Whiz Kid Stan Lopata

After he stopped playing baseball, Stan Lopata sold tabulating cards before getting into the cement business, eventually becoming vice president of sales. In those days, players didn't make enough during their careers to support them for the rest of their lives.

After leaving the business world, the former Whiz Kid moved to Arizona and began to play golf. Lots of golf.

Now, being a little bit stubborn can be useful to a ballplayer and a businessman. Never give up and that sort of thing. But as Lopata learned, it can be a detriment to a leisure linkster.

"I used to play three times a week, but then I got a shot for my back," he said during a recent telephone interview from his Mesa home. "The doctor said I shouldn't play, but I went out and played anyway. And I screwed it up again.

"Then I got a second shot. And he says, 'Don't play golf.' And I played golf anyway and I screwed it up the second time. So finally I decided I was going to quit. It takes a while for us Polish guys to decide what to do. So I quit. I just don't play anymore."

These days Lopata is recuperating. He rehabs in the pool or the gymnasium at the health center in his development.

Not that he's complaining.

"It's better than the alternative," he said philosophically. "When I was playing, my back was bothering me so much, I was trying to compensate with my swing and everything else. And I kind of lost interest in it. So I don't miss it much so far."

Lopata, 84, caught 51 games for the Phillies in 1950, and appeared in seven other games. He ended his playing career in Milwaukee (1959-60) and then came back to the Philadelphia area.

"Through [Eagles great] Chuck Bednarik, I got into the concrete business. I started out as a salesman for a concrete company and ended up as vice president of sales for JDM Materials," he said. "At that time, our main office was over in Huntingdon Valley. It was a great outfit. When I left, I think we had 10 or 11 concrete plants scattered all over Pennsylvania."

Lopata retired from the business world in 1986. He was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame 2 years later and the National Polish-American Hall of Fame in 1997.

Even though he lives within a short drive of Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks (not to mention the spring-training sites of more than a dozen teams), he doesn't go to games anymore.

"After 10 years being in the big leagues, you get a lifetime pass. You can get into any ballpark. But I haven't used it. I used to once in a while if I knew some ballplayer or some manager or some coach. But now I don't know any of them," he said.

"It was just great to be on that ballclub. We had a great ballclub and a great manager. The fellas were great and it was a wonderful experience. It was something I'll never forget. But there aren't many of us left."