#183 Stan Lopata - Philadelphia Phillies

Stanley Edward Lopata
Philadelphia Phillies
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  210
Born:  September 12, 1925, Delray, MI
Signed:  Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent before 1946 season
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Phillies 1948-1958; Milwaukee Braves 1959-1960
Died:  June 15, 2013, Philadelphia, PA (age 87)

Long-time Phillies catcher Stan Lopata enjoyed one of the best seasons by any catcher in club history in 1956 and was a popular member of the beloved Whiz Kids in 1950.  As a back-up to regular catcher Andy Seminick (#296), Lopata appeared in 58 games for the Phillies in 1950, as the team won its first National League pennant since 1915.  He struggled for a few seasons after that and was again relegated to back-up duty, this time for Smoky Burgess (#192) in 1952 and 1953.  At the start of the 1954 season, Lopata experimented with tinted glasses and a new, crouched batting stance, inspired by hitting great Rogers Hornsby.  He went on an offensive tear after that and was named to the National League All-Star teams in 1955 and 1956, his best two seasons.  Lopata enjoyed a career year in 1956, batting .267 with 32 home runs and 95 RBIs and finishing 20th in the league's MVP voting.  Nagging injuries contributed to a decline in 1957 and 1958, and the Phillies dealt Lopata to the Braves prior to the 1959 season.  He was released by the Braves following the 1960 season, ending his career.

Lopata collected 661 hits in 853 career games, batting .254 with 116 home runs and 397 RBIs.  His home run and RBI totals in 1956 set franchise records for the Phillies by a player whose primary position was catcher.  While his single season home run total is still tops in franchise history, Darren Daulton broke his single season RBI record with 109 RBIs in 1992. 

Building the Set
October 10, 1998 in Winston-Salem, NC - Card #169
In what had to have been a post-birthday purchase, I spent $52 in the Season Ticket baseball card store in Winston-Salem for ten 1956 Topps cards.  This Lopata card cost me $4.  I say it had to have been a post-birthday purchase as I didn't have a lot of disposable income back then, but I made sure that any birthday money from my parents went towards something fun and not towards something practical.

I spent 5 years living in Winston-Salem, but I still managed to get lost driving around in those pre-GPS days quite frequently.  Season Ticket was one of the few locations in the city I memorized and I could drive to without having to ask someone to remind me of the directions.  I mean no disrespect to the former owners, but the place was a glorious dump.  Baseball cards were stacked precariously and haphazardly throughout the store, there was hardly any flat surface without something piled on it, nothing was ever in order and if you asked for something specific the owners may or may not remember the general direction of where they had last seen it.

And I loved it in there.  I took my Dad a few times when my parents visited me, and he couldn't wait to get out of the store and back into some fresh air.  Sadly, a recent Google Maps search shows that Season Ticket has gone the way of a lot of hobby shops, and there's now something called Beauty Touch in its place.  But I bet there are still random stacks of baseball cards hiding in a nook or crevice somewhere in the shop.

The Card / Phillies Team Set
Lopata most likely was under exclusive contract with Bowman, as this is his first Topps card, despite being in the league since 1948.  He'd appear in the next four Topps sets as well.  The cartoons on the back focus on his crouched stance and his resulting new-found power.  The final panel seems inaccurate in hindsight, as Lopata led all National League catchers in stolen bases allowed in 1956 and 1957.

1956 Season

As mentioned above, this was Lopata's career year.  Along with the career high marks set for home runs and RBIs, he also attained career highs in games played (146), runs (96), hits (143), doubles (33), triples (7) and stolen bases (5).  His run total is still a record for modern Phillies catchers, with J.T. Realmuto coming close to breaking it in 2019 with 92 runs scored.  His triples mark still stands as the team record as well.

Lopata was actually the team's opening day first baseman, with the returning Seminick behind the plate for opening day.  Lopata would ultimately start 102 games at catcher and 38 games at first base.  He was selected to the 1956 All-Star Game in Washington, D.C., but did not appear in the game.

Phillies Career
Lopata was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent before the 1946 season, and he'd make his debut with the club on September 19, 1948.  He was the team's opening day catcher in 1949, 1954, 1955, 1957 and 1958.  At the end of spring training in 1959, on March 31st, Lopata was dealt to the Braves with infielders Ted Kazanski and Johnny O'Brien for pitcher Gene Conley, outfielder Harry Hanebrink and infielder Joe Koppe.  In his 11 seasons with the Phillies, he appeared in 821 games, batting .257 with 116 home runs and 397 RBIs.  

1949 Bowman #177

1955 Bowman #18

1957 Topps #119

1959 Topps #412

1960 Topps #515

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #177
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5):  1956-1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2009 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #RO-WW

40 - Lopata non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/22/21.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia