Harry Agganis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1929-04-20)April 20, 1929 Lynn, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | June 27, 1955(1955-06-27) (aged 26) Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Baseball player Baseball career | |
| First baseman | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 13, 1954, for the Boston Red Sox | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| June 2, 1955, for the Boston Red Sox | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .261 |
| Hits | 135 |
| Home runs | 11 |
| Runs batted in | 67 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Football career | |
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| US college | Boston University |
| NFL draft | 1952 / round: 1 / pick: 12 |
| Drafted by | Cleveland Browns |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 1949, 1951–1952 | Boston University |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Retired #s | Boston University #33 |
Aristotle George "Harry"Agganis (April 20, 1929 – June 27, 1955), nicknamed "The Golden Greek",[1] was an Americancollege football player and professionalbaseball player. After passing up a potential professionalfootball career, he played inMajor League Baseball as afirst baseman from 1954 to 1955 for theBoston Red Sox.
Born inLynn,Massachusetts, to Greek immigrants Georgios Agganis and Georgia Papalimperis, Agganis first gained notice as a college football player atBoston University, becoming its first student namedAll-American. He passed up a professional career with theCleveland Browns in order to play his favorite sport, baseball, close to his hometown. He signed abonus baby contract, and after one season playingminor league baseball, he started at first base for the Red Sox.
In 1955, Agganis became gravely ill early in the season and was hospitalized for two weeks forpneumonia. He rejoined theRed Sox for a single week before being rehospitalized with a viral infection. After showing some signs of recovery, he died of apulmonary embolism on June 27.
Aristotle George Agganis (Greek:Αριστοτέλης Γεώργιος Αγγάνης[citation needed]) was born inLynn, Massachusetts, United States, growing up with four brothers and two sisters.[2] His family was fromLonganikos,Sparta,Greece. He was a starfootball andbaseball player atLynn Classical High School as well as a strong student, named "All-Scholastic".[3]
Agganis enrolled atBoston University, where he became a starter, primarily atquarterback. After his sophomore season in 1949, when he set a school record by tossing fifteen touchdown passes, he entered theMarine Corps. Agganis played for theCamp Lejeune (N.C.) football and baseball teams. He received a dependency discharge from the Marines to support his mother and returned to college to play in 1951–52. Around the same time, Agganis was participating in summer baseball leagues in Augusta, Maine.[4]
Agganis became the school's firstAll-American in football and Boston coachBuff Donelli named Agganis the "greatest football player he ever coached".[2] He also played basketball and baseball in the school.[2]
Agganis set another Boston University mark by passing for 1,402 yards (1,282 m) for the season and won the Bulger Lowe Award as New England's outstanding football player. CoachPaul Brown of theCleveland Browns thought he could be the successor toOtto Graham and drafted the college junior in the first round of the1952 NFL draft, offering him a bonus of $25,000.Boston Red Sox ownerTom Yawkey outbid Brown, however, and signed Agganis to playMajor League Baseball for the Red Sox as afirst baseman for $35,000.[4] At the time of his death, Agganis was spending his off-season at his alma mater as an assistant coach, tutoringTom Gastall, another quarterback who decided to play professional baseball and died young.[4]
Following his 1953 college graduation, Agganis played with Triple-ALouisville where hehit .281 with 23home runs and 108RBI.[2] He made his major league debut on April 13, 1954. Agganis had a modestrookie campaign, although he did leadAmerican League first basemen inassists andfielding percentage. He hit 11 home runs that year, with 57 RBI and a .251 batting average.[5]
In 1955, Agganis briefly lost his starting position to rookieNorm Zauchin.[1] On June 2, he was hospitalized withpneumonia, severe fever and chest pains.[2] He rejoined the Red Sox ten days later and played two games against theChicago White Sox, before falling ill again inKansas City, Missouri, on June 5. He was diagnosed with a viral infection and flown back to Sancta Maria Hospital inCambridge, Massachusetts, where a doctor partially blamed his playing too soon after the first illness.[2] The Red Sox placed him on the voluntary retired list until he recuperated,[4] an early version of thedisabled list. He began showing signs of improvement, before a fatalpulmonary embolism on June 27.[1]
Red Sox general managerJoe Cronin told theAssociated Press that everyone related to the Red Sox organization was "grieved and shocked", calling Agganis "a grand boy", and saying the team would wear #6 black armbands to honor him.[3][6] American League presidentWill Harridge said his office was "saddened and shocked", and Red Sox ownerTom Yawkey said he was "stunned", calling Agganis "a man of great character".[1][6] Ten thousand mourners saw his body lie in state at St. George's Greek Orthodox Church in Lynn.[2]
Agganis was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1974.[7] Gaffney Street, near the former site ofBraves Field in Boston, was renamedHarry Agganis Way in 1995.[8]
Agganis Arena is a multipurpose sports facility at Boston University.[9] The Harry Agganis Stadium located on Camp Lejeune was named in his honor.
The Agganis Foundation has awarded more than $1.1 million in college scholarships to 780 student-athletes from Boston and the North Shore, including Lynn. Scholarships are awarded for academic and athletic achievement. The Foundation was started in 1955 by the Boston Red Sox and owner Thomas A. Yawkey, the (Lynn)Daily Item newspaper and Harold O. Zimman, a mentor of Agganis for whom the football field at Tufts University is named.
According to an episode ofThe Extraordinary, which retells stories of people's supernatural experiences, actorTelly Savalas unknowingly met a ghost who said he knew a player from the Boston Red Sox, and the next day Telly saw in the newspaper headlines that a 26-year-old player had died of mysterious circumstances.
