The 1970 season dawned with much promise and a few changes. The Red Sox outfield of Yaz, Reggie Smith and Tony C. once the best young outfield in the game, would see a change.
New Red Sox manager Eddie Kasko began playing gold glove left-fielder Carl Yastrzemski at first base which paved the way for Tony’s younger brother Billy to make an impact as a rookie left-fielder
Billy and Tony C.
You can imagine the excitement in the Conigliaro household with two brothers playing for the home town team. Billy performed admirably, playing the bulk of his games in left field. He saw action in center and right as well; while Tony had the best year of his career.
He had his career highs in home runs and RBI hitting 36 dingers and leading the team with 116 RBI, good enough for second in the American League. Yet things were not quite as they seemed. Tony was still struggling to see the baseball. Later he would say that he couldn’t pick up the spin of the ball until it was almost upon him. When you think about that it adds to the accomplishments of his 1970 season. As a result of the constant strain of simply following the baseball, he was plagued by head aches throughout the year. A fact he kept from anyone and everyone.
Perhaps sensing things were not quite right or simply capitalizing on Conig’s best year, the Red Sox shocked the baseball world when they traded Tony C. to the California Angels during the 1970 World Series. Conigliaro was stunned and the fans were outraged. However, for Red Sox General Manager Dick O’Connell it proved an adroit baseball move.
As hard as it was to believe, Tony Conigliaro was bound for Southern California to wear the uniform of the Angels!
to be continued…..
And so it was on this day in Fenway Park history, October 11, 1970.
About fenwaypark100
Hello and welcome, my name is Raymond Sinibaldi. A retired history teacher, after 26 years in the classroom, a baseball fan for three score and five, I have authored 13 books. Eight about baseball and her glorious history; most recently Yankees in the Hall of Fame and Dodgers in the Hall of Fame. An aficionado of the Kennedy Administration, I have written four books in that realm and also co-authored a book of motivational stories for coaches. The first, The Babe in Red Stockings which was co-authored with Kerry Keene and David Hickey and released in 1997. It is a chronicle of Babe's days with the Red Sox. We also penned a screenplay about Babe's Red Sox days so if any of you are Hollywood inclined or would like to represent us in forwarding that effort feel free to contact me. In 2012 we three amigos published Images of Fenway Park in honor of the 100th birthday of Fenway Park. That led to the creation of this blog. The following year, 2013 came my first solo venture, Spring Training in Bradenton and Sarasota. This is a pictorial history of spring training in those two Florida cities. The spring of 2014 brought forth the 1967 Red Sox, The Impossible Dream Season. The title speaks for itself, and it also is a pictorial history. Many of the photos in this book were never published before. The spring of 2015 brought 1975 Red Sox, American League Champions. Another pictorial effort, this will be about the Red Sox championship season of 1975 and the World Series that restored baseball in America. The spring of 2016 brought 61 Motivational Stories for Every Coach of Every Sport. My first JFK effort was in 2017 with John F Kennedy in New England, which was followed by JFK From Florida to the Moon (2019) and JFK At Rest in Arlington (2020). Jackie's Newport came about in 2019 and in 2023 came both Yankees in the Hall of Fame and Dodgers in the Hall of Fame. I was fortunate enough to consult with sculptor Franc Talarico on the “Jimmy Fund” statue of Ted Williams which stands outside both Fenway Park and Jet Blue Park Fenway South, in Fort Myers Florida. That story is contained in the near 300 posts which are contained herein. Throughout the years this blog has morphed from an exclusive Red Sox focus, to a broader baseball perspective to a blog about life, with baseball a large portion of it. This year, 2024, I have reactivated this blog which lay dormant for quite some time. Welcome aboard, pass the word and feel free to contact me about anything you read or ideas you may have for a topic. Email me at fenwaypark100@gmail.com.
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