Page 163 - 1975 BoSox

156 ’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL
aches because of the strain to see. ... My search for that damn baseball.”15
When he heard the news that Tony had left the Angels, Billy Conigliaro exploded in the Red Sox clubhouse, telling reporters that the reason for the trade to California in the rst place had been Carl Yastrzemski, that Yaz had all the in uence on the ballclub. “Tony was traded because of one guy — over there,” he charged, indicating Yastrzemski. Yaz “got rid of Pesky, Ken Harrelson, and Tony. I know I’m next. Yaz and Reggie [Smith] are being babied, and the club better do something about it.”16
Billy was part of a major ten-player trade with Milwaukee, but the trade was not made until October. Billy never rejoined the Red Sox. Tony did, but it took a while.
An eye exam Tony underwent after returning to Boston showed that the blind spot in his vision had grown considerably; his vision was deteriorating once more. Tony hadn’t given up yet and in October 1973 talked about wanting to mount another comeback with the Angels in 1974. It appears that the Angels wanted him to play for their Salt Lake City a liate, to see how he worked out, but Tony was past wanting to play for a minor-league team and so stayed retired. Late in 1974, he wrote to the Red Sox asking for another shot at a comeback and GM Dick O’Connell said he could come to spring training, but not at - nancial cost to the Red Sox. If he was willing to pay his own way, he was welcome to give it a try. e Angels graciously granted Tony his outright release in November 1974. e Red Sox o ered him a contract with the Pawtucket Red Sox, which he signed on March 5, 1975.
Tony took up the challenge, and he had an exceptional spring. On April 4 he got word that he had made the big-league team. Opening Day 1975 was four days later, at Fenway Park on April 8, and Tony was the designated hitter, batting cleanup. With two outs and Yaz on rst, Tony singled and Yaz took third. e crowd gave Tony C a three-minute standing ovation. Perhaps Milwaukee pitcher Jim Slaton and his bat-
terymate, Darrell Porter, were caught a little o -guard; the Red Sox scored a run when Tony and Yaz pulled o a double steal.
Tony’s rst home run came three days later, o Mike Cuellar in Baltimore. With a rst-inning single the following day, he drove in another run, but his .200 average after the April 12 game was the highest he posted for the rest of the season. He appeared only in 21 games, for 57 at-bats, and was batting just .123 after the game on June 12. He was hampered by a couple of injuries; it just wasn’t working out. e Red Sox needed to make room on the 25-man roster for newly acquired in elder Denny Doyle and they asked Tony to go to Pawtucket. After thinking it over for a week, he agreed to and reported, traveling with the PawSox, but getting only sporadic playing time. Manager Joe Morgan said, “He had lost those real good re exes,” and teammate Buddy Hunter told David Cataneo, “Any guy who threw real hard, he had trouble with.” Hunter added, “He was dropping easy y balls in the out eld.”17 In August Tony Conigliaro nally called it a day, and retired once again, this time for good. “My body is falling apart,” he explained.18
Before too long, Tony found work as a broadcaster, rst in Providence and then in the San Francisco area. He lost a nice gig in the Bay Area in early 1980, but lled in with other stations. In a life full of setbacks, even the health-food store Tony owned in California was lost to mudslides in December 1981.
In early 1982, though, Tony learned that Ken Harrelson was leaving his job as color commentator with Channel 38 in Boston, the Red Sox station. Now there was a job with appeal! He interviewed for the position on the day he turned 37,January 7,1982. e audition went very well, and he was told he’d got the job. Tony had a couple of other stops to make, and then planned to return to the Bay Area to pack up his gear for the move back to Boston.
OnJanuary9,1982,BillyConigliarowasdrivingTony to Logan Airport when Tony su ered a heart attack in the car. ough rushed to the hospital, Tony su ered irreversible brain damage and was hospitalized for