1923
Born January 30, 1923
Moosup, CT, USA
Walt Dropo Marquee
b. January 30, 1923 · Boston Red Sox 1949–1952, Detroit Tigers 1952–1954, Chicago White Sox 1955–1958, Cincinnati Redlegs 1958–1959, Baltimore Orioles 1959–1961
Walt Dropo's rookie year was one of the loudest in the sport's history: 34 home runs, a league-leading 144 runs batted in, an All-Star selection, and the American League Rookie of the Year award for the 1950 Boston Red Sox. He was twenty-seven.
Nothing after it came close. He was traded to Detroit midway through 1952, and although he tied a major league record that July by collecting twelve consecutive hits, his season totals never again reached even half that rookie RBI figure.
Born in Moosup, Connecticut in 1923, Dropo also played for the White Sox, Cincinnati and Baltimore before finishing in 1961 with 1,113 hits and 152 home runs. He was eighty-seven at his death on December 17, 2010.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 1 | 1950 |
| Baseball Magazine All-Star | 1 | 1950 |
| Rookie of the Year | 1 | 1950 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 1 | 1950 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | BOS | 11 | 41 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 0 | .146 |
| 1950 | BOS | 136 | 559 | 101 | 180 | 28 | 8 | 34 | 144 | 45 | 75 | 0 | .322 |
| 1951 | BOS | 99 | 360 | 37 | 86 | 14 | 0 | 11 | 57 | 38 | 52 | 0 | .239 |
| 1952 | BOS/DET | 152 | 591 | 69 | 163 | 24 | 4 | 29 | 97 | 37 | 85 | 2 | .276 |
| 1953 | DET | 152 | 606 | 61 | 150 | 30 | 3 | 13 | 96 | 29 | 69 | 2 | .248 |
| 1954 | DET | 107 | 320 | 27 | 90 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 44 | 24 | 41 | 0 | .281 |
| 1955 | CHW | 141 | 453 | 55 | 127 | 15 | 2 | 19 | 79 | 42 | 71 | 0 | .280 |
| 1956 | CHW | 125 | 361 | 42 | 96 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 52 | 37 | 51 | 1 | .266 |
| 1957 | CHW | 93 | 223 | 24 | 57 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 49 | 16 | 40 | 0 | .256 |
| 1958 | CHW/CIN | 91 | 214 | 21 | 57 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 39 | 17 | 42 | 0 | .266 |
| 1959 | BAL/CIN | 88 | 190 | 21 | 46 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 23 | 16 | 27 | 0 | .242 |
| 1960 | BAL | 79 | 179 | 16 | 48 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 0 | .268 |
| 1961 | BAL | 14 | 27 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | .259 |
| Career | — | 1288 | 4124 | 478 | 1113 | 168 | 22 | 152 | 704 | 328 | 582 | 5 | .270 |
On this day & linked events
2010
Died December 17, 2010
1949
Major-league debut: Walt Dropo
Walt Dropo made a major-league debut on April 19, 1949.
1961
Final major-league game: Walt Dropo
Walt Dropo played a final major-league game on May 17, 1961.
Image: Bowman Gum, public domain