A brilliant athlete and a New England favorite, Agganis was a baseball and football star at Lynn Classical H.S. and Boston University, making All-American as a quarterback. He signed for a reported $35,000 with the Red Sox and after only one minor league season jumped to the majors. His death of leukemia during the 1955 season set Boston hopes for the future back for several seasons. A good fielder who led AL first basemen in assists in 1954, he had 11 HR in 434 at-bats in his rookie season and was hitting .313 at the time of his death.
