Bob Kuzava: Forgotten World Series Hero

Abstract

Bob KuzavaForgotten World Series Hero John Rossi (bio) In 1949, when I was thirteen years old, my uncle and I attended an Athletics-White Sox game at Shibe Park. Details of that game are vague, but I remember our seats were in the lower reserved section directly behind home plate. Around the seventh inning the White Sox brought in a relief pitcher, Bob Kuzava. I knew nothing about him but was amazed at the sound of the ball hitting the catcher's glove. For reasons only a thirteen-year-old can explain, I began following his career. I remember watching him on television pitching in the final games of the 1951 and 1952 World Series. And then he faded from my memory except for a brief appearance with my favorite team, the Phillies, in 1955. Fifty years later, after I had begun teaching a course in baseball history and writing about the history of the game, I happened to see a video replay of the seventh game of the '52 World Series, in which Kuzava played a key role, saving the game for the Yankees. Sparked by nothing else but an old memory, I got in touch with him, finding his story an interesting reflection of baseball's past. Ask a serious baseball fan who saved the last games of the 1951 and 1952 World Series and you will most likely get a blank stare. Few people today, even baseball fanatics, remember it was Bob Kuzava, the 6' 2", 206-pound blond lefty who labored in the majors for eight different teams from 1946 to 1957. Today he would be labeled a journeyman, a lefty specialist, but Kuzava put up very respectable statistics in the majors: he won 49 games versus 44 losses for a .527 percentage over his career.1 Both a starter and a reliever, he accumulated seven shutouts and saved 13 games during his career. He struck out more batters than he walked, allowed less than a hit per inning pitched while compiling a career ERA of 4.05, consistently below the league average in that statistic in his career. [End Page 113] In his midseventies I interviewed him about his career. He was pleasantly surprised that anyone remembered him. Like so many players from his era, he was happy to talk about his time in baseball and most of his memories were happy ones.2 Kuzava was born in Wyandotte, Michigan, a small town located south of Detroit, on May 28, 1923. He was the only child of Leo and Anna Kuzava. He said his father worked for the Penn Salt chemical plan in Wyandotte until his retirement, providing the family with a comfortable life. Kuzava attended St. Patrick's grammar and high school in the town and was an outstanding athlete, particularly in baseball where his skills as a left-handed pitcher attracted scouts. He signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians in 1941 while still in high school, a procedure still allowed back then. After he graduated, he was sent to Mansfield in the Ohio State League where he earned the princely salary of $65 a month, thrilled to have someone pay him to do what he loved: pitch baseball. Despite an undistinguished record of 5-7, he showed signs of talent, striking out 108 batters while walking just 36. Cleveland promoted him to their Charleston team in the tough Class C Middle Atlantic League for the 1942 season. The nineteen-year-old had a breakout season, leading the league in wins with 21, winning percentage of .778 while compiling an impressive ERA of 1.73. Kuzava went into the Army after the 1942 season and first served in North Africa before being transferred to the India-China-Burma front. I asked him why with his background he didn't play baseball in the Army. He said that role was reserved for major leaguers or top minor league prospects. He said he spent most of his time in the military as an MP, which led to one of his favorite baseball nicknames, "Sarge." He would also be called "Whitey" because of bright blond hair but said he preferred "Sarge." After his...