Page 229 - 1975 BoSox

222 ’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL
there, a pennant. Our aim was about fth place, rst wasn’t even a dream. en we made a few deals and here we are.”
When Williams was red in 1969, Popowski was named interim manager for the nal nine games of the season. He again was promised a coaching position before the new manager was hired. e other coaches were let go.
He remained on the coaching sta throughout the tenures of Eddie Kasko (1970-73) and Darrell Johnson (1974-75). He served again as interim manager for the nal game of 1973, a win to nish his major league managerial record at 6-4.
Popowski was a minor-league instructor at the begin- ning of 1976, but he was added to the coaching sta when third-base coach Don Zimmer replaced Johnson as manager. He was not retained by Zimmer after the season. He continued to work in the Red Sox system, serving as coordinator/manager/special Instructor for the Red Sox in the Florida Instructional League from 1976 to 1989. From 1989 on, he was an in eld instructor for the Red Sox in the Instructional League, and he was always a presence at spring training. In 1997 Field 1 at the Fort Myers spring training complex was named in Popowski’s honor. One story he loved to tell, Carole Garbowski recounted, happened in spring training when Pop was in his 80s. “Pop used to drive Ted [Williams] around in the golf cart and one day a large group of people descended on Ted for autographs. Pop just sat in the cart with his arms folded, watching. A guy came over to him and said, ‘Aren’t you Eddie Popowski?’ Well, my dad got all pumped up and said, ‘Why, yes, I am.’ e guy said, ‘I thought you were dead, but you look good!’”11
Pop saw himself as fortunate to have spent a life in baseball. He told Bob Ryan, “I’m a lucky kid. I’m a grammar school graduate whose daddy and mommy let him do his thing. I’ve raised a family and they’re all educated. I’m not rich, but the important thing is to be healthy, and I’ve got that. I’ll keep doing this as long as they let me.”12
Eddie Popowski worked for the Red Sox right through spring training 2001 — for the last 15 years or so report- edly without feeling the need for a signed contract. He was a Red Sox through and through until his death of lung cancer at his Sayreville home on December 4, 2001, ending 65 years of service with the Red Sox. He was survived by two daughters, three sons, nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. One son, Rickey, a standout at the Ted Williams Camp in Lakeville, Massachusetts, might have made it in pro ball; his life took him in other directions, but he played semipro softball and in 2003 was inducted into the New Jersey American Softball Hall of Fame. Son Terry played semipro softball with Rick, and daughter Sherry also played semipro softball for several years. Carole Garbowski’s son Christopher played in seven father-son games at Fenway Park, and did well at high school ball. Terry’s son Michael caught for Rutgers from 1998 to 2001.
Per his request, the family buried Eddie Popowski in his uniform. “ e last thing we did,” wrote Carole, “was to put his cap on him. He always wore it and it had to be on the ‘right’ way.” He is buried in New Calvary Cemetery, a/k/a Our Lady of Victories Cemetery, in Sayreville, the gravestone engraved with the Red Sox logo and the inscription “Coach.”
Did Pop ever express disappointment that he himself never had a chance to play in the major leagues? “No, no,” said his daughter. “He absolutely adored Mr. Yawkey and would do anything and go anywhere. One winter we went to Caracas, Venezuela, for winter baseball. He would do anything. He loved it. It made him so happy to teach anybody. He was always the teacher. at was his life.”
Sources
Interview and correspondence with Carole Garbowski by Bill Nowlin, May 2006
e Sporting News
ProQuest.com
Sayreville Evening News e Home News