Walt Dropo
Walter Dropo (, 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). Youth Dropo's Serbian parents emigrated from Trebinje, then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now part of Bosnia and Herzegovina), to start a new life. His father, Sava, 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. College career While at the University of Connecticut Dropo played for the football, basketball and baseball teams. His college career was interrupted by World War II, 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