MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Paul Popovich, a 2013 WVU Sports Hall of Fame inductee, was recently profiled on Pirates Prospects website in its "Obscure Pittsburgh Pirates" series.
Popovich played two seasons with the Bucs in 1974-75 as a utility infielder and he collected three hits in Pittsburgh's playoff loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Most of Popovich's career was spent in Chicago with the Cubs, although he did play one season with the Dodgers in 1968.
The Flemington, West Virginia, resident spent a total of 11 seasons in the bigs from 1964-75, his best year coming in 1969 when he batted .284 in 88 games for the Cubs.
Popovich played just one season of baseball and basketball at WVU in 1960 before signing a $40,000 bonus with Chicago.
During that one year in 1960 he batted .426 to earn first team All-Southern Conference honors. His only season with the Mountaineer basketball team saw him appear in 26 games as a backup guard for the Southern Conference champs.
Popovich was a prolific prep basketball player at Flemington High who once led the state in scoring with an average of 41.8 points per game during his senior season.
Popovich will be celebrating his 80
th birthday later this summer.
He still resides in suburban Chicago.
