Harry Agganis
From SoSH
| Born: | Saturday Apr 20 1929 |
| Birthplace: | Lynn, MA |
| Hometown: | Lynn, MA |
| Height: | 6 ' 2 |
| Weight: | 200 |
| Bats: | Left |
| Throws: | Left |
| Drafted: | |
| College: | Boston University |
| High School: | Lynn (MA) Classical H.S. |
| Other Teams: | |
| Years with Boston: | 1954-1955 |
Aristotle George (Harry) Agganis was a promising young Red Sox first baseman who died tragically at age 26 in the middle of his second big league season. In 157 games, all with the Red Sox, Agganis hit .261 with 11 home runs and 67 RBI. More than five decades after his passing, numerous questions remain about what Agganis might have achieved over a full and healthy major league career, and also about the quality of the medical care he received at the team's official hospital. But his legacy as one of the greatest all-around athletes in New England sports history remains firmly intact.
Contents |
Early Years
Agganis was born in Lynn, Massachusetts to Greek immigrant parents, and was the youngest of seven siblings. Nicknamed "The Golden Greek," he was a three-sport star at Lynn Classical High School. As a teenager, he played baseball at venerable Fraser Field in Lynn, and traveled to Wrigley Field in Chicago to play in the Esquire All-American Boy game in 1946.
By then, the Red Sox had established a Class A farm team in Lynn. Dick O'Connell, who would eventually become GM of the Red Sox, served as Lynn's business manager. O'Connell had watched Agganis closely, and reportedly convinced the Sox to hire Harry's high school football and baseball coach, Bill Joyce, as president of the Lynn Red Sox. Harry himself was hired to do odd jobs for the Lynn club and occasionally worked out with the team.
In 1947, Harry hit .352 to lead Lynn Classical to the Massachusetts state baseball championship. He was chosen for the Hearst All-Star game at the Polo Grounds in New York where, according to Harry's former B.U. teammate and Red Sox historian George Sullivan, all-star catchers Yogi Berra and Jim Hegan played under pseudonyms. Agganis also played semi-pro ball that summer, batting .342 against the likes of major leaguers Walt Masterson, Randy Gumpert, Hugh Mulcahy and Doyle Lade, who were playing ball on weekends while engaged in military service (Masterson and Gumpert would later play for the Red Sox prior to Harry's arrival in the majors). After graduating, Agganis spent the summer of 1948 playing for the Augusta Millionaires in Maine, where he starred with his future Red Sox teammate Ted Lepcio.
On the football field, his dominance attracted crowds of more than 20,000 to the Manning Bowl in Lynn. As a southpaw starting at quarterback, he led his team to a 21-1-1 record over two seasons. Following an undefeated junior year in 1946, he and his teammates traveled to Miami, Florida, where they defeated Granby High of Norfolk, Virginia (whose roster included future Red Sox pitcher Chuck Stobbs) in the Orange Bowl on Christmas Day to win the mythical national high school football championship. Agganis and his teammates declined an invitation to a similar game following his senior year when they were told they could not bring their two black players.
Over his three-year high school football career, Agganis completed 65 percent of his passes (326-for-502) for 4,099 yards and 48 touchdowns. He also rushed for 24 more TDs, kicked 39 extra points, and averaged more than 40 yards per punt.
College Years & Military Service
Agganis received scholarship offers from no fewer than 75 colleges, including programs of national renown such as Notre Dame and the University of Tennessee. Fighting Irish head coach Frank Leahy had dubbed Harry "the finest prospect I’ve ever seen." Agganis, whose father George had died in 1946, surprised many football observers when he decided to attend Boston University to be close to his widowed mother.
Red Sox fans didn't have to go far to catch Agganis in action on the gridiron, as the Terriers played their home games at Fenway Park. As he had in high school, Harry wore jersey #33 to honor his hero, standout Washington Redskins quarterback Sammy Baugh. Playing for the freshman squad, Agganis was 29-for-52 for 492 passing yards and five touchdowns in four games. He also averaged 4.7 yards per carry rushing and scored four TDs on the ground.
