Kozloski, Henry “Hank”

Henry “Hank” Kozloski – (1996)

 

While a student at Lorain High School from 1942-45, Hank Kozloski described himself as a “boy among men.” He did not have the size of most of his Steelers teammates, but he worked hard as a “scrub” on the undefeated 1943 LHS team and earned a varsity football letter playing guard as a senior on the 1944 team.

That “blue collar” desire would one day serve Hank well as he pursued a rewarding life-long career in sports journalism. His “street talk” writing style never spoke down to his readers as he chalked up numerous writing honors. His achievements as a much-traveled and respected sports journalist took him beyond the local level into every major league baseball and National Football League city in America.

Prior to graduating from Ohio University (Bachelor of Science In Journalism) in 1953, Hank served three years in the U.S. Air Force as a instrument flight trainer instructor. Before he returned to his home town, he nurtured his newspaper craft as sports editor at the Lockport, N.Y., Union Sun & Journal and as a reporter at the Ashtabula Star Beacon. Once he proved himself a sharp apprentice out of town, Hank joined The Lorain Journal as sports editor in February 1956 , replacing the late Vince Sikora who resigned to accept a sports desk position with the Flint, Mich., Journal that same year.

As Journal sports editor from 1956-64, he wrote his “Koz’s Korner” column, an eagerly-awaited weekly fixture. A two-man operation much of that time, his versatility ranged from his Lorain High game stories and advance previews on all LHS teams, but he never slighted the bowling fraternity in his well-rounded local coverage, either.

In 1965, Hank was named the first fulltime beat writer covering home and road games of both the Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Browns, not only for Journal readers, but for Horvitz chain newspapers in Mansfield, Lake County and Dover-New Philadelphia. His major league baseball beat also included Indians spring training in Tucson, Ariz., as well as American League playoff games and every World Series from 1965-1982. As the Horvitz chain’s first pro football beat writer, Koz covered all Browns football action from 1964-76. His personal highlight NFL game was the Browns’ last NFL championship game—a 27-0 win over the Johnny Unitas-led Baltimore Colts in 1964.

A longtime member and four-time chapter chairman of the Cleveland Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Kozloski received his lifetime BBWAA Gold Card in 1990. Now retired as a writer, Koz has been an Indians home game official scorer since 1970, making the upcoming season his 27th campaign as a top major league arbiter.

While he has experienced countless big league baseball thrills, he ranks the 1995 season, when the Indians won their first American League pennant since 1954, among his greatest. Hank was selected as an official scorer for all the Indians’ 1995 playoffs games as well as the American League representative official scorer in the World Series, working games both in Cleveland and Atlanta.

A charter member of the Lorain Sports Hall of Fame, Hank served as president in 1974. Hank and his wife, Helen (Bors), still reside in Lorain.