This is the fourth in a Saturday series looking at the Class of 2011, scheduled for induction Nov. 9 at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo.

Phil Mankowski was raised in an age when baseball was king.

"Every boy growing up in my era, they wanted to be a big-league ballplayer," he said. "Baseball was the game. You didn't have any computers, no Pac-Man."

Mankowski was one of the few who made good on that dream. He'll be inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 9 at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo. Tickets can be purchased at www.buffalosportshallfame.com.

The former Detroit Tigers third baseman credits his father, Ben -- who had his own professional stint as a first baseman in the Brooklyn Dodgers organization in the late '30s and '40s -- with instilling in him the fine work ethic that marked his baseball career from youth leagues to the majors.

"If I didn't have a game, I'd be in a field where there was a wall," Mankowski said, where he would work on throwing and fielding the way his father taught him, trying to get smooth.

Growing up without much money, time was Mankowski's biggest resource. He exploited it to the fullest, playing in as many games as he could, along with his older brothers, Peter and Paul, who played five years in the Minnesota Twins organization. His father also offered a crucial piece of coaching advice.

"We were all righty hitters when we were first brought to the field," Mankowski said. "But knowing how slow we ran, he made us all lefties to make us closer to first base."

It apparently worked. Mankowski, a standout at Turner High School, made it to the majors in August of 1976, when he was called up to replace an injured Aurelio Rodriguez.

He hit .271 in 24 games that fall, then played 94 games in '77, driving in 27 runs.

The highlight of his major league career came on Opening Day in 1978 when Mankowski hit a three-run blast into the upper deck of Tiger Stadium's right field.

"It was the biggest thrill of my life, to play Opening Day and to hit a home run," Mankowski said. "You don't know how long you're going to stay. Some guys play 20 years, some guys play one day. It's short-lived, you do the best you can."

Mankowski's stay was another three seasons. After seeing a drop in playing time in the 1979 season, Mankowski was traded to the Mets. He played a handful of games in the 1980 and '82 seasons for New York before calling it quits.

During his time in New York, Mankowski heard from a waitress about an audition for a part in a Robert Redford baseball film. He wrote to the contact, auditioned with about 300 others and earned the role of New York Knights third baseman Hank Benz in the 1984 film "The Natural." Baseball scenes in the film were shot in Buffalo at War Memorial Stadium.

"It's an experience I'll never forget," he said. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it was coming back home to Buffalo. The pay was pretty good, and I still get a few cents residuals today when you guys watch it on TV."

Mankowski now lives in West Seneca, working as a food sales rep for family-owned company J.H. Wattles, Inc., since he returned to the area in 1991.

His two daughters, who both went to Syracuse University, were, naturally, raised to be good softball players. It wasn't just a matter of genetics, Mankowski said, but that the sport is, at its most basic, a crash course in life.

"You learn so many things when you're with a team about life," he said. "I went from the bottom to the top and you know, life goes on now, the games are over. But now you deal with people, how to win, how to lose, how to handle the losses."

The 21st annual Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame awards dinner is Nov. 9 at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo. For tickets, call 888-2977 or go to www.gbshof.com.

sports@buffnews.comnull