Harry Agganis
Baseball · Hometown: Lynn, MA
- High school
- Lynn English High School
- College
- Boston University
- Pro team(s)
- Boston Red Sox
Harry Agganis — "The Golden Greek" — was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, and is one of the most beloved figures in New England sports history, a talent so extraordinary that his premature death at 26 made him a legend. At Lynn English High School he was an All-American quarterback pursued by every major college football program. He chose Boston University, where he became one of the most celebrated college football players in New England history before the Cleveland Browns drafted him in the first round of the 1952 NFL Draft. Instead, he signed with the Boston Red Sox, and in his first full season in 1954 he hit .281 with 11 home runs at age 24. In June 1955, after being hospitalized for pneumonia and a pulmonary embolism, Agganis died — one of the most devastating losses ever to befall a Massachusetts athlete. He was 26 years old.