Tony Conigliaro Award

The Tony Conigliaro Award is a national award instituted in 1990 by the Boston Red Sox to honor the memory of their former star Tony Conigliaro. It is given annually to a Major League Baseball player who best overcomes an obstacle and adversity through the attributes of spirit, determination and courage that were trademarks of Conigliaro. His promising career was tragically shortened when he was hit in the face by a pitch at Fenway Park on August 18, 1967. After missing the rest of the 67 season and all of 1968, he made a dramatic comeback in 1969 homering on opening day, he hit 20 home runs in 1969 and won come back player of the year, the following season he had career highs in home runs 36, and RBIs 116, but vision problems continued to persist, his performance fell off and he was never the same player.

A special panel is composed of the media, representatives of the commissioner and the two leagues' offices. Tony's brothers Billy and Richie, and a fan, make the selection. Announcement of the award is made at the annual major league winter meetings in December and the formal presentation takes place at the Boston Baseball Writers Association dinner in January.

This is the list of the players honored with the Tony Conigliaro Award, including the specific adversities they had to overcome:

1990
* Jim Eisenreich
**Tourette syndrome 1991
* Dickie Thon
**Recovered from a beaning in 1984 very similar to the one that shortened Conigliaro's career1992
* Jim Abbott
**Born without a right hand1993
* Bo Jackson
**Came back from hip replacement surgery in 19921994
* Mark Leiter
**Lost 9-month-old son to Werdnig-Hoffman disease during offseason1995
* Scott Radinsky
**Came back from Hodgkin's disease 1996
* Curtis Pride
**Deaf from birth1997
* Eric Davis
**Came back after diagnosis of colon cancer early that season1998
* Bret Saberhagen
**Came back from serious shoulder injuries1999
* Mike Lowell
**Came back from testicular cancer2000
* Kent Mercker and Tony Saunders
**Mercker came back from cerebral hemorrhage
**Saunders came back from breaking his arm while throwing a pitch2001
* Graeme Lloyd and Jason Johnson
**Lloyd came back after missing the entire 2000 season to arthroscopic shoulder surgery, during which time his wife, Cindy, died from Crohn's disease.
**Johnson is a Type 1 diabetic who wears an insulin pump on the field2002
* José Rijo
**Came back after five years out of baseball with serious elbow injuries2003
* Jim Mecir
**Born with two club feet2004
* Dewon Brazelton
**Underwent reconstructive knee surgery and Tommy John surgery before graduating from high school2005
* Aaron Cook [cite web |url=http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060113&content_id=1295521&vkey=hotstove2005&fext=.jsp|title= Cook inks two-year pact with Rockies|accessdate=2008-04-10]
**Came back after surgery in 2004 to remove blood clots from both lungs2006
* Freddy Sanchez [cite web |url= http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20061206&content_id=1752676&vkey=pr_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos|title=Freddy Sanchez wins 2006 Tony Conigliaro Award|accessdate=2008-04-10]
**Born with a right club foot and a severely pigeon-toed left foot2007
* Jon Lester
**Came back after being diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2006 to win the clinching Game 4 of the 2007 World Series. [ [http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2007/11/lester_gets_the.html Lester gets the honor - Extra Bases - Red Sox blog ] ]

Resource

*"2004 Boston Red Sox Media Guide"

References