Eddie Lopat
|
|
Edmund Walter "Eddie" Lopat (originally Lopatynski) (June 21, 1918 - June 15, 1992) was a Major League Baseball pitcher.
Lopat was born in New York, New York. His first Major League game was on April 30, 1944, wearing number 48 for the Chicago White Sox.
He was traded to the New York Yankees on February 24, 1948 for Aaron Robinson, Bill Wight, and Fred Bradley. He wore number 30 on the Yankees. From 1948 to 1954 he was the third of the "Big Three" of the Yankees' pitching staff, together with Allie Reynolds and Vic Raschi. Since Reynolds and Raschi were fastball pitchers, Lopat's slower "junk" pitches frustrated enemy batters. He pitched in the All-Star Game in 1951 for the American League. In 1953 he led the AL in both earned-run average and won/lost percentage.
On July 30, 1955 he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Jim McDonald and cash, finishing out the season and retiring from Major League Baseball. On the Orioles his uniform number was 15.
In 1963 he was tapped to manage the Kansas City Athletics, and continued in this role until June 11, 1964.
He was sometimes known as "The Junk Man," but better-known as "Steady Eddie."
He died in Darien, Connecticut.
External links
- Template:Baseball-reference
- Baseball Almanac (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=lopated01)
- Baseball Library (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/L/Lopat_Ed.stm)
- The Baseball Page (http://www.thebaseballpage.com/past/pp/lopateddie/)