Walt Dropo, who played 13 seasons in the majors and won the 1950 American League Rookie of the Year award with the Boston Red Sox, has died. He was 87. Dropo died Friday of natural causes, the University of Connecticut said Saturday in a statement. Dropo, who lived in Peabody, Mass., was a three-sport star at UConn in the 1940s and one of the greatest athletes in school history. In 1950, Dropo beat out New York Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford to win AL Rookie of the Year honors after batting .322 with 34 home runs and a league-best 144 RBIs in 136 games. He also made his only All-Star team that year. "Walt Dropo was one of the greatest players the Red Sox had in the post-World War II era," said Dick Bresciani, the team's vice president of publications and archives. "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." Read more: http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/news/story?id=5934459
