Nicknamed "Junior", Dagres batted and threw left-handed, stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg). After a standout career at Newburyport High School, the University of Rhode Island, and amateur baseball, he signed with the Orioles at age 21 on a Sunday morning. A few hours later, he was playing in the Majors. "I saw the lineup, and there I was", he told The Boston Globe in 2011. "I wasn’t even in the scorebook that day." Although Dagres went hitless in two at bats against Kansas City starting pitcher Mike Kume, he knocked in a run in his first Major League plate appearance with a force out, and played errorless ball in the field.\n', '

The highlight of Dagres\' MLB career would come nine days later, when he appeared in both games of a doubleheader on September 20 at Fenway Park, only 30 miles (48 km) from his hometown. Dagres collected two hits in seven at bats, knocked in two runs, and talked hitting with Red Sox superstar Ted Williams, as the Orioles swept both games. All told, Dagres batted 15 times in 1955, scored five runs, and registered four hits. He won praise from Paul Richards, who was the Orioles\' general manager and field manager at the time, and third-base coach Lum Harris.\n', '

"He\'s really a tiger, isn’t he? He hustles from the time he steps on the field," Richards said.\n', '

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