Hank Soar
{{Short description|American football player (1914–2001)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Hank Soar
| image = Hank Soar.jpg
| number = 15
| position = Running back
Defensive back
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|8|17|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Alton, Rhode Island, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2001|12|24|1914|8|17|mf=y}}
| death_place = Pawtucket, Rhode Island, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 2
| weight_lb = 205
| high_school = Pawtucket (RI)
| college = Providence
| undraftedyear = 1937
| pastteams =
- Boston Shamrocks (1936)
- New York Giants ({{NFL Year|1937|1946}})
| highlights =
| statlabel1 = Rushing yards
| statvalue1 = 1,545
| statlabel2 = Rushing average
| statvalue2 = 3.2
| statlabel3 = Receptions
| statvalue3 = 35
| statlabel4 = Receiving yards
| statvalue4 = 411
| statlabel5 = Total touchdowns
| statvalue5 = 10
| pfr = SoarHa20
}}
Albert Henry Soar (August 17, 1914 – December 24, 2001) was an American football running back and defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) who went on to have a long career as an umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB). Soar played nine seasons for the New York Giants (1937–1944, 1946), and caught the game-winning touchdown pass in the 1938 NFL Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers at the Polo Grounds.{{Cite web |title=Hank Soar Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SoarHa20.htm |access-date=2023-03-20 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Goldstein |first=Richard |date=2001-12-30 |title=Hank Soar, 87, Former Umpire and Football Back, Is Dead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/30/sports/hank-soar-87-former-umpire-and-football-back-is-dead.html |access-date=2023-03-20 |website=The New York Times |language=en-US}}
Early life and career
File:401124-Giants-Redskins-program.jpg
Born in Alton, Rhode Island, Soar later moved to Pawtucket, attending Pawtucket Senior High School (currently William E. Tolman High School) and Providence College. After being named to the Little All-American team, he left college to play semi-pro baseball and pro football, playing for the Boston Shamrocks in 1936.{{cite book|title=The Sporting News Baseball Register|year=1971|pages=533}} He served in the Army during World War II, and his officiating in a baseball game drew the attention of Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack, who recommended him for an umpiring career. After the war, Soar coached the Providence Steamrollers in the Basketball Association of America (now the NBA) in 1947, but the team achieved only a 2–17 record before he was replaced by Nat Hickey. He then became backfield coach for the football team at Rhode Island State College (also known as the University of Rhode Island) from 1947 to 1949.
Umpiring career
After working in the New England League from 1947 to 1949 and the American Association in 1949, Soar became an American League umpire from 1950 to 1972, and as a league supervisor continued to work occasional games as a substitute through 1975 and in 1977–78. He worked in five World Series (1953, 1956, 1962, 1964 and 1969), serving as crew chief for the '69 Series between the New York Mets and the Baltimore Orioles, one of the most famous of all time.
Notable games
Soar was also the first base umpire when Don Larsen of the New York Yankees pitched a perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 Series, and was again at first base on June 1, 1975, when Nolan Ryan of the California Angels pitched his fourth no-hitter to tie Sandy Koufax's major league record. Soar also officiated in four All-Star Games (1952, 1955, second 1959 game, 1963), calling balls and strikes for the last contest, as well as the 1971 American League Championship Series, when he again served as crew chief.
In {{NFL year|1941}}, Soar made a bit of history as one of the first two players ever to be fined by the NFL's league office when commissioner Elmer Layden in August assessed $25 fines on Soar and Green Bay Packers quarterback Larry Craig for fighting.{{cite news|title=Layden Fines Two Pros for Fighting |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DfYaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2820%2C2175016 |access-date=May 20, 2011 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Press |agency=United Press |date=August 26, 1941 |page=18}}
Death
Soar died at age 87 at a family home in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and was buried in Swan Point Cemetery in Providence. He has a memorial marker at Slater Park in Pawtucket next to the tennis courts. The athletic complex on Prospect Street in Pawtucket is named after him.
Head coaching record
{{NBA coach statistics legend}}
{{NBA coach statistics start}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Providence
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1947}}
| 19||2||17||{{Winning percentage|2|17}}|| style="text-align:center;"|(replaced)||—||—||—||—
| style="text-align:center;"|—
{{s-end}}
Source{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/soaral99c.html|title=Albert Soar: Coaching Record, Awards|website=Basketball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|accessdate=8 January 2024}}
See also
{{Portal|American football|Biography|Baseball}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070207070441/http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=SOARHAN01 Database Football]}}
- [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/S/Psoarh901.htm Retrosheet]
- {{Find a Grave}}
{{Providence Steamrollers coach navbox}}
{{1938 New York Giants}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soar, Hank}}
Category:United States Army personnel of World War II
Category:American football defensive backs
Category:American football running backs
Category:American League umpires
Category:American men's basketball coaches
Category:Basketball coaches from Rhode Island
Category:Boston Shamrocks (AFL) players
Category:Major League Baseball umpires
Category:New York Giants players
Category:Providence Friars football players
Category:Providence Steamrollers coaches
Category:Sportspeople from Pawtucket, Rhode Island