Edward Terrance Kazak (July 18, 1920 – December 15, 1999) was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

who played for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

and Cincinnati Reds from 1948 to 1952. Born Edward Terrance Tkaczuk, he graduated from Cecil Township High School in 1938, where he played both baseball and soccer. He played sandlot baseball and played in the

Georgia–Florida League The Georgia–Florida League was a minor baseball league that existed from 1935 through 1958 (suspending operations during World War II) and in 1962–1963. It was one of many Class D circuits that played in the Southeastern United States during ...

for a few years, boasting a batting average of .378 in 1941 when with Albany, the team that won the Georgia-Florida pennant. After the end of the 1942 season on October 1, Kazak entered the military and enlisted with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. He was originally stationed in Brooks Field, Texas, then joined the

paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during Worl ...

s in 1943. In 1944, Kazak left the United States for Europe. After the Invasion of Normandy, Kazak sustained a bayonet wound to his left arm and had his right elbow shattered by shrapnel. As a result, he spent 18 months in hospitals recovering and enduring numerous operations, including one where a plastic patch was put in place of the missing bone in his elbow. By the time he was released in December 1945, his doctors has told him to forget about baseball. Eddie Kazak 1959

In 1946, Kazak spent the season in the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

, playing for the

Columbus Cardinals The Columbus Foxes were a minor league baseball team that played in Columbus, Georgia. USA. History The team originally played in the South Atlantic League from 1909 to 1917, then reformed in the Southeastern League from 1926 to 1932. It resurf ...

. In 1947, he played for the

Omaha Cardinals The Omaha Cardinals were a minor league baseball team based in Omaha, Nebraska, from 1947 through 1959. They played in the Class A Western League through 1954 and in the Triple-A American Association from 1955 to 1959 as an affiliate of their m ...

of the Western League and the Rochester Red Wings of the International League. Though he has been a second baseman throughout his career, he moved to third base while playing for Rochester in 1948. By the end of the season, Kazak was promoted to the major leagues. Kazak made his major league debut on September 29, 1948, and played in six games with 22 at bats during the 1948 season. The 1949 season was Kazak's best statistical season. In 92 games, he had a career-high batting average of .304, 6

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, 3 triples, and made his only All-Star appearance. In the

1949 Major League Baseball All-Star Game The 1949 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 16th annual midseason exhibition game for Major League Baseball all-stars between the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The AL continued its early dominance of the Midsummer ...

, Kazak was the starting third baseman, and had two hits in two at-bats. However, Kazak was later injured and lost his starting job to

Tommy Glaviano Thomas Giatano Glaviano (October 26, 1923 – January 19, 2004) was an American professional baseball third baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies. He appeared in 389 big league ...

, becoming a pinch hitter during the 1950 season. He had 207 at-bats in 93 games during the 1950 season, and led the National League with 42 pinch hit at-bats. Kazak only played 11 games the following season, and after playing three games in 1952, the Cardinals traded him with Wally Westlake to the Cincinnati Reds for

Dick Sisler Richard Alan Sisler (November 2, 1920 – November 20, 1998) was an American player, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball. The son of Hall of Fame first baseman and two-time .400 hitter George Sisler, Dick Sisler's younger brother Dave was ...

and Virgil Stallcup. However, Kazak only had one hit in 13 games as a member of the Reds, which marked the end of his Major League career. Kazak continued to play baseball after his major league career was over. He played his last professional game at the age of 40 in 1960 while playing for Austin in the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. He died in Austin, Texas on December 15, 1999.

References

External links

Eddie Kazak at Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kazak, Eddie 1920 births 1999 deaths Major League Baseball third basemen Baseball players from Ohio St. Louis Cardinals players Cincinnati Reds players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Sportspeople from Steubenville, Ohio Valdosta Trojans players United States Army personnel of World War II Omaha Cardinals players Rochester Red Wings players Sacramento Solons players Austin Senators players Seattle Rainiers players Beaumont Exporters players Miami Marlins (IL) players Albany Cardinals players Houston Buffaloes players Columbus Cardinals players United States Army soldiers