Page 227 - 1975 BoSox

220 ’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL
In those early years, Popowski played in exhibition games against a number of greats of the game, includ- ing Babe Ruth, Satchel Paige, and Josh Gibson. He termed Paige “the best pitcher I ever faced.” Ted Williams was the best hitter he saw.
In 1938 Popowski remained with Hazleton, which was now part of the Eastern League. He again led in elding, but his average dipped to .253 and again he hit no round-trippers. e Red Sox dropped their a liation with Hazleton (which became part of the Interstate League) and the Scranton Red Sox took their place in the Eastern League, where Popowski labored in 1939-41 along with a short stint with Centreville of the Class D Eastern Shore League. He didn’t play enough games to qualify for elding honors, while his batting dropped each year to .236, .212, and .176.
He missed the 1942 season due to a stint in the Army. Like a number of ballplayers, he played in the service as well, but broke his knee in Georgia, and was dis- charged from the Army.
Popowski was with Double-A Louisville in 1943, his only season above Class A. Again he led in elding but batted only .225, e ectively ending the 30-year-old’s prospects of making the major leagues as a player.
“ ey had Bobby Doerr at second base,” he said in a 1973 interview.“I knew I wasn’t going to beat him out. But I enjoyed the game and I thought I might be able to manage.”3 He’d had his rst brief taste of managing at Centreville late in the 1941 season, a team that included future star Mel Parnell. After hurting his hand late in the year, he was headed home for the winter when farm director Herb Pennock suggested he take over the Class B Roanoke Red Sox (Piedmont League). Pennock had just red the manager. So Pop, just 28, took over; the team traveled to road games in three packed automobiles.
e stint as Roanoke skipper began a long career as a minor-league manager, though he continued to play through 1948. He was a regular from 1944 to 1946 and led his league in elding each year, giving him the distinction of winning elding titles in all six seasons
he played as a regular. He batted .321 in 1945, his only season above the .281 average of his debut season. His career minor-league mark as a hitter was .258 with just six home runs in 3,321 at-bats.
Eddie characterized his own play to the Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan thus: “I was a pretty good elder, a hit-and- run guy, a push-bunt guy, and I could steal a base. I’d get my doubles and triples and hit my one home run a year.One year I got it when I hit a ball in the gap and Ed Stump and Augie Bergamo collided. While they were laying there, I ran around the bases.”4
Pop managed for a long list of teams: in sequence, Roanoke, Scranton, Lynn, Oneonta, Louisville (coach), Greensboro, Montgomery, Greensboro again, Albany, Allenton, Alpine, Minneapolis, Johnstown, Winston- Salem, Reading, and Pitts eld. His daughter Carole Garbowski remembered some of those days well: “We would have to take him to the ballpark if we were going to the game that day or night (and we almost always did). is was in the days when there was just one family car. He was always the rst one to arrive and the last one to leave after a game. We would be falling asleep waiting for him to come out of the clubhouse.”5
Popowski achieved a high level of success as a manager. In 20 years of managing in minor-league ball, his teams won four pennants and nished in second place ve times. Longtime associate and devoted friend Felix Maldonado recognized Popowski’s many talents: “Pop is a great baseball man. His mind is always on baseball. Lots of people in this business don’t know half of what Pop had forgotten ... and he doesn’t forget too much. He is like a policeman on the eld, watching the kids, helping them to be successful in the game and in their lives.”6
Eddie’s wife, Mary, was Irish, from New Brunswick, NewJersey.“Shelovedandknewthegameofbaseball,” said Carole.“ ey met in one of the parks there when he was playing ball. ey were married for 46 years when she died in 1988. With Pop gone so much of the year she was the boss. She drove from New Jersey to Florida alone with us many times. Allied Van Lines