Sington, Frederic W.
Football
b. Feb. 24, 1910, Birmingham, AL
One of the biggest players of his era at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, Sington started at tackle for the University of Alabama from 1928 through 1930 and was an All-American as a senior, when Alabama won all 9 of its regular season games and beat Washington State 24-0 in the Rose Bowl.
A Phi Beta Kappa scholar, Sington had starred in baseball, basketball and track as well as football in high school. Although he concentrated on football at Alabama, he entered professional baseball after graduating in 1931 and spent 6 seasons as a reserve outfielder in the major leagues, with the Washington Senators from 1934 through 1937 and the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1938 and 1939. He had a career batting average of .271 in 181 games.
After serving as a U. S. Navy officer during World War II, Sington founded a sporting goods company in his native Birmingham. The business has since expanded into other locations. Sington is a past president and treasurer of the National Sporting Goods Association.