A Chicago broadcaster's memories of Tony Conigliaro

In 1967, after years of struggle, the Boston Red Sox were headed toward the fulfillment of an impossible dream, the team's first pennant in 21 years.

A big part of that dream was a 22-year-old right fielder playing for his hometown team.

But the season would end for Tony Conigliaro in a horrible nightmare on Friday, Aug. 18.

In the fourth inning at Fenway Park, during a Red Sox 3-2 victory, the Angels' Jack Hamilton hit Conigliaro with a pitch on the left temple, leaving him sprawled and nearly unconscious at home plate.

Associated Press writer Ron Rapoport, wrote in his recap, "The only hit the California Angels could make for 6 1/3 innings Friday night was one by their pitcher and it's still got the Boston Red Sox plenty worried."

That was putting it mildly. The papers days later carried photographs of Conigliaro swollen eye. The injury was diagnosed as a cracked cheek bone and severe nasal hemorrhage, with doctors predicting the outfielder would be sidelined for three weeks.

But for Conigliaro, the season would be over. He would be deprived of a World Series appearance and miss the entire 1968 campaign as well.

That incident came about a month after a young Massachusetts fan named Tom Shaer began rooting in earnest for the Red Sox.

I spoke with Shaer, best known as a sportscaster in Chicago for 28 years. Before that he was a sportscaster in Boston for six years. Shaer was born and raised in Western Massachusetts, near Springfield and about 80 miles west of Boston. "So that would be like being from Rockford and saying you're from near Chicago."

In 1966, the Red Sox finished in ninth place. Fans were seemingly allergic to Fenway Park, and there was even talk of a new stadium.

But in 1967, with a roster of players for the most part in their early 20s, the Red Sox would pull one of baseball's biggest surprises, spawning what later became known as Red Sox Nation.

"They had a miracle pennant, and that's what turned me into a fan," he said. "They went on a 10-game win streak in July, and that's what really hooked me. And I was an insane baseball fan from that day forward."

Among the catalysts of this sea change was Tony C.

"It played a huge role, because he was from the area. He went to St. Mary's High School in Lynn," close to Boston. "It would be like growing up in Skokie. "And he joined the Red Sox at a very young age."

Indeed, he played his first game at age 19 in 1964 and in his second game on April 17 hit his very first major league home run off the White Sox and pitcher Joel Horlen in Fenway Park in 1964. His 32 homers in 1965 led the league, making him the youngest home run champ in AL history.

"For several years, he was the only exciting player. (Carl) Yastrzemski was a good player. But he was not seen as an exciting player. People thought he was a disappointment. Tony C. was without question the most popular guy. He recorded a couple of rock 'n' roll songs, and they were playing his 45 RPM records on the local rock 'n' roll stations."

One of the songs was "Playing the Field."

In August 1967, the Red Sox were entangled in a four-team pennant race with the Twins, Tigers and White Sox. Tony C. had already banged out 20 homers and driven in 67 when the Red Sox faced the Angels.

Shaer said that shortly before he was beaned, Ted Williams had sent word to Conigliaro to back off the plate.

"It was Aug. 18. I remember that date because it was my cousin's birthday," Shaer said.

Shaer said the game was not televised. "I was listening on the radio to it. Somebody threw a cherry bomb or something out in center field. And there was a huge cloud of smoke. And there was a delay in the game. It took a long time for that to be cleared up. I worked in Boston television years later, and one of the news film cameramen from the TV station, Channel 5, which was the big station in town - they were the Red Sox flagship at the time - he was still shooting the aftermath of the cherry bomb. He did not get film of Tony C. getting hit. The one guy who got it was from Channel 4."

Listening on the radio, Shaer said, "The first thing my father says, 'He's going to be out for the year.' And I'm thinking, 'What are they talking about? No!'

"I have an older sister. She's six years older, and she became a doctor, and she was really upset. And the next day, that's all we were talking about. And a couple days later, there was that famous picture on the front page of the Boston Record-American newspaper with him in the hospital with this black eye, totally swollen. It was just unbelievable."

Later, when the Red Sox reached the World Series, "I remember feeling ripped off in the World Series because we didn't have our best right-handed hitter."

Still, the commissioner allowed Conigliaro to suit up and sit on the bench during the series, which the Red Sox lost to the Cardinals.

Conigliaro would miss the entire 1968 season, only to stage a dramatic comeback in 1969, busting out with 20 home runs and 82 RBI. He announced his return in dramatic fashion during the opener in Baltimore on April 8, when he clubbed a homer in the top of the 10th off Pete Richert in a game the Red Sox won 5-4 in 12 innings.

Shaer, who watched the game on television, said, "We just couldn't believe it. He was supposed to be trying to come back as a pitcher. Next thing you know, he's back in the lineup as a position player."

The next year, he was even more productive, with 36 homers and 116 runs driven in.

But after the 1970 campaign, the Red Sox traded him to the Angels. Shaer said they might have known about his deteriorating eyesight.

"Nobody really knew," Shaer said. He said it wasn't until David Cataneo's biography came out that it was divulged that Red Sox GM Dick O'Connell said although Conigliaro was doing well, there was no sense in anybody fooling themselves - his eyesight wasn't what it used to be.

Shaer remembers asking O'Connell himself about why Conigliaro was traded to the Angels.

"O'Connell always spoke in cryptic terms. You had to kind of decipher what he was saying. But he did say, 'When do you trade an object of public sympathy? After he's had a good year.'"

It wouldn't be until 1975 that the Red Sox reached the World Series again. Tony C. was back with the team for the first two months of the season, but on June 12, after hitting .123 and two home runs in 21 games, he was shipped to Pawtucket, before calling it a career in August. Once again, he missed the postseason, although he covered the 1975 World Series as a sportscaster for a TV station, WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island.

Once again, the dream was deferred. The Red Sox lost the World Series in seven games.