Stan Lopata and "The Crouch"

If you were a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies in the mid-1950s, chances are one of your favorite Phillies was catcher Stan "Big Stash" Lopata. And if you were playing Little League or Babe Ruth League baseball in those days, chances are you tried, at some point, to imitate "the stance." The stance was the unique crouch that Lopata adopted in 1954, after six years of indifferent success at the plate. Hall of Fame pitcher turned broadcaster, Dizzy Dean, described the stance as "looking like a man hitting out of an easy chair." The player with the closest modern equivalent to the Lopata crouch was probably Jeff Bagwell of the Houston Astros, but even Bagwell didn't crouch as far down as Lopata and Bagwell spread out in the box, while Lopata kept his feet close together.

Lopata's unusual approach at the plate came out of a chance conversation in a Chicago hotel lobby in 1954 with one of the greatest hitters of all time, Rogers Hornsby. Lopata's Phillie roommate, outfielder Johnny Wyrostek, knew Hornsby, and asked the Rajah if he had any tips for Lopata, who was struggling at the plate. Hornsby told Lopata that he missed too many balls. He said that anytime you swing the bat you should make some kind of contact. Lopata took the advice to the ballpark that day and many years later he told reporter Skip Clayton what happened next:

So that day I went to the ballpark, I did crouch a little and felt real good, and I saw the ball better. The second time up, I got down a little lower, and the third time, I got even lower. I saw the ball better, and it seemed I could pull the ball better.

While opposing players, managers, and fans laughed at what they saw as the comical stance, Lopata silenced them with his immediate success. After beginning to crouch in early June, he went on a tear that saw his batting average balloon from .247 to .323 in a month. He was slowed for a while by a broken finger, but eventually more power came, too. On July 31, his two-run home run beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5. For the 1954 season, playing in a platoon with the left-handed hitting Smoky Burgess, Lopata hit a solid .290 with 14 homeruns and 42 RBIs in just 259 at bats. These were easily the best offensive numbers of his career. But Stan and his stance were just getting started. 

In 1955, Stan was still platooning, this time with the reacquired Andy Seminick, and still crouching. He also added to his look and his legend by adopting tinted glasses to his repertoire; the result of bright night baseball lights bothering his eyes. Stan was the first major league catcher to wear glasses. New look or no, the hits kept coming. He totaled 22 home runs and 58 RBIs in 303 at bats while compiling a solid .271 average. On June 19 at Wrigley Field he had five hits in six at bats as the Phillies won 1-0 in 15 innings. Lopata started that game at first base as manager Mayo Smith sought ways to keep Lopata's potent bat in the lineup.

Finally in 1956, Lopata was the everyday Phillies catcher and he responded with one of the finest offensive seasons in Phillies history. He established records for Phillies' catchers for most doubles (33), most triples (7), most homers (32), and most RBIs (95). All of those single season records still stand with the exception of the RBI total which was surpassed by Darren Daulton when he drove in 110 in 1992. After his retirement, Stan said, "I had a real good year in 1956, but I didn't know how good a year it was until I saw all of the records in the Phillies media guide. It's nice to hold them as long as possible."

Lopata's stance was so unusual and so successful that many opposing National League managers questioned whether it was legal. Walter Alston of the Dodgers told Baseball Digest he thought the stance gave Lopata (and others who crouched like Ernie Banks), an unfair advantage with the strike zone. There was nothing illegal about the stance, but the controversy about the strike zone for crouching hitters continued for years.

Lopata battled through numerous injuries to his shoulder and knee in 1957. He received much credit from teammates and management for his determination to play through injuries, but this willingness cost him. His offensive numbers fell off considerably. Off season knee surgery was performed, but Stan never fully recovered his form and in 1959 he was traded to the Milwaukee Braves, along with shortstop Ted Kazanski, for pitcher Gene Conley and infielder Joe Koppe. He retired after appearing in just 32 games with the Braves over two seasons.

Despite the disappointing ending to his career in Philadelphia, for a few seasons during the 1950s, Stan Lopata was Philadelphia's own "Stan the Man." With his tinted glasses and his peek-a-boo batting style, not to mention his many prodigious home run clouts, Stan was a player the young fans could all root for and emulate.

Sources

C. Paul Rogers, "Stan Lopata" SABR BioProject accessed on October 5, 2021.
Skip Clayton and Jeff Moeller, 50 Fabulous Phillies, Sports Publishing, Inc., 2000.