Гарри Агганис: «Алтын грек» споршының өмірі мен трагедиясы

American football and baseball player (1929–1955)

Aristotle George "Harry" Agganis (April 20, 1929 – June 27, 1955), nicknamed "The Golden Greek", was an American college football player and professional baseball player. After passing up a potential professional football career, he played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1954 to 1955 for the Boston Red Sox. Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, to Greek immigrants Georgios Agganis and Georgia Papalimperis, Agganis first gained notice as a college football player at Boston University, becoming its first student named All American. He passed up a professional career with the Cleveland Browns in order to play his favorite sport, baseball, close to his hometown. He signed a bonus baby contract, and after one season playing minor league baseball, he started at first base for the Red Sox. In 1955, Agganis became gravely ill early in the season and was hospitalized for two weeks for pneumonia. He rejoined the Red Sox for a single week before being rehospitalized with a viral infection. After showing some signs of recovery, he died of a pulmonary embolism on June 27.

Aristotle George Agganis (Αριστοτέλης Γεώργιος Αγγάνης) was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, United States, growing up with four brothers and two sisters.

Agganis enrolled at Boston University, where he became a starter, primarily at quarterback. After his sophomore season in 1949, when he set a school record by tossing fifteen touchdown passes, he entered the Marine Corps. Agganis played for the Camp Lejeune (N. C.) football and baseball teams. He received a dependency discharge from the Marines to support his mother and returned to college to play in 1951–52. Around the same time, Agganis was participating in summer baseball leagues in Augusta, Maine. Agganis became the school's first All American in football and Boston coach Buff Donelli named Agganis the "greatest football player he ever coached". He also played basketball and baseball in the school.

In 1955, Agganis briefly lost his starting position to rookie Norm Zauchin. American League president Will Harridge said his office was "saddened and shocked", and Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey said he was "stunned", calling Agganis "a man of great character". Gaffney Street, near the former site of Braves Field in Boston, was renamed Harry Agganis Way in 1995. Agganis Arena is a multipurpose sports facility at Boston University. The Harry Agganis Stadium located on Camp Lejeune was named in his honor. The Agganis Foundation has awarded more than $1.1 million in college scholarships to 780 student athletes from Boston and the North Shore, including Lynn. Scholarships are awarded for academic and athletic achievement. The Foundation was started in 1955 by the Boston Red Sox and owner Thomas A. Yawkey, the (Lynn) Daily Item newspaper and Harold O. Zimman, a mentor of Agganis for whom the football field at Tufts University is named. According to an episode of The Extraordinary, which retells stories of people's supernatural experiences, actor Telly Savalas unknowingly met a ghost who said he knew a player from the Boston Red Sox, and the next day Telly saw in the newspaper headlines that a 26 year old player had died of mysterious circumstances.