As a sophomore in 1949, Agganis set a school record with 15 touchdown passes while completing 55 of 108 tosses for 762 yards. He also rushed for 5.4 yards per carry, scored two TDs on the ground, intercepted 15 passes on defense, and led the nation in punting with a 46.5 yard average. Harry was named a second-team All-American, finishing behind future NFL and AFL star QB Babe Parilli of the University of Kentucky (Parilli would later follow in Harry's footsteps, playing both at Nickerson Field on the B.U. campus and at Fenway Park during his seven-year stint with the AFL's Boston Batriots.)
Harry's college career would soon be interrupted by the Korean War. Agganis had enlisted in the United States Marine Corps 2nd Infantry Organized Reserve Battalion while in high school, and he was called to active duty in the spring of 1950. Though he never served overseas, Harry served a 15-month hitch at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, during which he played for the football and baseball teams there. In the summer of 1950, Agganis hit .362 to lead his team to a 72-17 record against clubs stocked with former major league pitchers. His squad reached the National Baseball Congress tournament in Wichita, Kansas, where Harry was named Most Valuable Player.
Agganis later requested a dependency discharge to help support his mother, and returned to school in September 1951. He arrived home just two days before the Terriers' football opener and got in an hour of practice before throwing a pair of TD passes. As a junior that fall, Harry threw for 14 TDs and a school record 1,402 yards, completing 104 of 185 passes, and earned the Bulger Lowe Award as New England's outstanding football player. In the spring of 1952, Agganis hit .322 for the Terriers in his return to the baseball diamond.
The football team struggled in 1952. Attracted by the promise of large gate receipts from the huge crowds flocking to watch Agganis, larger schools with far more powerful teams pined for slots on the Terriers' schedule. Many of Harry's teammates were still fulfilling their military commitments as the Korean conflict dragged on, leaving B.U. with a largely inexperienced and undersized lineup. For the most part, Harry was up to the challenge and was able to keep his team competitive against larger and faster opponents. On October 10, the University of Miami (FL) came to Fenway as a three-touchdown favorite, but Agganis intercepted two passes, made 14 tackles and punted for 58, 65 and 67 yards. His final kick resulted in a safety for the decisive points in a 9-7 upset win.
Three weeks later, on November 1, more than 40,000 fans packed Fenway to watch the Terriers take on the University of Maryland, which had entered the season as the #2-ranked team in the nation. The game was broadcast nationally by Vin Scully, who called the action from Fenway's rooftop in his first-ever assignment with the CBS Radio Network. Maryland had played B.U. in 1949, and the Terriers had given the Terps more than they could handle before losing a 14-13 squeaker. In the rematch, according to accounts, the Terrapins focused on beating B.U.'s overmatched offensive line and getting physical with Agganis. Several gang tackles by Maryland defenders bruised his ribs so badly he had to be helped off the field in a 34-7 loss. Though X-rays were negative, Harry continued to have difficulty breathing and missed the next two games.
Despite the missed time, Agganis completed 67 of 125 tosses for 766 yards and five TD's in seven games that year. Harry closed out his season by playing all but one minute of the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama in January 1953. He earned MVP honors, throwing two touchdowns, rushing for another, and hauling in a pair of interceptions as the North beat the South, 28-13. After that game, football legend Red Grange proclaimed Agganis the best player he had seen all year.
Agganis finished his Terrier football career with 15 school records. Although most have been surpassed by athletes who played four years, Harry set his marks in just three varsity seasons -- racking up 27 interceptions, 2,930 yards and 34 TDs while completing 226 of 418 passes, or 54 percent.
Pro Baseball Career
Harry had been selected by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the 1952 NFL draft, the 12th overall pick and the third quarterback taken. The Browns had hoped Agganis would be the eventual replacement for the legendary Otto Graham. But on November 28, 1952, Harry instead chose to sign with the hometown Red Sox instead for $50,000 -- far less than the reported $100,000 bonus offered by Cleveland. A report quoted Agganis:
- "I've been torn between baseball and football for a long time, but have finally made up my mind to concentrate on baseball. I've already proved myself in football. I don't know if I can make it in baseball, but I have the confidence that I can. I expect to be farmed out to a minor league club for a year, regardless of how I do in the South [spring training]. I've always wanted to be a baseball player, but I never wanted to say it until my football days were over."
