Hank Soar
player of American football (1914-2001)
Albert Henry Soar (August 17, 1914 – December 24, 2001) was an American professional 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.
Early life and career
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. 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.
The public source identifies “Hank Soar” as player of American football (1914-2001). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Hank, Soar and player.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3783044. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1914, 2001, 1937 and 1944.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hank Soar” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.