1960-1961

Eldon "Rip" Repulski was born in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota on October 4, 1928. At Sauk Rapids High School, he attracted the attention of college scouts as a football star. When it came to enroll in college, he didn’t go far and joined a talented St. Cloud Huskies football squad, notable for the number of World War II veterans on the roster. He also joined the St. Cloud State Teachers College basketball team.

Playing on a town baseball team, he led Sauk Rapids to the Lakewood League championship in 1945 and 1946 as a pitcher and outfielder. He was signed to a professional contract by the St. Louis Cardinals and assigned to play in West Frankfort, Illinois.

The Cardinals saw something and promoted him to Fresno, California, for the following season. Far from home, Rip led the California League in RBIs, total bases, and doubles while batting .322. Promotion to Omaha of the Western League came in 1949, but he slumped badly. So the Cardinals organization shipped him to Winston-Salem of the Carolina League, where he regained his batting form, hitting .300 with 20 home runs.

He began the 1950 season with Houston of the Texas League, but was demoted to the South Atlantic League’s Columbus (Georgia) team, where he drove in 95 runs while hitting .323. 

His play at Columbus caught the eye of the Cardinals front office, and he was invited to major league spring training. He was extremely disappointed when he learned that he was to start the 1951 season with Houston, but a strong showing got him promoted to Class AAA Columbus (Ohio) of the American Association.

Spring training came and went in 1952, and Rip was again dispatched to the minors, this time a lateral move from Columbus to Rochester (New York) of the International League. He was disappointed but put his feelings aside and hit .296 with 13 homers for the Rochester Red Wings. 

Rip was 24 when spring training opened in 1953 and manager Eddie Stanky installed him as his starting center fielder and kept him there throughout the season. In the outfield, he was flanked by future Hall of Famers Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter and hit .275 with 15 home runs and 66 RBIs during his rookie year. He was a strong candidate for Rookie of the Year honors, until he slumped at the plate in the last three weeks of the season. 

Spring training in 1954 provided no worries for Rip, for he had established himself as a regular. During a 10-game span, he got 22 hits in 44 at-bats and eleven of the hits were for extra bases, including eight home runs.

In 1955, he batted .283 with 15 homers and at one point during the season had a 16-game hitting streak. The lifeless Cards finished the 1955 season in seventh place however with only 68 wins, 30½ games out of first. Rip’s batting average slipped to .270, but his home run total increased to 23. 

By the time Rip rapped a homer off the Giants at the Polo Grounds in May 1956, he led the National League with a .404 average. Unfortunately for him, the Cardinals, once again, were going nowhere. The highlight of his 1956 season was his selection to the National League All-Star team. He finished the season with a .277 average, but in November, was traded to the Phillies for Del Ennis.

Rip had also gone into a partnership in a drinking establishment known as the Shamrock, at 1929 East Grand Avenue in St. Louis. The Shamrock was his first experience in the bar business. Unfortunately Rip failed at learning the financial end of running a liquor establishment. He also confessed that he didn’t know how he could front a St. Louis cocktail lounge while playing his home games in Philadelphia. 

Rip led the Phillies with 20 homers and batted .260 in 1957. At age 29 in 1958, his batting average slipped to .244, and he lost his starting outfield job. He knew he no longer fit in the Phillies’ plans, so it did not surprise him when he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He played in only 53 games for Los Angeles, but being a Dodger in 1959 gave him the opportunity to play in his only World Series. In May 1960, the Dodgers traded him to the Boston Red Sox.

The Red Sox used him in 73 games  and he finished the season with a .243 batting average, three homers and 20 runs batted in. He went to 1961 spring training with the Sox, but after participating in only 15 regular-season games, he was released. 

His only offer was a contract with Syracuse, the Minnesota Twin’s Class AAA farm team and he accepted the offer, playing in 78 games in the International League. Then the Twins signed him to a minor-league contract the following year with their new Class AAA team, Vancouver, but he was released in February, 1962. 

With his ball-playing days over, he opened another bar in St. Cloud, but it would only last for four years. Needing a job, he turned to his father, a respected and long-time employee of the Great Northern Railway Company, predecessor to Burlington Northern. There, his fellow railroad employees absorbed his stories. 

When Rip Repulski was in his early 50s, his health began to fail. In a period of six months, he underwent four stomach surgeries and gradually withdrew from the public eye. He turned down speaking engagements and became a bitter and confused recluse, passing away at a nursing home in Waite Park, Minnesota on February 10, 1993, at age 64.