Injury halted Bellmar grad Babich’s promising baseball career
Injuries can derail a promising athletic career in the blink of an eye and that is the case with former Bellmar High School standout Rich Babich.
Babich excelled on the football field and the baseball diamond for Bellmar in the 1950s.
“I was an end on the football team back then,” Babich said. “I did the punting and the kickoffs and all the kicking. I could really drop kick, I had a range of about 45 yards with a drop kick. I had a real knack with the drop kick.”
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Babich was a part of some competitive Bellmar teams. In 1952 the Hurricanes posted a record of 4-4-1, in 1953 they went 7-1-1 and just missed the WPIAL playoffs and in Babich’s senior season in 1954 they finished 5-2-2.
“We had tied Bethel 6-6 early in the season in 1953 and had a shot at an undefeated season,” Babich recalled. “I remember the final game against Dunbar. They beat us 21-14. It was the first meeting between Bellmar and Dunbar.”
Babich has fond memories of his old coach Bap Manzini who also coached him in baseball.
“Coach Manzini was a terrific guy,” Babich said. “He was really peppy and always tried to get you to do better. He was a great player when he played and even at his age he could out run everybody on the team. He was a great motivator.”
Babich liked playing football.
“I had good hands because of baseball,” Babich said. “I caught everything, I never missed a ball, I had really good hands. I developed the good hands practicing baseball with my brothers. I had one brother, Steve, who was three years older and another older brother and we really practiced hard.”
Babich was selected first team All-WPIAL Class A by the old Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, and he was honorable mention by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
Babich enjoyed playing baseball as well as football.
“I loved baseball,” Babich said. “My dad pitched to us. We lived on the baseball field. In the summer time we would take a pail of warm water. We didn’t even have an ice box. We took warm water and two baloney sandwiches to the ball field, and we wouldn’t even come in for lunch.”
Babich played third base and shortstop for Bellmar.
Bellmar had baseball in 1953 and finished 3-6. The Hurricanes dropped baseball in 1954 in favor of track, but brought baseball back in 1955. The Hurricanes tied Charleroi for the Section 19 title in 1955, but lost to the Cougars in a playoff game 6-2 when the Canes’ top pitcher Paul Hoffman was unable to pitch. Despite the loss, Babich put on a dazzling defensive show at shortstop as he handled nine chances flawlessly.
Babich, who graduated from Bellmar in 1955, was also a standout for the Charleroi Merchants of the Mon Valley League. He helped the Merchants win back-to-back league crowns in 1954 and 1955. Babich hit a blistering .520 while helping the Merchants win the Mon Valley League title in 1955. He was league MVP.
“Looking back, the late John Bunardzya, former sports editor of the Charleroi Mail, pushed me like you wouldn’t believe,” Babich explained. “He wanted me to make it big.”
The Charlroi Merchants squared off with Big Ten champion Fayette City for area bragging rights in September of 1955.
“We played Fayette City in a best-of-five series,” Babich said. “They were Big Ten champs. There was a big controversy that Charleroi of the Mon Valley League couldn’t match the Big Ten League. We beat them in the series 3-1. That was a big thrill.”
Babich had a tremendous series against Fayette City with nine hits in 13 plate appearances, including a home run, two triples and a double.
The Mon Valley League wasn’t the only place that Babich showed off his skills, he also played in the Pittsburgh Semi-Pro Federation Baseball League where he played against players like former Chicago Cubs second baseman Glenn Beckert.
In August of 1955 Babich along with Beaver Fall’s Bob Lawrence were the only Pennsylvania players selected for the U.S. team that played the New York All Stars at the Polo Grounds in New York City. He just missed winning the Lou Gehrig Trophy for MVP in the game. He clouted a triple in three times at bat with an RBI. Guy Esposita of the winning New York team, which edged the U.S. stars, hit a two-run triple to win the trophy. Hurricane Connie stopped the game in the fifth inning.
Big League scouts had been watching Babich for a long time.
The Charleroi Mail reported on Jan. 13, 1956 that Babich signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates: “The 18-year-old Gillespie youth who played third base for the Charleroi Merchants, Mon Valley League champions the past two seasons, was signed last night by Joe L. Brown, Jr., the Pirates new general manager , and George Sisler, chief scout for the Pittsburgh club.”
He was the third member of that Charleroi team signed by the Pirates, preceded by pitcher Paul (Jake) Martin, of Fayette City, and first baseman-outfielder George (Porky) Zuraw Jr., of Charleroi.
Babich played three seasons in the Pirates minor league system at Brunswick, Georgia; Grand Forks, North Dakota; and San Jose/Las Vegas, compiling a .281 batting average.
In a twist of fate an injury suffered after nine games in 1957 at Grand Forks curtailed Babich’s career. Babich was playing first base in a game when a wide throw pulled him off the bag and into the path of the base runner. His left arm was fractured in several places.
“You could here the break all over the ballpark,” Babich recalled. “I had a cast on for over two-and-a-half months. It ruined my career. I tried to comeback in 1958. The way the arm was set I couldn’t twist my left arm. He did a terrific job, I never had pain with it. The way it was set I couldn’t turn it over and the left hand would come off the bat.
“They didn’t have the good rehab like they do now. They were real cold, the Pirates were, after that. That was it, I was done. It was a shock that my career was over, I was only 21 years old.”
Babich returned to the area and worked briefly for Meadow Gold Dairy and then went to work as a salesman for Bell Containers in Pittsburgh. He has been there for 59 years and is still working at age 81.
Five years ago Babich had a serious heart problem and after a passionate letter from his daughter to the Cleveland Clinic he underwent heart surgery and is still going strong.
Babich resides in Pittsburgh. He was married to his wife Jackie for 14 years until she passed away in 1974. Babich has one daughter, Corinne.
“It’s been a good life, Babich said. “You have to have a meaning in life and I’m still going strong.”
George Von Benko’s “Memory Lane” column appears in the Monday editions of the Herald-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.