Tont Conigliaro -- A Life To Short.
Tony Conigliaro was the quintessential Boston ballplayer. Born in Revere, Massachusetts toward the end of World War II, Conigliaro rose rapidly to stardom.
His handsome face and raw talent made New England women swoon. Ascending to the major leagues just a year after signing a contract with the Red Sox in 1963, Tony C wasted no time finding a niche in baseball.
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He hit a home run in his first major league game. For the season, he hit .290 with 24 home runs over the first five months, but after breaking his arm in August, he saw the Rookie of the Year award go to Minnesota's Tony Oliva. When Conigliaro hit 32 homers the following season, he become, at age 20, the youngest home run champion in the history of the American League. He had also become the youngest person to reach 100 homers.
Off the field, Tony C's popularity allowed him to pursue another interest: singing! He cut several records on the RCA and Penn Tone labels.
But Tony C's life would never be the same after August 18, 1967. During a night game at Fenway Park, Conigliaro was hit in the face by a fastball from California Angels' pitcher Jack Hamilton. He suffered a broken cheekbone and temporarily lost the sight in his left eye, causing him to miss the 1968 season.
Conigliaro returned in 1969, winning the Comeback Player of the Year award. In '70, he belted 36 homers and it appeared, his career was back on track. But vision problems continued to bother him and he left the big leagues in 1971. He attempted a brief comeback in 1975 but it failed.
In 1982, Conigliaro suffered a heart attack while returning from an audition for the Red Sox telecasts. He was never the same and on February 24, 1990, this seemingly indestructible hero died.
http://wiwi.essortment.com/biographytonyc_rtdv.htm
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Tony Conigliaro was the quintessential Boston ballplayer. Born in Revere, Massachusetts toward the end of World War II, Conigliaro rose rapidly to stardom.
His handsome face and raw talent made New England women swoon. Ascending to the major leagues just a year after signing a contract with the Red Sox in 1963, Tony C wasted no time finding a niche in baseball.
<TABLE border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=txt>
He hit a home run in his first major league game. For the season, he hit .290 with 24 home runs over the first five months, but after breaking his arm in August, he saw the Rookie of the Year award go to Minnesota's Tony Oliva. When Conigliaro hit 32 homers the following season, he become, at age 20, the youngest home run champion in the history of the American League. He had also become the youngest person to reach 100 homers.
Off the field, Tony C's popularity allowed him to pursue another interest: singing! He cut several records on the RCA and Penn Tone labels.
But Tony C's life would never be the same after August 18, 1967. During a night game at Fenway Park, Conigliaro was hit in the face by a fastball from California Angels' pitcher Jack Hamilton. He suffered a broken cheekbone and temporarily lost the sight in his left eye, causing him to miss the 1968 season.
Conigliaro returned in 1969, winning the Comeback Player of the Year award. In '70, he belted 36 homers and it appeared, his career was back on track. But vision problems continued to bother him and he left the big leagues in 1971. He attempted a brief comeback in 1975 but it failed.
In 1982, Conigliaro suffered a heart attack while returning from an audition for the Red Sox telecasts. He was never the same and on February 24, 1990, this seemingly indestructible hero died.
http://wiwi.essortment.com/biographytonyc_rtdv.htm
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acutally a very enjoyable era ....
guys played hard and stayed with the same team and name 2 tougher guys to face than Gibson and Drysdale ... Frank Robinson was as tough as they come and 68: Gibson's 1.12 ERA and Yaz wins the AL batting title with I believe a .301 mark (and I think he won the triple crown the year before in the best race I've ever seen)
World Series were played in the daytime and it was just a more realistic and enjoyable era of baseball for me
guys played hard and stayed with the same team and name 2 tougher guys to face than Gibson and Drysdale ... Frank Robinson was as tough as they come and 68: Gibson's 1.12 ERA and Yaz wins the AL batting title with I believe a .301 mark (and I think he won the triple crown the year before in the best race I've ever seen)
World Series were played in the daytime and it was just a more realistic and enjoyable era of baseball for me
Forgot about Banks, McCovey and the year of 69 when Cubbies fans committed suicide ...
what a great team and how the hell they blew that lead still probably makes Durocher flip over in his grave ... damn, Billy Williams, Santo, Kessinger, Banks, Beckert, Hundley, Jenkins, Holtzman, Hands, etc and the lead dissolved in August
I can still remember that black cat walking out at Shea Stadium ... lets see, Jack Brickhouse did the play by play for the Cubbies and his color man was Lou Bouderau if I remember correctly
The 60s ... faboulous time for baseball
what a great team and how the hell they blew that lead still probably makes Durocher flip over in his grave ... damn, Billy Williams, Santo, Kessinger, Banks, Beckert, Hundley, Jenkins, Holtzman, Hands, etc and the lead dissolved in August
I can still remember that black cat walking out at Shea Stadium ... lets see, Jack Brickhouse did the play by play for the Cubbies and his color man was Lou Bouderau if I remember correctly
The 60s ... faboulous time for baseball
doc mercer said:
Ditto. I won't say the athletes then were better than the athletes of today, but the games were more fun. All the games, IMO, not just baseball. Football was played outside, in all the elements, on real grass and you could actually tackle the quarterback without a penalty, basketball had some legendary teams and boxing was held in smoke-filled arenas. The games of today, while still enjoyable to watch, are a bit sterile and at times are dictated by the officials, whom are now as much of the game as the players.
and PLEASE .....
Put Ron Santo in the damn HOF ... cant believe the man is not in the HOF and he will probably pass before they do the right thing:
Ron Santo
=========
All-Star - 9 times
Gold Gloves - 5 times
342 Career Home Runs
.277 Batting Average
.954 fielding percentage
15 seasons
Brooks Robinson
==============
All-Star - 15 times
Gold Gloves - 16 times
268 career home runs
.267 batting avg
.971 fielding percentage
23 seasons
Put Ron Santo in the damn HOF ... cant believe the man is not in the HOF and he will probably pass before they do the right thing:
Ron Santo
=========
All-Star - 9 times
Gold Gloves - 5 times
342 Career Home Runs
.277 Batting Average
.954 fielding percentage
15 seasons
Brooks Robinson
==============
All-Star - 15 times
Gold Gloves - 16 times
268 career home runs
.267 batting avg
.971 fielding percentage
23 seasons
doc mercer said:
Thanks for the GREAT memories,Doc! Once upon a time I LOVED baseball! NO MORE. Once upon a time I LOVED pro football. No More. Once upon a time I loved the NBA. No More. Once upon a time I loved college football. I now love college football even MORE! The ramblings of an older man wishing for his long lost youth. "It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all" LT
doc mercer said:
Ah!!!! Right on........Can remember sitting in the bleachers in Left field in old Connie Mack Stadium watching a kid with raw speed diving to make a catch one day while the Cubs were playing the Phils. I said to myself that day, "boy that kid can fly". The kid in right field was Lou Brock. Every team has made their share of mistakes in evaluating their young talent.
Can still remember that pitching duel between Chris Short and Koufax and big Frank Howard hitting that 2-run homer on the sign on top of the bleachers in left field. Those were the days when it took a trade to move ANY player in baseball. Bet most of the young ones in this forum don't even recall or know about the year that both Koufax and Drysdale held out for a mere amount of salary of $100,000. Now they pay the equipment and clubhouse managers more than that.
My father was a big Giants fan before they moved west. My old man used
to take me to Connie Mack whenever the Giants were in town. Got to see Mays, McCOVEY, and the Alous. I LOVED baseball back in the sixties along
with the old time ballparks like Crosley, Forbes, and Memorial. What an era to
enjoy baseball.
to take me to Connie Mack whenever the Giants were in town. Got to see Mays, McCOVEY, and the Alous. I LOVED baseball back in the sixties along
with the old time ballparks like Crosley, Forbes, and Memorial. What an era to
enjoy baseball.
VIEJO DINOSAUR said:
NEVER got to see any of the old parks in person back then, but I lived at Connie Mack with John Callison pulling those shots off of that high metal wall in right and leading the league in assists with his gun arm. Do you remember the big Longine's clock in right center high up on that wall? They built that wall in right because people used to sit on the roofs on Somerset Street and charge other people for those seats on the roof during the era of the A's
I can remember the cover of Sport Magazine when they had Seaver and Bench on the cover asking who would be the first player in MLB to make 100k in one year ...
How bout Marichal and that leg kick and hitting Roseboro over the head with that bat???
McClain winning 31 games in 68 and the Cardinals blowing that lead and I think ol Mickey Lolich might have been the pitching hero for the Tigers of Willie Horton, Norm Cash, Bill Freehan, etc
Just a wonderful era of baseball and SHITTTTT .... we have not mentioned Sandy Koufax????? and NO ONE in my lifetime could match the gun that Clemente had in RF for the Pirates ... what an absolute gem of a ballplayer
How bout Marichal and that leg kick and hitting Roseboro over the head with that bat???
McClain winning 31 games in 68 and the Cardinals blowing that lead and I think ol Mickey Lolich might have been the pitching hero for the Tigers of Willie Horton, Norm Cash, Bill Freehan, etc
Just a wonderful era of baseball and SHITTTTT .... we have not mentioned Sandy Koufax????? and NO ONE in my lifetime could match the gun that Clemente had in RF for the Pirates ... what an absolute gem of a ballplayer
