caAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gkkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2804,2297645&dq=cleveland+rosenblum&hl=en|accessdate=October 3, 2011}}</ref>

During the 1922–1923 season, the team became known as "the fastest basket ball aggregation in this part of the country,"<ref name=TR/> and consisted of "an array of former college stars," including Kelly McBride, who was the team's top scorer for several seasons.<ref>{{cite news|title=Merry Battle On Tomorrow Night|newspaper=Rochester Evening Journal|date=March 2, 1923|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GhVgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jG0NAAAAIBAJ&pg=2512,866459&dq=cleveland+rosenblum&hl=en|accessdate=October 3, 2011}}</ref>  The 1922–1923 team was coached by [[Bill Lange (coach)|Bill Lange]], who later led the [[North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball]] team to its first [[NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship|NCAA tournament]] appearance in 1941.<ref name=TR>{{cite news|title=William F. Lang, Musking'm Coach, Arrives Today|newspaper=The Times Recorder (Zanesville, Ohio)|date=September 7, 1923}}</ref>

In April 1924, the Rosenblums traveled to Brooklyn to compete in a tournament of five professional basketball teams.  The tournament was organized as a fundraiser for the [[U.S. Olympic Committee]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Fives Will Play Tonight|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 14, 1924|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1924/04/14/119038070.pdf|accessdate=October 3, 2011}}</ref>  The Rosenblums lost in the tournament to the [[Original Celtics]] by a score of 25 to 17 in a game that featured a fight late in the game between Celtics player [[Nat Holman]] and [[Marty Friedman (basketball)|Marty Friedman]], forward for the Rosenblums. Both players were ejected from the game.<ref>{{cite news|title=Celtics Wn From Rosenblum Five: 3,500 Persons See Professional Basketball Tourney for Olympic Fund|date=April 15, 1924|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1924/04/15/104248424.pdf|accessdate=October 3, 2011}}</ref>

==Formation of the American Basketball League==
In April 1925, Rosenblum hosted an organizational meeting at the Hotel Statler in Cleveland to establish a professional basketball league that was originally called the National Basketball League. ''[[The Pittsburgh Press]]'' reported at the time, "Max Rosenblum, of Cleveland, who has sponsored professional basketball on a large scale for many years, is the leading spirit in the organization."<ref>{{cite news|title=Meet to Organize Professional Cage Teams Into League|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|date=April 12, 1925|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_UMbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DkoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5966,6322296&dq=max-rosenblum+cleveland&hl=en|accessdate=October 3, 2011}}</ref>

==First ABL championship==
In the inaugural 1925–1926 season of the American Professional Basketball League, the Rosenblums compiled a record of 23–7.  Their leading scorers were [[John Russell (basketball)|John "Honey" Russell]] (216 points), [[Nat Hickey]] (198 points), and [[Carl Husta]] (158 points).<ref name=APBR>{{cite news|title=ABL PLAYOFFS, 1926 and 1927 |author=John Hogrogian|publisher=Association for Professional Basketball Research|url=http://www.apbr.org/ablplayoffs.html|accessdate=October 3, 2011}}</ref> On April 9, 1926, the Rosenblums won the ABL's first championship by defeating the [[Brooklyn Arcadians]] by a score of 23–22 in the final game of the league's first championship series played at Brooklyn's [[71st Infantry Regiment (New York)|71st Infantry Regiment]] Armory.<ref name=NYT/><ref name=nbah>{{cite web|title=History of Basketball|publisher=nbahoopsonline.com|url=http://www.nbahoopsonline.com/Articles/History1.html|accessdate=October 3, 2011}}</ref> The championship was decided in a best-of-five series, and the Rosenblums won in three consecutive games.  The Rosenblums won the first and second games at Cleveland's Public Hall by scores of 36–33 and 37–21. ''[[The New York Times]]'' described the Rosenblums' playing style in the final game as follows:<blockquote>"Although Cleveland deceived the Brooklyn players by short, tricky passes at various stages of the game the main strategy of the invaders seemed to be to get a few points ahead and then play catch with the ball to prevent the Brooklyn players from getting a chance.  In the final six minutes, when Cleveland's margin was never more than a point or two, the ball was 'frozen' or passed from hand to hand for four minutes of the time."<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|title=Cleveland Quintet Corrals Pro Title: Defeats Brooklyn Arcadians, 23 to 22, Taking League Series With 3 Straight Triumphs|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 10, 1926|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1926/04/10/101679899.pdf}}</ref></blockquote>

