Walter Dropo (, ''Valter Dropo''; January 30, 1923 – December 17, 2010), nicknamed "Moose", was an American college basketball standout and a professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. During a 13-year career in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

, he played for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

(1949–1952),

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

(1952–1954),

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

(1955–1958), Cincinnati Redlegs (1958–1959) and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

(1959–1961).

Youth

Dropo's Serbian parents emigrated from

Trebinje Trebinje ( sr-Cyrl, Требиње, ) is a city and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the southernmost city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is situated on the banks of the Trebišnjica river in the region of East Her ...

, then part of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

(now part of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

), to start a new life. His father, Sava, worked at the local textile mill while also running their

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

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 Plainfield is a New England town, town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 14,973 at the 2020 U ...

, before attending the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

College career

While at the

Dropo played for the football, basketball and baseball teams. His college career was interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and he served three years in the Army, including combat in Europe. 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 The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in the 9th round of the 1946 NFL draft.

Professional career

Listed at 6'5", 220 lb (100 kg), Walter turned down offers from the Bears and the Providence Steamrollers, in order to sign with the Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 1947. He debuted on April 19, 1949, and in 11 games batted .146 (6-for-41). Before that, he played first base briefly for the Red Sox farm team the Birmingham, Ala. Barons of the Southern Association double-A League. In 1950, Dropo led the league in RBIs (144) and

total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hit (baseball), hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single (baseball), single, 2 for a double (baseball), double, 3 for a triple (baseball), triple and 4 ...

(326), while batting .322 and hitting 34

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, (second only to Al Rosen 37). In addition, his .583

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

and 70 extra base hits were second only to the .585 – 75 of

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...

, and his .961 OPS finished third in the league, after

Larry Doby Lawrence Eugene Doby (December 13, 1923 – June 18, 2003) was an American professional baseball player in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB) who was the second black player to break baseball color line, bas ...

(.986) and DiMaggio (.979). His efforts that season led to his only

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

appearance. Dropo won the American League Rookie of the Year award in 1950, becoming the first Red Sox player to receive the award. In winning the award, he beat future Hall of Famer

Whitey Ford Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford (October 21, 1928 – October 8, 2020), nicknamed "the Chairman of the Board", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played his entire 16-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees. ...

, who finished second in balloting. Furthermore, Dropo finished sixth in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

award. In 1951, Dropo fractured his right wrist and never had another season the equal of his 1950 campaign. After another one-plus season, he was traded to Detroit on June 3, 1952. After being traded, he collected 12 consecutive

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

to tie the MLB record. Included in the streak was a 5-for-5 game against the Yankees (July 14) and a 4-for-4 performance in the first game of a doubleheader against Washington (July 15). In the second game, he went 4-for-5, hitting on his first three at bats and popping out on his fourth at bat on the 7th inning, matching an

record of 15 hits in four games. In that season, he hit a combined 29 home runs and 97 RBIs, but would never again hit over 19 homers (1955) or bat over .281 (1954). In a 13-season career, Dropo batted .270 (1,113-for-4,124) with 152 home runs, 704 RBIs, 478 runs, 168 doubles, 22 triples and five

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s in 1,288 games. Defensively, in 1,174 games as a first baseman, he compiled a .992

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

Career highlights

* Rookie of the Year (1950) * All-Star (1950) * Top 10 MVP (sixth, 1950) * Led league in RBIs (144, 1950) * Led league in total bases (326, 1950) * Tied an MLB record with 12 consecutive at-bats with a hit (July 15, 1952) * Tied an MLB record with 12 consecutive plate appearances with a hit (July 15, 1952) * Tied an AL record with 15 hits in four games (July 16, 1952) * Dropo was the first rookie to top 100 RBIs with more RBIs than games played (144 in 136 games, 1950) * Red Sox rookie record for home runs in a season, with 34. * The first Red Sox player to be named the American League Rookie of the Year, followed by

Don Schwall Donald Bernard Schwall (born March 2, 1936) is an American former professional baseball pitcher player who played seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Initially drafted by the Boston Red Sox, he spent four seasons with the Pittsburgh Pir ...

(1961), Carlton Fisk (1972),

Fred Lynn Fredric Michael Lynn (born February 3, 1952) is an American former professional baseball center fielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), mostly with the Boston Red Sox and the California Angels. He was the first player to wi ...

(1975),

Nomar Garciaparra Anthony Nomar Garciaparra (; born July 23, 1973) is an American former Major League Baseball player and current SportsNet LA analyst. After playing parts of nine seasons as an All-Star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, he played shortstop, Third ...

(1997), and Dustin Pedroia (2007).

Later life and death

After baseball, Dropo worked in insurance, investment brokering, the Dropo family fireworks business, and in real estate development. He was long active in University of Connecticut alumni affairs, and his family established the university's first fully endowed scholarship. Dropo died of natural causes on December 17, 2010, at the age of 87. His funeral service was held at the Serbian Orthodox Church he helped found at 41 Alewife Brook Parkway,

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. He was laid to rest at Evergreen Cemetery in Plainfield, Connecticut.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dropo, Walt 1923 births 2010 deaths American League All-Stars American League RBI champions American men's basketball players American people of Serbian descent Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Windham County, Connecticut Birmingham Barons players Boston Red Sox players Chicago White Sox players Cincinnati Redlegs players Detroit Tigers players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Sportspeople from Marblehead, Massachusetts People from Plainfield, Connecticut Providence Steamrollers draft picks Sacramento Solons players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Scranton Red Sox players Baseball players from Essex County, Massachusetts UConn Huskies baseball players UConn Huskies football players UConn Huskies men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen