Ted Kazanski: The Phillies $100,000 "Can't Miss" Bonus Baby Who Missed

Phillies scout Eddie Krajnick had been keeping tabs on a young Detroit shortstop by the name of Ted Kazanski since he was fourteen-years-old. Other Phillie scouts had been impressed with Kazanski's play in the summer Vermont League. Ted Kazanski was the most sought after young player in baseball in 1951. The Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers were thought to be the leading contenders. The New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians were also in the mix. Nobody mentioned the Phillies much. Krajnick got word that Kazanski would sign with a major league team the day after he graduated from high school. Kazanski's step father, John Dziurda, was fielding offers.

Krajnick put in a phone call to Philies team president Bob Carpenter. "Better make it quick," he told Carpenter. Carpenter flew in his own plane out of Wilmington, DE Airport accompanied by his Farm Director, Joe Reardon. At 12:15 on the Monday after Kazanski's graduation, Carpenter, Reardon, and Krajnick met with Kazanski and his stepfather. Other scouts from other teams had already been there. Carpenter shook Dziurda's hand and said, "I'm willing to sign your boy at any price." The price turned out to be something north of $80,000 and probably close to $100,000. It was more than $25,000 above any other offer. Three hours later, seventeen-year-old Ted Kazanski was a Phillie.

What did the Phillies get for their money? According to Stan Baumgartner, writing in the Philadelphia Inquirer, baseball experts said that Kazanski was "the best looking shortstop to come into the majors in 25 years." He was dubbed "the next Marty Marion." Marion was known as "Mr. Shortstop" during his years with the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1940s.

Phils manager Steve O'Neill said Kazanski had "the fastest hands" he had ever seen. He also has one of the "strongest arms in baseball" and can make the difficult plays in the hole that a shortstop must be able to make. At the plate, his power had not emerged as of 1953, but his batting average was steadily improving in the minor leagues. Baumgartner concluded that he was "a big strong boy that could become one of the great short-fielders of all time if brought along smartly."

For his part, Kazanski was modest about his abilities. "I'm not really a good fielder. I make too many errors." He played down any talk about his potential as a long ball hitter. "I just hope I can make good in any league the Phillies send me."

The Phillies put him first at Class B Terre Haute where he hit .216 in 88 games. He hit .254 at Class A Schenectedy the next year and earned a promotion to the Phillies' top farm club in Baltimore for 1953. He hit .290 in 60 games with Baltimore and was brought up to the major league club on June 25 and inserted in the starting lineup. To accommodate the 19-year-old rookie, veteran Granny Hamner was moved to second base.

Kazanski's first game in a Phillies uniform was the stuff of dreams. Batting leadoff, he had three hits in six at bats, including two doubles and four RBIs. Those four RBIs set a record (since tied) for a player in his major league debut. In the field, Kazanski fielded nine chances flawlessly and was instrumental in two double plays as the Phillies crushed the Chicago Cubs 13-2 at Wrigley Field.

Alas the good times didn't last. By the end of the season Kazanski was hitting .217, with just two homeruns and 27 RBIs in 95 games. Even worse, Kazanski was not a major league shortstop. Pundits were noticing that he was often caught flat-footed and he didn't have the needed quickness to get a good jump on the ball. Kazanski spent most of 1954 on the Phillies bench appearing in just 39 games with 104 at bats and a .135 batting average. 

Kazanski was in the minor leagues for  most of 1955. Called up in September, he managed a highlight. On September 25, playing in the Polo Grounds, Kazanski became the first player in major league history to hit an inside the park homerun in the same game where he also started a triple play. The inside-the-parker was the only major league hit Kazanski got that season. The triple play, started by Kazanski at shortstop when he snared a line drive, ended the ball game. The Mets' Angel Pagan equaled Kazanski's feat on May 18, 2010.

The Phillies gave Kazanski one last trial in 1956. He started the season as the team's regular second baseman. He hit .211. He hung on with the Phillies for two more seasons as a utility infielder, but in 1959 he was traded to Milwaukee in a six player deal that sent catcher Stan Lopata to the Braves for pitcher Gene Conley and shortstop Joe Koppe. "They gave up on me," Kazanski told the Philadelphia Bulletin's Sandy Grady. "They decided I'll never make it." He never did make it back to the major leagues. Kazanski spent six additional years in the minors before calling it quits in 1964 at the age of 30.

Why did this can't miss prospect miss? Perhaps the Phillies rushed him to the big leagues too quickly. Perhaps all the "baseball experts" were wrong. Carpenter summed it up this way, "I thought he was the best high school prospect I ever saw. And the money didn't hurt his desire. He never stopped trying. He's just one of those mysteries." 

It is one of those mysteries that the Phillies franchise is still trying to solve as more recent can't miss prospects like Mickey Moniak, Cornelius Randolph, and Alec Bohm struggle to establish themselves as major league players.

Sources

In order to write this post I referred to articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Bulletin and Baseball Digest. I also consulted baseballreference.com and retrosheet.com