Major League Coach
In 1967, Popowski was promoted to the parent Red Sox as third-base coach under Dick Williams. That season, the Red Sox, who had finished ninth in the ten-team American League in 1966, stunned the baseball world by winning their first pennant since 1946. Popowski was Boston's third-base coach for seven seasons, through 1973, and twice served out a season as acting manager, relieving Williams in 1969 and Eddie Kasko in 1973, the latter for only one game. Popowski won six of the ten big league contests he managed. As a third-base coach, he was notable for flipping the ball behind his back to the pitcher when one came to rest inside his coach's box. He had learned the trick with the House of David.
He continued as Boston's first-base coach in 1974 and was a special assignment coach in 1975, when the Red Sox once again won the American League flag. In 1976, he began the year as a minor league instructor but he returned to the Boston coaching staff to fill the vacancy created when Don Zimmer was promoted to manager after the firing of Darrell Johnson. Popowski coached in the dugout and at third base that season.
Read more about this topic: Eddie Popowski
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