His signing came a week before Major League Baseball's "Bonus Baby" rule went into effect, which required any players signed with a bonus larger than $6,000 to remain with the major league club for two full seasons. Because he beat the deadline, Harry was able to benefit from some minor league seasoning. Assigned to Boston's AAA club in Louisville Colonels for the 1953 campaign, Agganis hit .281 with 23 home runs and 108 RBI. He finished second in the American Association MVP voting, losing out on the award by a single vote to Don Zimmer of St. Paul.
As training camp opened in Florida prior to the 1954 season, Agganis arrived in Sarasota knowing he'd have to wrest the starting first baseman's job from incumbent slugger Dick Gernert. Conventional wisdom held that this would be a tall task for a left-handed hitter at Fenway due to the 380-foot distance from home plate to the right field wall. Gernert, a righty who evoked images of Jimmie Foxx, had clubbed 21 homers in 1953. Yet as spring training wore on, Roger Birtwell of the Boston Globe reported that Agganis seemed to be winning the battle:
- "Judging from the form the two players have shown in Spring training, however, it would not be surprising if Agganis eventually eases Gernert out of the picture. For Agganis, a promotion seems richly deserved. He has outhit Gernert down here by a hundred points. Agganis has consistently outplayed Gernert in the field."
Meanwhile, Cleveland Browns owner Paul Brown was still trying to recruit Agganis. Billy Consolo, who roomed with Harry during spring training, recalled Brown phoning every day in an attempt to convince him to give up baseball, but without success.
Agganis would indeed open 1954 in the starting lineup, making his presence felt immediately. Wearing jersey number 6, he made his big league debut against the Philadelphia Athletics on April 13, 1954, crushing a deep drive to center field at Connie Mack Stadium and winding up with an RBI triple. Observers noted that he would have had an inside-the-park home run if not for having the sloth-like George Kell on base ahead of him. Five days later, in the nightcap of an April 18 doubleheader, Harry hit his first major league home run at Fenway off the A's Arnie Portocarrero to carry the Sox to a 4-3 win. A day after that, Agganis singled for the lone hit off Yankees pitcher Jim McDonald in the opener of a Patriots Day twinbill at Fenway.
Other highlights of his first season with the Sox included a four-RBI game with a homer and a double against the A's on May 31, and a grand slam at Yankee Stadium on August 15.
Gernert, originally slated to platoon at first with Agganis, contracted hepatitis shortly after the season began and wound up playing just 14 games. Agganis would hit .252 with 11 homers (including 8 at Fenway), 54 runs and 57 RBI in 132 games.
Illness and Death
The 1955 season began with Mike Higgins, Harry's manager at Louisville, replacing the fired Lou Boudreau at the Red Sox helm. Agganis had lost his starting slot to Norm Zauchin in spring training, but an 0-for-12 start by Zauchin led Higgins to return Harry to the lineup. Over the next month, Agganis hiked his batting average above .300.
After splitting a May 16 doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers, Boston's 5-game winning streak came to an end. The Sox were in 5th place, 7.5 games out of first with a record of 14-18. Players were looking forward to their off-day, but Agganis, who'd logged five hits playing in both ends of the twinbill, arrived at Fenway seeking out trainer Jack Fadden. Harry was experiencing heavy coughing spells and severe pain in his right side. After Fadden detected a fever, Agganis was admitted to Sancta Maria Hospital in Cambridge. Team physician Dr. Timothy Lamphier diagnosed him with pneumonia in the right long, and Harry remained hospitalized for 10 days.
Agganis rejoined the team May 27 for a series with the Washington Senators, but did not play. He appeared weak and pale, his cough persisted, and he was perspiring. Harry sat that day as Zauchin notched three homers and 10 RBI in a 16-0 rout, apparently reclaiming the starting job at first. Agganis finally got a start 6 games later, on June 2 against Virgil Trucks and the White Sox in Chicago. He went 2-for-4 including a shot to the gap for a double. It appeared to be deep enough for a triple, but after reaching second base Agganis stopped and sat down atop the base, exhausted. Later, with two on and two out and the Sox behind 4-2, Harry hit a rocket to right fielder Jim Rivera, who made a circus catch to end the inning. It proved to be the final plate appearance of Harry Agganis' life. He had hit .313 on the year with 10 doubles, a triple, and no home runs.
