Robert Leroy "Sarge" Kuzava (May 28, 1923 – May 15, 2017) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player, a left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

(1946–1947),

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

(1949–1950), Washington Senators (1950–1951),

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

(1951–1954),

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

(1954–1955),

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

(1955),

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

(1957) and

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 ...

(1957). He was born in

Wyandotte, Michigan Wyandotte ( ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 25,058 at the 2020 census. Wyandotte is located in southeastern Michigan, approximately south of Detroit on the Detroit River, and it is part of the coll ...

and attended St. Patrick High School. In 2003, Kuzava was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.

Career

Born and raised in the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

area, Kuzava made his Major League debut against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. He was the Indians' starting pitcher for a late-season 1946 game in Cleveland, and over eight innings he gave up just four hits and one earned run. He got no decision, the game lasting 11 innings, with Detroit's

Dizzy Trout Paul Howard "Dizzy" Trout (June 29, 1915 – February 28, 1972) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from to , most notably as a member of the Detroit Tigers team that finishe ...

pitching all 11 for the victory. He spent most of the 1947 and 1948 seasons in the minor leagues before his breakout season with the White Sox in 1949. Kuzava, whose nickname was "Sarge" or "The White Rat," finished fourth in voting for the 1949

American League Rookie of the Year In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...

for having a 10–6 record for the

, with nine complete games. He had served as a

military policeman Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...

in India and Burma during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Kuzava helped the Yankees win three consecutive World Series from 1951–53. He gained saves in the final games of both the 1951 World Series against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

(Game 6) and 1952 against the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

(Game 7). He pitched in the ninth inning of a 1953 World Series Game 5 victory for the Yankees as well. Although his success in the World Series came in relief, Kuzava was a starting pitcher for the Yankees for three seasons, throwing 12 complete games. He joined them on June 15, 1951, with the Washington Senators trading him to New York for three players, and proceeded to earn three championship rings as a Yankee. In a ten-season career, Kuzava had a 49–44 win–loss record, 13 saves, 446 strikeouts and a 4.05 ERA.

Death

Kuzava died on May 15, 2017, 13 days short of his 94th birthday.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuzava, Bob 1923 births 2017 deaths American people of Polish descent Baltimore Orioles players Baltimore Orioles (IL) players Baseball players from Michigan Charleston Senators players Charleston White Sox players Chicago White Sox players Cleveland Indians players Columbus Jets players Indianapolis Indians players Kansas City Athletics scouts Major League Baseball pitchers Mansfield Braves players Milwaukee Braves scouts New York Yankees players Oakland Athletics scouts Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players Rochester Red Wings players St. Louis Cardinals players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Wilkes-Barre Barons players United States Army personnel of World War II American military police officers

Career

Death

References

Further reading

External links