The starting five for the Rosenblums' 1925–1926 championship team was [[Carl Husta]] (left forward), [[Nat Hickey]] (right forward), [[Rich Deighan]] (center), [[Dave Kerr]] (left guard), and [[John Russell (basketball)|John "Honey" Russell]] (right guard).<ref name=NYT/>

==Later years==

During the 1926–1927 season, the Rosenblums went 17–4 in the first half of the season but fell to 9–12 in the second half. The team's decline in the second half of the season followed a falling-out between Max Rosenblum and Honey Russell that ended with Russell being traded to the [[Chicago Bruins]]. The team's leading scorers for the 1926–1927 season were Nat Hickey (343 points) and Carl Husta (330 points). Having won the first half of the season, the Rosenblums returned to the ABL championship series in the spring of 1927. They lost the championship series in three consecutive games to the [[Original Celtics]].<ref name=APBR/>

The team won its second and third ABL championships, known as the world series of professional basketball, in the 1928–1929 and 1929–1930 seasons.<ref name=nbah/><ref>{{cite news|title=Rosies Face Ft. Wayne In Crucial Cage Tilt: Clevelanders Will Fight To Close Game in Four Games|newspaper=Painesville Telegraph|date=March 30, 1929|accessdate=October 3, 2011|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MHRZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=00gNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1799,4472090&dq=cleveland+rosies&hl=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Cleveland Nips Ft. Wayne, 19-18, In Title Tilt|newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=March 31, 1929|accessdate=October 3, 2011|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/479879382.html?dids=479879382:479879382&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Mar+31%2C+1929&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=CLEVELAND+NIPS+FT.+WAYNE%2C+19-18%2C+IN+TITLE+TILT&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712100859/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/479879382.html?dids=479879382:479879382&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Mar+31,+1929&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=CLEVELAND+NIPS+FT.+WAYNE,+19-18,+IN+TITLE+TILT&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 12, 2012|page=A3}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Cleveland Beats Centrals, Wins Cage Title: Rosies 21–15 Victors Over Rochester Five|newspaper=Painesville Telegraph|date=March 25, 1930|accessdate=October 3, 2011|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7cBZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HkoNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1730,4141389&dq=cleveland+rosies&hl=en}}</ref> The team dropped out during the first half of the 1930–1931 season on December 8, 1930.<ref name=nbah/><ref>{{cite news|title=Cleveland Team Withdraws from Pro Basketball|newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=December 9, 1930|page=25|accessdate=October 3, 2011|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/481044812.html?dids=481044812:481044812&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Dec+09%2C+1930&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=Cleveland+Team+Withdraws+from+Pro+Basketball&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716212120/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/481044812.html?dids=481044812:481044812&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Dec+09,+1930&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=Cleveland+Team+Withdraws+from+Pro+Basketball&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 16, 2012}}</ref>

==Annual record==
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!League
!Reg. Season
!Playoffs
|-
|1925/26
|ABL
|2nd (1st half); 1st (2nd half)
|bgcolor="FFEBAD"|Champion
|-
|1926/27
|ABL
|1st (1st half); 5th (2nd half)
|Finals
|-
|1927/28
|ABL
|2nd, Western
|Playoffs
|-
|1928/29
|ABL
|1st (1st half); 3rd (2nd half)
|bgcolor="FFEBAD"|Champion
|-
|1929/30
|ABL
|1st (1st half); 2nd (2nd half)
|bgcolor="FFEBAD"|Champion
|-
|1930/31
|ABL
|7th (1st half)
|''N/A''
|}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |first=Robert W. |last=Peterson |title=Cages to Jump Shots: Pro Basketball's Early Years |location=Lincoln |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=2002 |chapter=Coming Out of the Cage |pages=80–94 |isbn=0-8032-8772-0 }}

{{Cleveland Rosenblums 1925–26 ABL champions}}
{{Cleveland Rosenblums 1928–29 ABL champions}}
{{Cleveland Rosenblums 1929–30 ABL champions}}

[[Category:Cleveland Rosenblums| ]]