The team boarded a train to Kansas City that evening, and Harry's cough persisted. After Fadden examined him the next morning, Agganis was put on a plane back to Boston where General Manager Joe Cronin picked him up and drove him to Sancta Maria Hospital. A trio of new physicians diagnosed Harry with pneumonia in his left lung and phlebitis in his right leg. Agganis told the doctors that he had noticed a lump on his calf in April, which turned out to be a swollen venal wall. The medical staff kept his leg wrapped in ice to fend off blood clotting, and Harry remained weakened by his coughing spells. The doctors then announced that Agganis would be sidelined for two months, with Dr. Eugene O'Neill stating:
- "Harry was a lot sicker than he realized when he entered the hospital. His case is a very complicated and serious one. If his condition warrants, he could be idle all season."
However, Harry's condition did not improve, and the team placed him on the voluntary retired list on June 16. On June 25, after a visit from Ted Williams (who brought him a Davey Crockett magazine), Harry's brother discovered him coughing up blood. On the morning of Monday, June 27, the physicians decided to sit him up in a chair for the first time. As the doctors and nurses were lifting Agganis up from his bed, he clutched his chest and complained of pain. A blood clot had broken free from the vein in his calf and reached his lung, causing a pulmonary embolism. Twenty minutes later, Harry Agganis was dead at the age of 26. He was survived by his mother, four brothers and two sisters.
Before he died, Agganis allegedly whispered to a nurse, “Take care of my mother ... be sure she is alright.”
Aftermath
News of Agganis' death sent the city of Boston and the entire sports world into a state of shock. Harry's Red Sox teammates, who had just finished a successful 11-3 homestand, were in Pittsburgh for an exhibition game when they got the word from traveling secretary Tom Dowd. The Red Sox played the game, losing 8-2, then traveled by train to Washington D.C. for a series with the Senators. Seemingly inspired, they swept a doubleheader on the 28th, 4-0 and 8-2, and won again the next day, 7-5.
More than 10,000 mourners filed past Harry's coffin at his wake the evening of June 29 in Lynn. Hundreds of uniformed Little Leaguers stood outside St. George Greek Orthodox Church, where services were held to accommodate the throng. The funeral was held the next day at 2 pm. The Red Sox sent pitcher Frank Sullivan to represent the players since the team was scheduled to play the final game of the Senators series in Washington that same afternoon, with a portion of gate receipts to benefit the American Red Cross. Cronin had hoped the entire team would be able to attend Harry's services, but he was unable to convince Senators owner Calvin Griffith to cancel or postpone the game. Because of the charitable connection, Cronin relented, though he was able to get the start time moved ahead an hour to 3 pm.
Turnout for the Thursday game was sparse, and many accounts claimed that actual attendance was far less than the official figure of 8,563 fans. A pair of Greek Orthodox priests conducted a service at home plate before the game, as the teams and umpires stood along the baselines at Griffith Stadium with heads bowed. A U.S. Marine color guard dipped the American flag in a traditional show of respect for the deceased serviceman. Sammy White delivered a stirring eulogy of his teammate and friend. Boston radio announcer Curt Gowdy then took the microphone to address those in attendance and said, with a shaky voice, "His athletic feats were golden and shining, and so was Harry personally." Gowdy teared up again during the radio broadcast. Ted Williams, the only player who had been allowed to visit Harry in the hospital, was unable to contain his emotions and wept on the field.
Despite the somber pall, vaudevillian pre-game activites that had been planned went on as scheduled, though no Red Sox players participated. The events included an egg-tossing contest‚ a phantom infield practice, and a blindfolded wheelbarrow race (won by Senators pitcher Camilo Pascual). Frank Shea and Mickey McDermott performed a duet, singing "You Gotta Have Heart" from the play Damn Yankees. Following the game, a 3-2 Senators win, entertainer Arthur Godfrey staged an equestrian and dressage exhibition on the field.
Meanwhile in Lynn, 1,000 people packed into the church while thousands more filled an adjacent hall or stood outside in stifling summer heat. Many cried as they listened to the services on loudspeakers -- first in Greek, then in English. Frank Sullivan later said it was one of the saddest things he had ever seen. Joining him from the Red Sox organiation were Higgins, Cronin, O'Connell, scout Neil Mahoney, secretary Helen Trank and several others from the front office. Sox owner Tom Yawkey was so uncomfortable with funerals that he remained at his plantation in South Carolina, though he later made a $25,000 contribution to the Agganis Foundation.
