After suffering serious injuries during World War II, Kazak recovered to become a Major League Baseball player where, he played in the 1949 All-Star Game as a 28-year-old rookie.

Born Edward Terrance Tkaczuk in Steubenville, Ohio, Kazak graduated from Cecil Township High School in 1938, where he played both baseball and soccer.

[2] After the end of the 1942 season on October 1, Kazak entered the military and enlisted with the United States Army.

After the Invasion of Normandy, Kazak sustained a bayonet wound to his left arm and had his right elbow shattered by shrapnel.

As a result, he spent 18 months in hospitals recovering and enduring numerous operations, including one where a plastic patch was put in place of the missing bone in his elbow.