University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Legend Walt Dropo Passes Away
12/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Photo Gallery Dec. 18, 2010
STORRS, Conn. - Walter (Moose) Dropo, 87, recognized as the greatest three-sports star in University of Connecticut athletic history, died Friday, Dec. 17.
Dropo, affectionately known as the "Moose from Moosup", was born in Moosup, Conn., on January 30, 1923 to the late Mary and Savo Dropo. Dropo attended Plainfield High School graduating in 1941, winning athletic letters in football, baseball, basketball and track.
He attended the University of Connecticut the following fall and remained there until 1943 when he entered the Army. He saw service as a combat engineer in Africa, Italy, France and Germany.
Dropo played football, basketball and baseball for UConn with his college career interrupted by three years of military service.
Dropo completed his college career in 1946-47 as Connecticut's all-time leading scorer in basketball and more than 60 years later still ranks No. 2 all-time at UConn in career scoring average at 20.7 per game. He was a two-time All-New England selection at UConn and also starred on the school's football and baseball teams.
"Walt Dropo was the forerunner of all the great student-athletes we have had here at UConn," says Dee Rowe, UConn's Special Adviser for Athletics. "Wherever he went, he had UConn on his jersey. People around the country knew of UConn because of Walt Dropo. If Walt was here today, he would be talking about how the football team was going to the Fiesta Bowl, the national rankings of the men's and women's basketball team and going to the NCAA baseball tournament last year.
"He was a giant of a man and very proud of his family and heritage. When he walked into a room, he had has this great presence. You knew he was there and he just captured everyone."
Dropo was one of three brothers who traveled from Moosup to the UConn campus---joining brothers Milton and George as athletic stars at Connecticut. Following their graduations, the Dropo brothers were lifelong major benefactors to their alma mater, including establishing the first fully endowed athletic scholarship at Connecticut and being acknowledged as "The First Family of UConn Athletics."
"There is not a baseball player on the UConn team that doesn't learn about the Dropo family's contribution to our program and our University," says current Husky baseball coach Jim Penders. "I am glad I had the pleasure to know Walt and will never forget the first time I shook hands with him when I was a UConn freshman. He said `Ted always told me to me the ball, just meet the ball' and he was referring to his teammate Ted Williams. We were in awe. Our condolences go out to the Dropo family and I bet there are three brothers having a heck of a game of pepper today."
"Walt and his family were very giving people," said Andy Baylock, UConn's former baseball coach (1980-2003), who now serves as the Director of Community and Alumni Development for the Husky football program. "They would do anything for UConn. The three brothers were so close and whenever they came to campus it was very special."
Walt Dropo was a first round draft pick of the Providence Steamrollers (fourth overall pick) in the 1947 pro basketball draft (UConn's first "lottery" pick) and was also drafted as an end in the ninth round of the 1946 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears.
Despite those two professional opportunities, Walt Dropo signed a professional baseball amateur free agent contract with the Boston Red Sox in 1947.
He played in minor leagues starting in 1947 with stops in Scranton of the Eastern League (1947), Birmingham of the Southern League and Louisville of the American Association (1948), Sacramento of the Pacific Coast League (1949). He is a 2007 inductee into the Birmingham Barons Hall of Fame. He led the team to a Dixie Series victory over the Forth Panthers by hitting a co-team-high .359. That mark is still the ninth-highest average recorded by a Barons player in a single season. Among his many Barons highlights was one of the longest home runs at historic Rickwood Field, hit in that same Dixie Series: a 467-foot blast memorialized with a permanent plaque at the field behind the left-centerfield wall.
In 1950, as a 27-year-old rookie first baseman with the Red Sox, Dropo enjoyed one of the greatest rookie seasons in major league history, leading the American League in runs batted in (144) and total bases (326) while batting .322 and hitting 34 home runs. He was second in the AL in home runs, slugging percentage (.583), and extra base hits (70).
Dropo's 1950 season saw him become baseball's first-ever rookie to top 100 RBIs with more RBIs than games played (144 RBI in 136 games).