20,000 people lined the one-mile funeral route from the church to Harry's hillside grave in Pine Grove Cemetery, overlooking the Manning Bowl where many of his sports heroics had played out. Nine vehicles carried the hundreds of floral arrangements sent by teammates, classmates and opponents past and present, friends, family, fellow soldiers, and total strangers.
Questions persist about how such a strong, vibrant athlete could die surrounded by numerous doctors and nurses. The tiny Cambridge hospital where Harry was being treated and passed away was the Red Sox' team hospital, and was thought by many to have lacked the staff or technology of Boston's larger hospitals such as Mass General.
Harry's friend Dick Lynch long claimed that Dr. Lamphier had proposed surgery to strip the blood veins in his legs to mitigate any clot hazards, but that the procedure would have limited his agility -- a prospect Harry flatly refused to consider according to Lynch. Jack Kelley, another classmate of Harry's, backed up these assertions: "I heard they told him they wanted to tie off some leg veins because clots were a possibility. But they told him he'd have no speed after that so he wanted to see if he could get better without that treatment. He thought he was getting better and would take his chances."
That scenario certainly adds to the mystery surrounding the removal of Dr. Lamphier from Harry's case. Having seen the swelling in Harry's calf, he allegedly tried to warn the team of the dangers a blood clot might pose but was met with ignorance and ultimately replaced as Harry's attending physician. While one might see plausibility in that claim, Lamphier's personal and professional credibility took a hit when he later moved to Florida and lost his medical license following the death of several patients. Some alleged (without any hard evidence) that Tom Yawkey orchestrated the switch in medical teams because he either scoffed at Lamphier's assessment of the risk posed by clotting, or wanted to avoid any medical procedure that might prematurely end the career of a player that had cost him an extravagant amount of money to sign.
According to those close to Agganis, he was on the verge of returning to football and would have played quarterback that fall for the Baltimore Colts, who had acquired his rights from the Browns.
Ironically the two sports Harry excelled at for Boston University -- baseball and football -- no longer exist as varsity programs at the school. The baseball team was disbanded in 1999, though it was reinstated in 2001 as a club sport through the efforts of student supporters. The loss of football was a far uglier situation as school administrators dropped the sport midway through the 1997 season -- on homecoming weekend, no less -- allegedly due to financial constraints imposed by federal Title IX requirements.
Agganis Foundation
The Agganis Foundation was established in 1956 by the Boston Red Sox, The (Lynn) Daily Item newspaper and Harold O. Zimman, who was a mentor of Harry. Elmo Benedetto, then the athletic director for the Lynn Public Schools, also joined the board of directors. It was a continuation of the scholarship foundation Harry himself started just prior to his death.
From its inception through 2007, the Agganis Foundation has awarded $1,187,525 in scholarships to 780 student-athletes from throughout Eastern Massachusetts. Each year, 15 new four-year, $4,000 scholarships are presented. Through the generosity of the Yawkey Foundation, there are four scholarships earmarked to students in Boston schools each year.
The foundation also sponsors the Agganis All-Star Classics, a series of high school all-star games. The football classic, first organized by Benedetto, has been played annually since 1956 with the exception of 1960-64, and the 50th Anniversary Classic will be played in the summer of 2010. Other Classics have since been added for baseball (1995), men's and women's soccer (1996), softball (1997) and men's and women's basketball (2005).
Agganis's Moments in the Sun
- Harry's football number 33 was retired at both Lynn Classical and Boston University soon after he graduated from each school.
- In 1953, Harry was inducted into the new Boston University Hall of Fame. He declined gifts of a car and $4,000 from his classmates and instead asked that the cash equivalent be put toward establishing a Boston University scholarship for Greek-American students with financial need. In May 1955, Cleo Sophios of Medford High School was the first recipient.
- On June 6, 1954, Agganis homered at Fenway and scored the winning run as the Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-4. Following the game he changed into a cap and gown in the Sox clubhouse, ran down Commonwealth Avenue in time for the graduation ceremonies on the B.U. campus, and received his bachelor's degree in education.
