Harry Agganis passed up a professional career with the Cleveland Browns in order to play his favorite sport, baseball, close to his hometown.
18 Facts About Harry Agganis
2.
Harry Agganis signed a bonus baby contract, and after one season playing minor league baseball, he started at first base for the Red Sox.
3.
In 1955, Harry Agganis became gravely ill early in the season and was hospitalized for two weeks for pneumonia.
4.
Harry Agganis rejoined the Red Sox for a single week before being rehospitalized with a viral infection.
5.
Aristotle George Harry Agganis was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, United States, growing up with four brothers and two sisters.
6.
Harry Agganis was a star football and baseball player at Lynn Classical High School as well as a strong student, named "All-Scholastic".
7.
Harry Agganis enrolled at Boston University, where he became a starter, primarily at quarterback.
8.
Harry Agganis became the school's first All-American in football and Boston coach Buff Donelli named Harry Agganis the "greatest football player he ever coached".
9.
Harry Agganis set another Boston University mark by passing for 1,402 yards for the season and won the Bulger Lowe Award as New England's outstanding football player.
10.
At the time of his death, Harry Agganis was spending his off-season at his alma mater as an assistant coach, tutoring Tom Gastall, another quarterback who decided to play professional baseball and died young.
11.
Harry Agganis made his major league debut on April 13,1954.
12.
Harry Agganis had a modest rookie campaign, although he did lead American League first basemen in assists and fielding percentage.
13.
In 1955, Harry Agganis briefly lost his starting position to rookie Norm Zauchin.
14.
Harry Agganis was diagnosed with a viral infection and flown back to Sancta Maria Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where a doctor partially blamed his playing too soon after the first illness.
15.
Harry Agganis was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974.
16.
Harry Agganis Arena is a multipurpose sports facility at Boston University.
17.
The Harry Agganis Stadium located on Camp Lejeune was named in his honor.
18.
The Harry Agganis Foundation has awarded more than $1.1 million in college scholarships to 780 student-athletes from Boston and the North Shore, including Lynn.