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A few weeks ago, I came across a few more of his cards and sent them to him, along with a request for him to appear here and answer a few questions.
I asked Saferight about his Topps baseball card. Saferight said, "It was nice to get on a Topps card after spending all of those years in the minors."
Saferight played with some big stars, including the 1979 World Champion Pirates. I wondered if he had any memorabilia from baseball. Saferight said, "I did start a collection at the end and wished I had started sooner. I've got about 30 balls signed by Hall of Famers. Also, I started a bat collection and boy did Hooley, our clubhouse guy in Pittsburgh, get a little tight when I would get him to pack them to go back to Pittsburgh."
Saferight retired after the 1982 season with the Toledo Mud Hens. Saferight told me, "I worked for Waste Management for 13 years after baseball. My father got sick so I took early retirement and stayed with him until he passed. Took another year off and a friend at the bank suggested I try Mortgage with them. So I spent 8 years with BB&T. Got tired of the corporate bull and now I work when I want with a friend at a smaller bank. Went from Baseball to Trash to Banking. It's funny, after my first meeting with the Bank, my manager asked what I thought. The answer was that the meeting was no different than any other meeting I had been in. You have people producing, people complaining."
I also asked Saferight if baseball played any role in his post-baseball career. Saferight stated, "It sure got me interviews and it was nice for each business that I worked in. People would recognize my name and that helped to get in the door."
It was a lot of fun following Saferight's career. It has been a lot more fun reconnecting a bit and writing about it here.
By all accounts Saferight is successful and happy in his post-baseball career. It is great to hear that things have worked out for him. He really seems like a nice guy.
I was happy to be able to get some of his cards to him. It's always nice to give back to the players. I really appreciate Saferight taking time to answer my questions.
Harry Saferight's 1980 Topps baseball card.