What happened to Tony Conigliaro?

RonBurgundy

I'm talking about him getting hit by a pitch. I'm talking about him raking for 36 homers in 1970, well after his beaning, then basically disappearing after that. Anyone know?



Thanks,


Ron

Yankeeefan

The beaning left him temporarily blind in one eye. He did come back the next season (or the season after that) and had a couple of good yrs. I think after that big year in 70, his eyesight worsened and he was out of the game in 72. He tried a comeback in 75 or 76, but it didn't last long.

Carew29

He played for the Angels in 71' as i started in on my little league career. He left that season. As we were 10 and 11 at the time growing up in the neighborhood, we all thought back then that he had the coolest name. If i recall he tried a comeback in 75' but the eyes were too damaged.

I believe he had a heart attack on the way to someplace, as i remember his brother was with him at the time.

Griffins

He died Feb 24th, 1990.

The Angels were a mess the year he tried to come back. Alex Johnson fell apart emotionally the season after winning the batting championship, I think he pulled gun on his teammate and friend Chico Ruiz. Ruiz was killed in a car accident soon after, the manager got fired, the team totally fell apart. Sad story, I think his eyesight in his good eye was going downhill.

mojorob

His eye sight in his injured eye worsened and that was it for his baseball career.
He tried sportscasting after that and died of a heart attack at around 40 years of age I believe.
Kind of a tragic figure.

Cokin75

What a tragic figure. Probably would have been a hall of famer if not for the beaning. If that wasn't bad enough luck, he had the heart attack in his 30's and was pretty much an invalid thereafter until he died in his 40's. Too bad.

Stone193

Ron

I wrote a piece on Tony C. about 2 yrs ago - after watching a segment on HBO - here's the link to my thread.

It's one of the more tragic stories in ML baseball IMO. A career that should've gone on forever - cut way too short by an errant pitch!

If he had played 15 yrs or so? He would be a household name fer sure!



Boston fans will NEVER forget this man.
mike

storm888

"It's one of the more tragic stories in ML baseball IMO. "

//////////////////////////////////////////////

VERY sad.

WinPitcher

Tony C the youngest to ever win the AL homerun crown.

1965 age 20 he hit 32 homers to lead the league.

after missing the entire 68 season he came back and had 2 decent years.

he also played in 1975 for the Red Sox.

he died 17 years ago? wow............time flies


Steve


Tony C

Ironmanfan

I know he tried actually coming back as a pitcher at one point

dude

I was watching ESPN Classic about three years ago and they showed "Woodie's World" with Haywood Hale Broun from the early '70s and he did a 10 minute piece on Tony C. Ironmanfan is correct in that he tried to comeback as a pitcher and that failed too.

RipublicaninMass

I believe he did die as a result of "complications" of that injury as well

scooter729

And I believe he still has the record for youngest man to hit 100 homers in his career.

MooseDog

Tony C. did a stint as a sports anchor for one of our local news shows in the San Francisco area. If I remember correctly he was as good or better than most we've had around here. After he left the Bay Area he had a heart attack and lapsed into a coma for a while and I guess he never fully recovered from it.

Tony had it all, talent, good looks, and as one other poster put it a "cool name". By all accounts he was well liked by everyone he came in contact with. But maybe you really can't have it all as after he got beaned he certainly had his share of bad luck.

Baseball has a Tony Conigliaro award given to a player who overcomes adversity. It's a fitting tribute.

BobaFett72

Definitely cut short an incredibly promising career. Still a legend in these parts (new England)

RipublicaninMass

<< <i>Definitely cut short an incredibly promising career. Still a legend in these parts (new England) >>


Put him up there with Harry Agganis, another sad story in Boston sports

Stingray

Read somewhere, back of a Topps 69 card, that he actually had made some rock albums!!

WinPitcher

And I believe he still has the record for youngest man to hit 100 homers in his career.


Not sure but I think Andruw Jones topped it.


Maybe not, on second thought. Both were 22 when they did it, I think Tony C has him by months.

Steve

CON40

Tony's life was even more tragic than the beaning and loss of eyesight... here's a very quick recap of the last 8 years of his life which were largely spent in a coma.

(From Wikipedia)
On January 3, 1982 Conigliaro, in Boston to interview for a broadcasting position, suffered a heart attack while being driven to the airport by his brother Billy, and lapsed into a coma. Conigliaro never completely recovered. Eight years later, he died in Salem, Massachusetts at 45 years of age. In commemoration, the Red Sox wore black armbands that season.

Bosox1976

I've always thought that Tony C's 1975 comeback cost Rice the ROY over Fred Lynn and maybe the HOF. The broken hand at the end of the season was probably just as unfortunate - as he might have made the difference in the 7 game, evenly matched WS against the Big Red Machine. Either end of the season may have made his numbers enough to pass Lynn. And with either a ROY or the Sox winning the 75 WS, Rice would likely be in the HOF by now. Just one old Sox fan's opinion - but an interesting footnote on Tony C.'s comeback. (As I recall he had a monster spring training - so he earned his spot over Rice, and so Rice didn't start in left until July (still finished 2nd in ROY)).

edited for typos

Jayssan

Reading this thread brought back some memories!

I was I guess about 14 when I met Tony C....he was playing for the Pawtucket Red Sox, here in Rhode Island.

Going to Pawsox games was always a treat (and still is). Great seats,low prices, autograph opportunities galore.

When I was a kid I was lucky enough to go there quite a bit, and met Conigliaro after a game.

He pretty much shoved me out of the way, and my dad god bless him, was mad! My dad wanted to hit him....can you imagine the news that would have made?


I understand now as an adult that Tony C was probably under a lot of stress trying to make a comeback,and was also probably sick of excited kids asking for autographs all the time, still? Pushing a kid wasnt cool, not then not now.

I also remember him as a sportscaster here for a while and if memory serves correctly, he was pretty awkard.

Poor guy....he could have been a great one perhaps if luck had been kinder to him, what a swing he had!

WinPitcher

Mike

That is a stretch IMO, Rice played in 144 games that season and was atbat 564 times. Almost a full season. He may not have made it to left field til July but he did DH almost from the git go.

Sorry I ain't buying it. That is if I even understood your point! Are you saying Tony C kept Rice from the Hall and ROY or a broken hand or both?


Steve

Bosox1976

Not saying Tony C kept Jim Ed out of the HOF - saying the missed games (including playoffs and very, very close and highly visible WS) might have changed things dramatically for Rice's HOF candidacy. Even though he played in 144 games, he was not a starter until July (Tony C was - i.e. platoon, pinch hitter, runner, etc.). 100 more at bats might have moved his stats ahead of Lynn's. A ROY or a Ring might have tipped his scales for the HOF. Kind of a ripple effect, I guess.

Ironic that Tony C's potentially HOF career was cut short due to a beanball, and Jim Rice's banner rookie season was cut short by a guy coming back from a beanball and a beanball that broke his own hand. I guess my point is more of a "what if" scenario.

Don't want to take anything away from Tony C (even a comeback attempt). He earned it. May have been the most popular Red Sox player ever if he continued at his early pace.