John Albert Kucab (December 17, 1919 – May 26, 1977) was an American professional baseball pitcher who is best known for leading the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

to victory in Connie Mack's last game as a Major League Baseball ( MLB)

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

on October 1, 1950.''The Youngstown Vindicator'', Youngstown, Ohio, May 27, 1977.

Early years

Kucab was born in Olyphant, Pennsylvania. He threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . In 1940, he signed with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

and began his

minor-league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

apprenticeship. After missing most of his debut pro season with an injury, he won ten games in 1941 for the

Harrisonburg Turks The Harrisonburg Turks are a collegiate summer baseball team in Harrisonburg, Virginia. They play in the South Division of the Valley Baseball League, a collegiate wooden bat summer league consisting of 11 teams in the state of Virginia. The Turks ...

of the Class C Virginia League and, according to his 1977 obituary, "seemed headed to stardom". World War II intervened, however, and Kucab would spend 47 months in the United States Army, where he saw active duty in both the European and Pacific theaters. His obituary states that his four years in the military may have "kept him from attaining a longer stay in the major leagues".

Major league career

The Reds released Kucab following the war, and Kucab signed with the

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 ...

' organization. In 1946, his first of four consecutive seasons pitching for

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which ...

of the Class C Middle Atlantic League, Kucab posted a 12–1 record. Two losing seasons followed; however, in 1949, the 29-year-old Kucab led the Middle Atlantic League in

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with 21 (he lost seven) and was named to his circuit's All-Star team. With his major-league rights now held by the Philadelphia Athletics, Kucab moved up in the Philadelphia

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

. In 1950, he won another 16 games for the

Lincoln A's The Lincoln Links were an American minor league baseball franchise that represented Lincoln, Nebraska, for 18 seasons over a 23-year period (1917–39) during the 20th century. They played in the Class A Western League (1917; 1924–27), the Cla ...

of the Class A Western League. The stellar season earned him a September call-up to Mack's Athletics. Kucab made his major league debut at age 30 on September 14, , throwing five

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

of scoreless relief against the Chicago White Sox at

Comiskey Park Comiskey Park was a baseball park in Chicago, Illinois, located in the Armour Square neighborhood on the near-southwest side of the city. The stadium served as the home of the Chicago White Sox of the American League from 1910 through 1990. Buil ...

. Ten days later, he made a

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against the Washington Senators and hurled a

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

, but was saddled with a 3–2 defeat. One week later, on October 1 at Shibe Park, Kucab started again in a rematch with Washington on the final day of the regular season. He tossed another complete game, but this time he came away with a 5–3 victory, allowing 12

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but only three earned runs. Retrosheetbr>box score: 1950-10-01
/ref> It was Kucab's first MLB victory but an "historic achievement" as Mack's 3,729th and final win as a big-league manager in a 53-year career that included a half century with the Athletics. The ball used is currently housed in the

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, at

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. Kucab was able to remain with Philadelphia for the full seasons of and , almost exclusively as a relief pitcher. In 59 career major-league games, he split ten decisions, earned five saves, and posted a 4.44 career earned run average. In 152 innings pitched, he surrendered 169 hits and 51

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, with 48

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

Later years

He returned to the minors in 1953 and pitched through 1958. His obituary stated: "Among his top performances in baseball is a string of 19 straight wins while pitching for Ralph Houk at a New York Yankees farm team". As his career wound down, Kucab settled in Youngstown, Ohio, where he had met his wife, Mary, in 1946. During the last decade of his life, he was associated with Youngstown's Hovanec Distributing Company. In 1977, John Kucab died of a heart attack at his home in neighboring Campbell; he was 57.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kucab, Johnny 1919 births 1977 deaths American people of Slovak descent Anniston Rams players Baseball players from Pennsylvania Baseball players from Youngstown, Ohio Birmingham Barons players Columbia Reds players Denver Bears players Harrisonburg Turks players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Lenoir Reds players Lincoln A's players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Campbell, Ohio Sportspeople from Mahoning County, Ohio People from Olyphant, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Athletics players United States Army personnel of World War II Youngstown A's players Youngstown Colts players Youngstown Gremlins players