Charles Rhubin Cozart (October 17, 1919 – December 31, 2004) 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), ...

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 ...

who appeared in five games, all in relief, for the

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in 1945. The 25-year-old

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left-hander, who stood tall and weighed , was a native of

Lenoir, North Carolina Lenoir is a city in and the county seat of Caldwell County, North Carolina, Caldwell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 18,263 at the 2020 census. Lenoir is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. To the north ...

. Cozart is one of many ballplayers who only appeared in the major leagues during World War II. He made his major league debut on April 17, 1945 (Opening Day) against the

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. Three days later he gained his first and only big league win in a 6–5 road victory over the

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 ...

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. His last appearance for the Braves was on June 14, and then he was traded to the

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organization almost two months later. In a total of 8

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

Cozart was 1–0 with 1 game finished. He was very ineffective overall, as he allowed 25 baserunners (10

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and 15 walks) for an extremely high

WHIP A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

of 3.125. The 9

earned runs In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an err ...

he gave up saddled him with a final

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of 10.13. He proved to be a good fielder during his short time at the major league level, however, recording 7 assists without committing an

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

. Cozart eventually returned to his native

Caldwell County, North Carolina Caldwell County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. As of the 2020 census, the population was 80,652. Its county seat is Lenoir. Caldwell County is part of the Hickory–L ...

and became a deputy

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there. He died at the age of 85 in Lenoir, North Carolina.

References

External links

Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from North Carolina Boston Braves players 1919 births 2004 deaths People from Lenoir, North Carolina Place of birth missing {{US-baseball-pitcher-1910s-stub