| Eddie Lopat | |
|---|---|
 Lopat in 1963 as manager of the Kansas City Athletics | |
| Pitcher /Manager | |
| Born:(1918-06-21)June 21, 1918 New York City, New York, U.S. | |
| Died: June 15, 1992(1992-06-15) (aged 73) Darien, Connecticut, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 30, 1944, for the Chicago White Sox | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 23, 1955, for the Baltimore Orioles | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 166–112 |
| Earned run average | 3.21 |
| Strikeouts | 859 |
| Managerial record | 90–124 |
| Winning % | .421 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| As player As manager | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Edmund Walter Lopat (originallyLopatynski) (June 21, 1918 – June 15, 1992) was an AmericanMajor League Baseballpitcher,coach,manager, front office executive, andscout. He was sometimes known as "the Junk Man", but better known as "Steady Eddie", a nickname later given toEddie Murray. He was born in New York City.
Lopat was born Edmund Walter Lopatynski on June 21, 1918, inNew York City.[1] He graduated fromDewitt Clinton High School inthe Bronx in 1935.[2] The school did not have a baseball team, and he played first base for the Music Hall team in the Theatrical League.[3] In 1936, he tried out for theNew York Giants without success, but the Brooklyn Dodgers sent him to their minor league affiliate in thePennsylvania State Association for $50/month.[3]
A 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m), 185 lb (84 kg)left-hander,[4] Lopat was originally signed to play professional baseball by theBrooklyn Dodgers. He would play a total of seven years of minor league baseball before playing in the major leagues.[5]
He began his professional baseball playing career in 1937, as a first baseman for theGreensburg Green Sox in theClass D Pennsylvania State Association.[1][6] The next season, he was converted to a pitcher while playing for theJeanerette Blues of theEvangeline League inLouisiana, where he had a 12–7 record.[1][7][8]
In 1939, he led theEast Texas League with a 2.11earned run average (ERA), to go along with a 16–9 record, pitching for theChicago White Sox affiliatedLongview Cannibals.[9] In 1940, he played for theShreveport Sports of theClass-A1Texas League, but with an ERA of 5.94 in 15 games.[10][11] He also played that year for the Class C Marshall Tigers of the East Texas League, going 7–9, with a 3.45 ERA.[12] In 1941, he was sent down to the Class DSalina Millers in theWestern League, where he was 11–15, with a 3.84 ERA.[13] However, in pitching for theOklahoma City Indians of the Texas League that same year, he was 3–4, with a 1.76 ERA.[12]
Again at Oklahoma City in 1942, Lopat was 6–7, with a 3.32 ERA.[14] He also played part of the 1942 season, and all of his final (1943) minor league season in Class-A1 ball, with theLittle Rock Travelers of the Southern Association. In 1942, he was 6–4, with a 2.44 ERA with the Travelers; and overall 12–11 with a 3.08 ERA for the year. Lopat’s 1943 won—loss record improved considerably over the previous few years, with a 19–10 record, and he had a 3.05 ERA.[15][12] In his most unusual baseball experience, Lopat pitched the opening game of a double header for the Travelers, and then was called on to serve as the first base umpire in the second game when the assigned umpire was overcome by the heat.[3]
After sevenminor league seasons, he was called up to the Chicago White Sox in 1944.[5] Lopat made his major league pitching debut on April 30, 1944.[16] During his four years with the White Sox (1944-47), the team never had a winning season.[17] Despite the team's lack of success, Lopat's four year record was 50–49, with a 3.10 ERA.[18] His best year with the White Sox came in 1947, when Lopat was 16–13 (on a team that won only 70 games) with a 2.81 ERA, while giving up only 73bases on balls in 252.2innings pitched.[19] He was 31st inMost Valuable Player (MVP) voting that year.[20]
The near 30-year old Lopat was traded to theNew York Yankees on February 24, 1948, forAaron Robinson,Bill Wight, andFred Bradley.[21] From 1948 to 1953 he was the third of the "Big Three" of the Yankees' pitching staff, together withAllie Reynolds andVic Raschi; and from 1949-53, the Yankees won five consecutive World Series.[5][22][23][24] During those five championship years, Lopat's regular season won–loss records were 15–10, 18–8, 21–9, 10–5 and 16–4, respectively. His annual ERAs were 3.26, 3.47, 2.91, 2.53 and 2.42, respectively.[4]
Lopat pitched in theAll-Star Game in1951 for theAmerican League.[25] He led the American League inwinning percentage and ERA in 1953, at 35 years old.[26] In five World Series, he started seven games and had a 4–1 record, with a 2.60 ERA.[4]
