Walt Dropo
| Walt Dropo | |||
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Dropo in about 1953.
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| First baseman | |||
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Born: January 30, 1923 Moosup, Connecticut |
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Died: December 17, 2010 (aged 87) Peabody, Massachusetts |
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| MLB debut | |||
| April 19, 1949, for the Boston Red Sox | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| May 17, 1961, for the Baltimore Orioles | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .270 | ||
| Home runs | 152 | ||
| Runs batted in | 704 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Walter Dropo (Serbian: Валтер Дропо, Valter Dropo; January 30, 1923 – December 17, 2010), nicknamed "Moose", was an American college basketball standout and a professional baseball first baseman. During a 13-year career in Major League Baseball, he played for the Boston Red Sox (1949–1952), Detroit Tigers (1952–1954), Chicago White Sox (1955–1958), Cincinnati Redlegs (1958–1959) and Baltimore Orioles (1959–1961).
Dropo's Serbian parents emigrated from Mostar, then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now part of Bosnia and Herzegovina), to start a new life. His father, Savo, worked at the local textile mill while also running their Connecticut family farm. Walter was raised in Moosup, Connecticut, where he played sandlot baseball with his brothers Milton and George, and attended Plainfield High School in the Central Village district of Plainfield, Connecticut, before attending the University of Connecticut.
While at the University of Connecticut Dropo played for the football team, basketball team and baseball team. Dropo left UConn as the school's all-time leading scorer in basketball. Dropo was drafted in the first round of the 1947 BAA Draft by the Providence Steamrollers with the fourth overall pick. Dropo was also drafted by the Chicago Bears in the 9th round of the 1946 NFL Draft.
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