- On June 19, 1956, a 1,000-seat baseball facility, Harry Agganis Stadium, was dedicated in his honor at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Harry's mother Georgia Agganis, then 71, attended the ceremony. A memorial plaque placed at the field reads, "Endowed with peerless talent, Corporal Agganis exemplified the finest in competitive spirit and sportsmanship. An All-American football player, and later a professional baseball player, his outstanding accomplishments in the field of athletics were an inspiration to other Marines who served and were teammates with him during his career in the Marine Corps."
- Agganis was inducted posthumously into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974.
- On November 11, 1995, Gaffney Street in Boston was re-named Harry Agganis Way in his honor. It is located near Nickerson Field, which sits atop the former site of Braves Field, and was home to the Boston University football team.
- The North Shore Spirit, a minor league team in the independent Can-Am League, retired jersey number 6 to jointly honor Agganis and Johnny Pesky. Established in 2003, the Spirit played home games at Fraser Field in Lynn, but folded at tne end of the 2007 season.
- In 2004, Agganis Arena, a 7,200-seat sports and entertainment facility, was dedicated in Harry's honor on the Boston University campus. The arena is home to the Terriers' ice hockey and basketball teams. A life-size bronze statue of Agganis, sculpted by artist Armond LaMontagne and depicting Harry about to throw a football, stands outside the arena's main entrance.
- A wooden statue by Lamontagne, depicting Agganis in a pose similar to his work in bronze, can be seen at the New England Sports Museum at Boston's T.D. BankNorth Garden.
- Each year, members of the New England Sportswriters Association present the Harry Agganis Award to the outstanding New England college football senior.
Quotes
- "That young man could step into any college backfield right now." -- University of Tennessee football coach General Bob Neyland, after watching Harry play in Miami
- "This boy is ready for the National Football League right now." -- University of Massachusetts athletic director and longtime football coach Warren McGuirk
- "I always felt the beating he took that day contributed to his death. I'm no doctor but I suspect blood clots sometimes don't show up for a while." -- former Red Sox general manager Dick OConnell, on the hits dished out to Agganis during the 1949 Maryland game. O'Connell had also served as GM of the Red Sox' Class A farm team in Lynn
- "He had it made. We thought he'd be our first baseman for ten years to come." -- Red Sox manager Mike Higgins, upon learning of Agganis' passing
- "I dont know what to say or do. I dont even feel like playing, but I have to. Its taken something out of me." -- Jimmy Piersall, Agganis' Red Sox teammate upon hearing the news of his death
- "The task that confronts me today is indeed a most difficult one, difficult because it is quite impossible to find the right words to completely express the deep sorrow we all feel for the loss of our teammate. How to tell his mother, his sisters and his brothers just how deep is our sympathy for them presents another difficulty. To tell all you people what Harry Agganis meant to me and his teammates really has me groping for appropriate words. Harry was not only a talented athlete with the strength of a Hercules, the competitive spirit and courage of a lion, and the possessor of an almost ferocious desire to win -- he was a leader and, at the same time, a follower of all that was good." -- Sammy White, Red Sox catcher, eulogizing his teammate at Washington D.C.'s Griffith Stadium prior to the game against the Senators, which was played the day of Harry's funeral.