In his last full year with the Yankees (1954), he was 12–4, with a 3.55 ERA.[4] Raschi was no longer with the team,[23] and even though the Yankees won 103 games in a 154 game season, they were still eight games behind the first place Cleveland Indians in 1954.[27] Reynolds retired after 1954,[22] and by 1955, the Yankees had younger pitchers like future Hall of FamerWhitey Ford,Bob Turley andTommy Byrne.[28][29] The 37-year old Lopat was 4–8 with a 3.74 ERA on July 30, 1955, when he was traded to theBaltimore Orioles forJim McDonald and cash.[4][21] Lopat finished out the season with the Orioles, and retired.[4]
Over his 12-year AL career, Lopat won 166 games, losing 112 (.597) with an ERA of 3.21. He was also adept with the bat, compiling a .211 batting average with 5 home runs and 77 runs batted in during his career.[4]
On June 4, 1951, the Cleveland Indians were so frustrated in not having defeated Lopat in almost two years, they held Beat Eddie Lopat Night (which they did).[30]
In 1953, he led Eddie Lopat’s All Stars on a baseballbarnstorming tour of Japan. Among these all stars were future hall of famersMickey Mantle,Yogi Berra,Robin Roberts,Eddie Mathews,Bob Lemon,Nellie Fox, andEnos Slaughter. Lopat himself had toured Japan with a group of players organized byLefty O’Doul in 1951, inspiring his 1953 effort.[31]
Lopat threw an assortment of pitches at different speeds, with the same motion, earning the nickname "The Junk Man". He was also known as "Steady Eddie".[5]
Ned Garver described Lopat's pitching style, writing that he "changed speeds a lot and never really threw an exceptional fastball."[32]Paul Richards, who managed Lopat briefly for the Orioles,[33] said: "'Lopat throws his slow ball with the identical motion he throws his fastball, slider, screwball or any other pitch. Each looks the same as it leaves his hand, but it's the different speeds which keep the batter off balance.'"[5]
Lopat was often successful against Hall of Fame hitting greatTed Williams,[34] because he never threw the same pitch, nor to the same spot, twice.[5] Still, while Williams hit less than his .344 lifetime batting average against Lopat,[34] he did hit .316 in 79 at bats, with two home runs and 18 walks. By comparison, however, Williams hit .368 with six home runs and 28 walks against Reynolds; .413, with four home runs and 19 walks against Raschi; and .378, with five home runs in only 45 at bats, and 13 walks, against Ford.[35]
Even while still playing for the Yankees, Lopat functioned as another pitching coach to teammates like Whitey Ford.[36]
Lopat managed theTriple-ARichmond Virginians for the Yankees from 1956 to 1958, compiling a cumulative record of 226–234 with one playoff berth.[12][37] He also played that first year in Richmond with an 11–6 record and 2.85 ERA, the only time he played above Class-A1 baseball in the minor leagues.[36][12] Lopat then became a rovingpitching coach in the Yankees'farm system in 1959. In1960, he served one season as the Yankees' MLB pitching coach duringCasey Stengel's final campaign as the club's manager. That year produced an American League pennant for the Yankees, but a defeat at the hands of thePittsburgh Pirates in theWorld Series. Lopat was not rehired by Stengel's successor,Ralph Houk, but he stayed in the league as pitching coach of theMinnesota Twins in1961 and theKansas City Athletics in1962.[36][38]
Lopat was hired as a pitching coach in Kansas City byHank Bauer, his former Yankees teammate.[39] In1963, Bauer was fired, and Lopat was tapped to manage the Athletics and continued in this role until June 11, 1964.[40][41][36] His1963 squad finished in eighth place, registering one more victory than it had in 1962.[42][43] But his1964 A's were playing only.327 baseball at 17–35 on June 10, when he was replaced byMel McGaha, who led the team to 40 wins and 70 losses to finish the year. McGaha was fired 26 games into the following season.[44] (During the first ten yearsCharlie Finley owned the A’s he hired eight different managers.[45][46]) Lopat’s final major league managerial record was 90–124 (.421).[41]
Lopat remained with the Athletics as a senior front office aide to team ownerCharlie Finley until the club moved toOakland after the1967 season. He thenscouted for theMontreal Expos during their early years in Major League Baseball. He also scouted for theKansas City Royals, Yankees and theMajor League Scouting Bureau.[36]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| KCA | 1963 | 162 | 73 | 89 | .451 | Eighth in AL | – | – | – | – |
| KCA | 1964 | 52 | 17 | 35 | .327 | Fired(June 10) | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 214 | 90 | 124 | .421 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
In 1978, Eddie Lopat was inducted into theNational Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.[47]
He died at his son's home inDarien, Connecticut, on June 15, 1992.[48]
· Baseball Almanac| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Richmond Virginiansmanager 1956–1958 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | New York Yankeespitching coach 1960 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minnesota Twinspitching coach 1961 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Kansas City Athleticspitching coach 1962–1963 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |