9-20-22: 36 home runs with one eye, oh my!
SAX IN THE MORNING
English - September 20, 2022 08:00 - 5 minutes - 3.82 MB - ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsBaseball Sports Education Self-Improvement los angeles dodgers new york yankees baseball all stars sacramento sports chicago white sox Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Today we talk about the amazing comeback of Tony Conigliaro. “Tony C” burst on to the scene with the Red Sox when he was just a teenager hitting .290 with 24 homers in just 111 games in 1964. In 1965 his 32 home runs made him the youngest home run champion in American League history and by the age of 22 he became the youngest player to reach 100 home runs.
In 1967 he was struck in the face by a pitch. The damage was extensive including several fractures and permanent injury to his retina and vision. But Tony C would not be stopped, he came back in 1969 and hit 20 home runs with 82 RBI and the next year he had a career high 36 home runs despite struggling with the vision in his eye.
Unfortunately his amazing comeback came to an end in 1975 as his vision deteriorated. He succumbed to a number of other health problems and sadly died at the age of 45. But his impact is still felt today as the Tony Conigliaro Award has been given annually since 1990 to a player who has overcome great adversity.
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