Walt Dropo became the first Boston Red Sox player ever named American League Rookie of the Year (topping New York Yankee pitcher Whitey Ford in the rookie voting) and he finished sixth in voting for the AL's Most Valuable Player. He was also named to the American League All-Star squad.
A fractured right wrist slowed Dropo's career in 1951 and he never was able to match the remarkable exploits of 1950 during the remainder of his lengthy 13-year major league career.
"Walt Dropo was one of the greatest player the Red Sox had in the post-World War II era," said Dick Bresciani, the Vice President/Publications and Archives for the Red Sox. "He was an outstanding gentleman and did a lot of good things for our organization in the community when his playing days were over. The Red Sox send their condolences to his family."
In 1952, shortly after being traded from the Red Sox to the Detroit Tigers, Walt Dropo tied a major league record that still stands today when he collected 12 hits in consecutive trips to the plate and during that hitting streak he also tied another major league record that is still in place today when he totaled 15 base hits in a four-game span.
In his 13-year major league career, Walt Dropo hit .270, playing in 1,288 games for the Boston Red Sox (1949-52), Detroit Tigers (1952-54), Chicago White Sox (1955-58), Cincinnati Redlegs (1958-59) and the Chicago White Sox (1959-61).
Walt Dropo has repeatedly been honored by his college alma mater.
In 1969, he was a member of an 11-member All-Time football team named by UConn during a celebration of the 100th anniversary of college football. In 1998, Walt Dropo was named to UConn's 100th Anniversary of Connecticut Football All-Time Team.
In 2001, Walt was honored as a member of UConn Basketball's All-Century Team and in 2006 Walt Dropo was part of UConn Basketball's inaugural class of inductees to Connecticut's Huskies of Honor--a program that pays visible tribute in the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion to the top players in UConn basketball history.
In 1951, he had married Elizabeth Wise and together they had three children, Jeffrey, Carla, and Christina. Sadly, Jeffrey passed away in 2008 after a two-year journey with brain cancer. The Dropos made their home in Marblehead, Mass., as Dropo began careers in the financial services industry and then in the import-export business dealing primarily with fireworks. He was passionate about supporting UConn athletics, keeping a strong connection to his Serbian heritage through his affiliation with St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church, and spending many long, enjoyable days golfing at celebrity golf tournaments and with his friends at the Portsmouth Country Club.
Dropo is survived by Elizabeth, his daughters, Carla and her husband Tom Welch of Beverly, Christina and her husband Vladian Hogea of California, and a daughter-in-law Susan Dropo of Sandwich. Carla Dropo is a 1980 UConn graduate and was a student-athlete in women's swimming. She served as a team captain her senior year and worked in the UConn Athletic Development Office.
He is also survived by two sisters, Emily and her husband Roger Harrington of Dayville, Conn., and Zurka Alfieri of Groton, Conn. He was predeceased by his beloved son Jeffrey, brothers Milton and George, and brother-in-law Nicholas Alfieri. Walter also has five grandchildren Jennifer, Elizabeth, and Alexander Dropo of Sandwich, Mass., and Sarah and Nicole Welch of Beverly, Mass., four nieces, Cindy Alfieri of New Jersey, Joanne Alfieri and her husband Eric Wolfe of Connecticut, and Sandy and Dianne Wise of Seattle, Wash., three nephews, Carl of Dayville, Connecticut and Paul Harrington of Brooklyn, Conn., William Wise of Alaska and a grand nephew, Nolan Harrington.
Dropo's funeral service will be held at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church, 41 Alewife Brook Parkway, Cambridge, MA, Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 10 a.m. Relatives and friends are invited to attend. Visiting hours at the Campbell-Lee, Moody, Russell Funeral Home, 525 Cabot St, Beverly, Wednesday, December 22, from 4 to 8 p.m. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Dropos's name to the National Brain Tumor Society, 124 Watertown Street, Suite 2D, Watertown, MA 02472, http:// www.braintumor.org or the Jimmy Fund, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 10 Brookline Place West, 6th Floor, Brookline MA 02445, http://www.JimmyFund.org. Information, directions and condolences at www.campbellfuneral.com.
