REVISITING A CLASSIC CUSTOM FROM 2014: MISSING IN ACTION 1972 TONY CONIGLIARO

Let's revisit one of my favorite early "missing" cards from the blog, my 1972 card for Tony Conigliaro of the California Angels, created and posted in December, 2014:

Just a great card to design and actually print up, as part of one of my early "Series" packs a few years back.

Here's the original write-up for that post, which appeared on December 6th of 2014:

A little while back I fulfilled a request for a 1976 Tony Conigliaro card, even though it wasn't on my radar.

Today I'll post up a "Tony C" card that was INDEED on my radar: a "missing" 1972 design. Check it out.

The reason I consider it a missing card, even though Conigliaro didn't play in 1972, was that in 1971 he did suit up in 74 games for the California Angels, good for 292 plate appearances.

For the season he hit .222 with four homers and 15 runs batted in, along with 23 runs scored and 59 total hits.

It is easy to forget that after his beaning in 1967, and missing all of 1968, Conigliaro came back and posted a remarkable return season in 1969, hitting 20 homers, driving in 82, and taking home the American League Comeback Player of the Year Award.

1970 was even more incredible, as he swatted a career high 36 home runs, while driving in 100+ for the only time in his career (116)!

Sadly because of the beaning he suffered eye-troubles and was never the same again, and he was traded to the California Angels with pitcher Ray Jarvis and catcher Jerry Moses for Doug Griffin, Jarvis Tatum and Ken Tatum.

As if that wasn't enough for the poor guy, the true tragedy of the Tony Conigliaro story would be in 1982, when he was about to interview for a broadcasting job in Boston and suffered a catastrophic stroke, leaving him in a vegetative state until his death eight years later in 1990.

Really a sad story that leaves you with the "what if's" of the sports world…

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: TONY CONIGLIARO

On the blog today, we have my "Classic Baseball" custom card for Boston Red Sox young slugger Tony Conigliaro, who was on his way to a wonderful career before his tragic beaning in 1967:

Just a beautiful photograph of the promising right-fielder, who was already a home run champ by the age of 21, two years before a Jack Hamilton pitch to the face derailed his career.

We all know the story by now: "Tony C" was a budding star in the big leagues, leading the league in homers at the young age of 20 in 1965 and building on a career that was making the homegrown player a Boston darling.

But in 1967 he was hit in the face by a Jack Hamilton pitch that permanently derailed his career, eventually playing a single year for the Angels in 1971 before leaving the game for three years before making a dramatic "comeback" in 1975.

That season he appeared in only 21 games, good for 69 plate appearances. But it was an emotional return of sorts for Conigliaro, even if it would be the last games of his career, forcing him to retire at the age of 30.

Since he actually appeared in those final games during the 1975 season, I figured a 1976 card for him was more appropriate.

It is easy to forget that after his beaning in 1967, and missing all of 1968, Conigliaro came back and posted a remarkable return season in 1969, hitting 20 homers, driving in 82, and taking home the American League Comeback Player of the Year Award.

1970 was even more incredible, as he swatted a career high 36 home runs, while driving in 100+ for the only time in his career (116)!

Sadly because of the beaning he suffered eye-troubles and was never the same again, and he was traded to the California Angels with pitcher Ray Jarvis and catcher Jerry Moses for Doug Griffin, Jarvis Tatum and Ken Tatum.

As if that wasn't enough for the poor guy, the true tragedy of the Tony Conigliaro story would be in 1982, when he was about to interview for a broadcasting job in Boston and suffered a catastrophic stroke, leaving him in a vegetative state until his death eight years later in 1990.

Really a sad story that leaves you with the "what if's" of the sports world…

BASEBALL BROTHERS- TONY AND BILLY CONIGLIARO

The next “Baseball Brothers” card is a 1972 version featuring Boston favorites Tony and Billy Conigliaro, though Tony was now in California as an Angels player trying to resurrect his career marked my tragedy:

Older brother Tony, once a bright and shining star for the Boston Red Sox in the mid-60’s until he was struck in the face by a pitch, managed to make his way back to the Major Leagues after such a terrible event, and even had another great season in 1970 when he slammed 36 home runs and drove in 116 runs, both career highs.
Incredible to think when considering the damage to his eye-sight after his gruesome injury.
But sadly the vision problems he sustained from the beaning came back, curtailing any hope for an extended comeback after such a promising 1970 season.
He would play in 74 games for California in 1971 before struggling to make it back to the big leagues in 1975 with his hometown Red Sox.
But he’d only play in 21 games that season, ending what could have been a great Major League career.
As for younger brother Billy,  after a promising rookie year in 1970 that saw him slam 18 home runs while batting .271 in only 114 games, he could never quite match that production again, finding himself with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1972 and the Oakland A’s in 1973, playing a total of 100 games combined those two seasons before finding himself out of baseball for good.
The “Tony C” story is especially tragic considering that he also passed away at such a young age (45) in 1990, leaving many to feel that the poor guy could not catch a break not only in the game, but in life as well.

