Theodore Stanley Kazanski (born January 25, 1934) is a former

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

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), ...

who played from through for the Philadelphia Phillies. Listed at , 175 lb., he batted and threw right-handed. A native of

Hamtramck, Michigan Hamtramck ( ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 28,433. Hamtramck is surrounded by the city of Detroit except for a small portion that borders the fellow enclave city of ...

, Kazanski was a classic slick fielder, slap-hitter, who used the entire field to his advantage. One of the most highly rated schoolboy ballplayers of his time, he was given a reported $100,000 bonus to sign with the Phillies in 1951. He spent two and a half seasons in the Philadelphia Minor League system before joining the big club in the 1953 midseason, at nineteen years of age. In his majors debut, Kazanski went 3-for-6 and drove in four runs from the top of the order, to lead the Phillies to a 13–2 victory over the Chicago Cubs at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

. Kazanski became the first player since – the first season runs batted in was recorded as an official statistic – to drive in at least four runs as a shortstop in his major league debut, according to the ''

Elias Sports Bureau The Elias Sports Bureau is a privately held company providing historical and current statistical information for the major professional sports leagues operating in the United States and Canada. Elias is the official statistician for Major League Ba ...

''. He finished the season with a .217

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

in 95 games. In 1954 Kazanski was relegated to backup and platoon infield duties, splitting time with Bobby Morgan and Granny Hamner. He spent most of 1955 at Triple-A. His most productive season came in 1956, when he posted career-highs in games (117),

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 (4), RBI (34) and hits (80), while hitting .211. In that season, he belted a three-run home run (on April 2

and an inside-the-park grand slam (on August 8), to provide two of the 19 victories of Phillies pitching ace Robin Roberts. He also started a

triple play In baseball, a triple play (denoted as TP in baseball statistics) is the act of making three outs during the same play. There have only been 733 triple plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1876, an average of just over five per season. Th ...

in the same game as his inside the park grand slam, a feat that would not be duplicated until

Ángel Pagán Ángel Manuel Pagán (born July 2, 1981) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, and San Francisco Giants. Pagán's original contract in Major League Base ...

did so on May 19, 2010 From 1957 to 1958, he divided his playing time between Triple-A and the Phillies. In a six-season major league career, Kazanski was a .217 hitter (288-for-1329) with 14 home runs and 116 RBI in 417 games, including 118 runs, 49 doubles, nine triples and four stolen bases. In 1959, Kazanski was sent by Philadelphia along with Stan Lopata to the Milwaukee Braves in the same transaction that brought

Gene Conley Donald Eugene Conley (November 10, 1930 – July 4, 2017) was an American professional baseball and basketball player. He played as a pitcher for four teams in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1952 to 1963. Conley also played as a forward in ...

Harry Hanebrink Harry Aloysius Hanebrink (November 12, 1927 – September 9, 1996) was an American professional baseball Substitution (sport), backup second baseman/left fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Braves (1953–69), Mil ...

and Joe Koppe to the Phillies. He played in the Braves minor league system until 1963, when was traded to

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 t ...

in exchange for Ozzie Virgil. Kazanski also saw action in the minors with the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 sea ...

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 Fi ...

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

, Washington Senators and

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organizations, hitting .253 with 70 home runs and 244 RBI in 1183 games until he retired after the 1964 season. He was through by the age of thirty years. Following his playing career, Kazanski coached in the Detroit Tigers organization and also worked as an assistant for the baseball team at the

University of Detroit Mercy The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Roman Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Catholic univers ...

, which he attended.

Notes

References

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kazanski, Ted Philadelphia Phillies players Baltimore Orioles (IL) players Dallas Rangers players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Richmond Virginians (minor league) players Schenectady Blue Jays players Terre Haute Phillies players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Syracuse Chiefs players Major League Baseball shortstops Baseball players from Michigan University of Detroit Mercy alumni 1934 births Living people People from Hamtramck, Michigan Sportspeople from Wayne County, Michigan