- "I played in the Agganis All-Star Game as a high-school football player. Up there at the Manning Bowl in Lynn. He was the greatest athlete to come out of Boston University and we've had many, including Chris Drury and Mike Grier who helped win a national championship. But people, to this day, argue Harry was the greatest athlete to ever come out of the Boston area. There's a feeling here about him that's like Ted Williams. People had so much respect for him. He was a Marine, a Red Sox player and an honest kid from Lynn that brought something to the table other than just being an athlete." -- Mike Eruzione, B.U. hockey All-American and 1980 Olympic ice hockey gold medalist
- "Today is a black day in sports. How great would he have been? He might have gone on to break, set or tie many major league records…but as a man, he couldn’t have been greater." -- Sportscaster Bob Gallagher of WNAB radio in Worcester, Massachusetts shortly after Agganis' death
- "A character such as Harry Agganis never dies. He is perpetuated in the hearts of everyone who admires a good man." -- Boston Mayor John Hynes
- "He was of the hardy stock which built this country. He was, as his mother said, an example of how high people can go from nothing." -- Washington Post sports columnist Bob Addie
- "I knew Harry well. It was a surprise when he chose Boston University because he could have gone anywhere. But he wanted to play for Buff Donelli, the great BU coach. He had an exceptional three years at Boston University and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns. But he wanted to pursue a career with the Boston Red Sox. He was already well into an outstanding baseball career when he died. He was a very rare, exceptional athlete who could star in three sports. He started on offense and defense in football. He was the quarterback and played safety. He was a scorer in basketball and a power hitter in baseball. There wasn't anything he couldn't do well. It seems strange to expound on a guy like this but he had that kind of ability. -- Agganis's classmate Jack Kelley, a B.U. hockey legend who served as GM of the NHL's Hartford Whalers and president of the Pittsburgh Penguins
- "Harry was above everyone. In high school, he looked like a college man playing against the boys, and in college, he looked like a pro player going against the collegians. The thing about Harry was that he was such a classy guy. He handled everything about his fame so beautifully. He was an idol -- the Greek god image was an understatement -- but he never let any of it go to his head." -- Dick Lynch, of Lynn and Boston University
- "He had the ultimate confidence in his own ability, but he was not fatheaded." -- Nils Strom, high school and college football teammate
- "When he walked into a room it was like an aura." -- Mary Trank, Red Sox secretary
- "Almost everybody on the North Shore knew him all right. I'll tell you right off: I never heard anybody put the knock on Harry Agganis. There was no question about that. Harry was as charismatic off the field as he was when he was throwing beautiful 60-yard touchdown passes in Manning Bowl. You couldn't take your eyes off him if he walked into a room. It was a real privilege to have seen him play and to have been in his presence." -- Jeremiah Murphy, writer and reporter for the Boston Globe
- "We became immortalized with him. He was a champion above champions, a super player. He was the best of the best and an unbeatable player and an unbeatable person." -- George Smyrnios, who played football against Harry for Peabody (MA) High School
- "Worry not about the Agganis legend. This is one hero whose statue does not have feet of clay. Harry was the real thing, an ideal off the playing fields as well as on them." -- George Sullivan, BU baseball teammate and a Red Sox public relations director
- "He had that unique knack of making you feel you were the most important person in the world to him. He'd walk into a room and the room would just light up." -- Bob Whalen, BU teammate
- "Harry Agganis was one of the greatest." -- Ted Williams
Trivia
- As a youngster his mother called him "Ari," short for Aristotle. His friends later Americanized this into his better-known moniker, Harry.
- He enjoyed attending stage plays and musicals with his girfriend, Jean Allaire, who would go on to a long career on Boston television as the star of Miss Jean's Romper Room.
- When members of Lynn's Greek community held a benefit dinner in Harry's honor, he refused to keep any of the money raised. Instead, he sent it to the small village in Greece near Sparta, where his parents had emigrated from, to purchase sports equipment for its children.
- On September 5, 1954, Agganis hit a triple in the nightcap of a doubleheader. It turned out to be the final three-bagger ever hit at Connie Mack Stadium, as the Athetlics moved to Kansas City prior to the 1955 season.
- Finished 7th in the American League in triples in 1954 with 8.
- Harry is mentioned in Terry Cashman's song "The Ballad of Herb Score"
Transactions
November 28, 1952: Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent.
References & External Links
- Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis
- Agganis Arena memorial page
- The Agganis Foundation
- Baseball Library.com chronology page
- Boston University Sports Hall of Fame page
- National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame page
- Berger, Brian. Legend of Golden Greek lives on 50 years later, MCB Camp Lejeune, 4/04/2005
- Cardamone, Nick. The Legacy of The Golden Greek, The Daily Free Press, 5/01/2002
- Gasper, Christopher. Agganis legend lives, Boston Globe, 6/26/2005
- Hoppel, Joe. A dream unrealized, The Sporting News, 6/24/1996
- Keith, Jean Hennelly. Harry Agganis - The Golden Greek, Advancement (a publication of the Boston University Alumni office), Summer 2002
- McGourty, John. Agganis Arena honors BU great, NHL.com, 3/07/2004
- Montville, Leigh. Ted Williams: Biography of an American Hero, Broadway Press, 2005
- Tsiotis, Nick & Dabilis, Andy. Harry Agganis, The Golden Greek: An All-American Story, Hellenic College Press, 1995
- Wyatt, Hugh. Harry Agganis - The Golden Greek, www.coachwyatt.com