MISSING IN ACTION-"IN ACTION" #53: 1972 TONY CONIGLIARO

Here’s a card that I’ve created as a special request, a “missing” In-Action card in the 1972 Topps set for “Tony C”, Tony Conigliaro of the California Angels:

About as tragic a baseball figure as you can come across, Conigliaro was well on his way to a brilliant career before being hit in the face with a pitch in 1967 at the age of only 22.
By the time 1971 came around he found himself as a member of the Angels, trying to come back.
He appeared in 74 games, hitting .222 with four homers over 266 at-bats while playing the outfield, but the vision problems he suffered because of the injury came back, cutting short what could have a great career in the big leagues.
He did manage to make it back in 1975 with his original team, the Red Sox, for 21 games, but it didn’t work out as he hit .123 in that time, thus ending his career for good.
Sadly, even post-career his life was tragic, as he passed away at the young age of 45 in 1990 after suffering a heart attack and stroke eight years earlier.
RIP “Tony C”.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 TONY CONIGLIARO

A little while back I fulfilled a request for a 1976 Tony Conigliaro card, even though it wasn't on my radar.

Today I'll post up a "Tony C" card that was INDEED on my radar: a "missing" 1972 design. Check it out:

The reason I consider it a missing card, even though Conigliaro didn't play in 1972, was that in 1971 he did suit up in 74 games for the California Angels, good for 292 plate appearances.

For the season he hit .222 with four homers and 15 runs batted in, along with 23 runs scored and 59 total hits.

Sadly for him, the horrific injuries he sustained from his beaning back in 1967 got worse, especially his eyesight, and except for a handful of games in 1975 for his "hometown" Boston Red Sox, his career was cut short.

SPECIAL REQUEST- 1976 TONY CONIGLIARO

A while back, someone (I think it was Johnny Cabrera), mentioned that I should create a 1975 Tony Conigliaro card.

Well, what I decided to do was design a 1976 "Career Capper" card for the former Red Sox slugger who had both a tragic baseball career, and life in general.

Take a look:

Let me tell you, trying to find a usable image of Tony during his handful of 1975 games (with the Red cap the Red Sox featured that year) was a tough one. I found an image and had to "play" with it for a while to make it happen here.

I was really hoping for an in-game image of him that season. Oh well, if I ever find one I'll redo this card.

We all know the story: "Tony C" was a budding star in the big leagues, leading the league in homers at the young age of 20 in 1965 and building on a career that was making the homegrown player a Boston darling.

But in 1967 he was hit in the face by a Jack Hamilton pitch that permanently derailed his career, eventually playing a single year for the Angels in 1971 before leaving the game for three years before making a dramatic "comeback" in 1975.

That season he appeared in only 21 games, good for 69 plate appearances. But it was an emotional return of sorts for Conigliaro, even if it would be the last games of his career, forcing him to retire at the age of 30.

Since he actually appeared in those final games during the 1975 season, I figured a 1976 card for him was more appropriate.

It is easy to forget that after his beaning in 1967, and missing all of 1968, Conigliaro came back and posted a remarkable return season in 1969, hitting 20 homers, driving in 82, and taking home the American League Comeback Player of the Year Award.

1970 was even more incredible, as he swatted a career high 36 home runs, while driving in 100+ for the only time in his career (116)!

Sadly because of the beaning he suffered eye-troubles and was never the same again, and he was traded to the California Angels with pitcher Ray Jarvis and catcher Jerry Moses for Doug Griffin, Jarvis Tatum and Ken Tatum.

As if that wasn't enough for the poor guy, the true tragedy of the Tony Conigliaro story would be in 1982, when he was about to interview for a broadcasting job in Boston and suffered a catastrophic stroke, leaving him in a vegetative state until his death eight years later in 1990.

Really a sad story that leaves you with the "what if's" of the sports world…