Tony Conigliaro Award

Tony Conigliaro

Tony Conigliaro, the namesake of the award
Awarded for	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.
Presented by	Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America
History
First award	1990
Most recent	Cam Booser, Boston Red Sox

The Tony Conigliaro Award is a national recognition instituted in 1990 by the Boston Red Sox to honor the memory of Tony Conigliaro. It is given annually to a Major League Baseball (MLB) player who best "overcomes an obstacle and adversity through the attributes of spirit, determination, and courage that were trademarks of Conigliaro."

Conigliaro debuted with the Red Sox in 1964, and was selected to the MLB All-Star Game in the 1967 season. Subsequently, he was hit in the face by a pitch at Fenway Park on August 18, 1967. After missing the rest of the year and all of 1968, he made a comeback in 1969, homering on opening day. He then hit 20 home runs in that season, winning The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award. In 1970, he posted career highs in home runs with 36 and RBIs with 116, but vision problems continued to persist; his performance fell off, and he was never the same player. After a final comeback attempt in 1975, Conigliaro retired at age 30.^[1]

Conigliaro died in 1990, and the Red Sox instituted the award in his honor.^[2] A panel is composed of the media, representatives of the commissioner, and the two leagues' offices. The selection is made by a panel of voters and the award is presented at the annual dinner of the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), normally held in December or January, by members of the Conigliaro family.^[3]

Award winners

Jim Abbott learned how to pitch and use a glove with only one hand.

Jon Lester helped the Red Sox win the 2007 World Series, one year after undergoing treatment for cancer.

^	Indicates multiple award winners in the same year
‡	Denotes player who is still active

Year	Player	Team	Adversity overcome	Ref
1990	Jim Eisenreich	Kansas City Royals	Tourette syndrome	[2]
1991	Dickie Thon	Philadelphia Phillies	A 1984 beaning very similar to the one that shortened Conigliaro's career	[2][4]
1992	Jim Abbott	California Angels	Born without a right hand	[5][6]
1993	Bo Jackson	Chicago White Sox	Hip replacement surgery in 1992	[7]
1994	Mark Leiter	California Angels	Death of 9-month-old son to spinal muscular atrophy during the offseason	[8]
1995	Scott Radinsky	Chicago White Sox	Diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma	[9]
1996	Curtis Pride	Montreal Expos	Born deaf	[10]
1997	Eric Davis	Baltimore Orioles	Diagnosed with colon cancer early that season	[11]
1998	Bret Saberhagen	Boston Red Sox	Serious shoulder injuries	[12]
1999	Mike Lowell	Florida Marlins	Testicular cancer	[13]
2000^^	Kent Mercker	Anaheim Angels	Cerebral hemorrhage	[14]
2000^^	Tony Saunders	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	Broke arm while throwing a pitch	[14]
2001^^	Graeme Lloyd	Montreal Expos	Arthroscopic shoulder surgery in 2000, and the death of his wife from Crohn's disease	[15]
2001^^	Jason Johnson	Baltimore Orioles	Type 1 diabetes that required Johnson to wear an insulin pump on the field	[16]
2002	José Rijo	Cincinnati Reds	Elbow injuries that required five surgeries and sidelined him for five years	[17]
2003	Jim Mecir	Oakland Athletics	Born with two club feet	[18]
2004	Dewon Brazelton	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	Reconstructive knee surgery and Tommy John surgery while in high school	[19]
2005	Aaron Cook	Colorado Rockies	Blood clots in both lungs	[20]
2006	Freddy Sanchez	Pittsburgh Pirates	Born with a club foot (right) and a severely pigeon-toed foot (left)	[21]
2007	Jon Lester	Boston Red Sox	Diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2006	[22]
2008	Rocco Baldelli	Tampa Bay Rays	Diagnosed with a mitochondrial disorder that causes chronic muscle fatigue	[23]
2009	Chris Carpenter	St. Louis Cardinals	Had Tommy John surgery and nerve problems in his throwing arm	[24]
2010	Joaquín Benoit	Tampa Bay Rays	Sat out a year after a rotator cuff tear	[25]
2011	Tony Campana	Chicago Cubs	Diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma as a child	[26]
2012	R. A. Dickey	New York Mets	Victim of child sexual abuse, born without an ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm	[27]
2013	John Lackey	Boston Red Sox	Underwent Tommy John surgery in 2012	[28]
2014	Wilson Ramos^‡	Washington Nationals	Kidnapped in 2011, multiple injuries including a torn anterior cruciate ligament, a broken hamate bone, and repeated hamstring strains	[29]
2015	Mitch Harris	St. Louis Cardinals	Delayed baseball career five years while serving in the United States Navy; first Naval Academy graduate to make MLB debut since 1921	[30]
2016	Yangervis Solarte^‡	San Diego Padres	Death of his wife to cancer during the season, caring for their three young daughters	[31]
2017	Chad Bettis	Colorado Rockies	Diagnosed with testicular cancer in November 2016, underwent surgery eight days later, went through chemotherapy until May 2017, and returned to baseball activities one month later	[32]
2018	Stephen Piscotty^‡	Oakland Athletics	Death of his mother to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis	[33]
2019	Rich Hill^‡	Los Angeles Dodgers	Numerous arm injuries and the public announcement of the death of his son Brooks	[34]
2020	Daniel Bard^‡	Colorado Rockies	Prior to the 2020 season, had last pitched in MLB in 2013 and had retired from professional baseball in 2017 due to control issues	[35]
2021†	Trey Mancini^‡	Baltimore Orioles	Missed 2020 season after being diagnosed with colon cancer in March that year	[36]
2022	José Cuas^‡	Kansas City Royals	Arduous journey to MLB	[37]
2023	Liam Hendriks^‡	Chicago White Sox	Non-Hodgkin lymphoma that kept him out of baseball for almost the entire season	[38]
2024	Cam Booser^‡	Boston Red Sox	Had retired from baseball in 2017 following injuries and alcohol abuse, returned and made MLB debut	[39]

† The award is presented at the annual banquet of the Boston chapter of the BBWAA, which was not held in December 2021, possibly due to the 2021–22 Major League Baseball lockout. The 2021 winner of the Tony Conigliaro Award was instead announced the following year.

See also

• Baseball awards

References

1. "Jason Heyward, Max Stassi hope for quick returns from pitches to face". MLB.com. August 22, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
2. "Tony Conigliaro, Ray Chapman, and the Catastrophic Beaning «". Grantland.com. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
3. "Wilson Ramos wins Conigliaro award". ESPN.com. Associated Press. January 15, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
4. "Baseball: Conigliaro award presented". Sun Journal. Lewiston, Maine. Associated Press. December 10, 1991. p. 25. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
5. Swaine, Rick. "Jim Abbott". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
6. "Honored". The Times-News. Associated Press. December 8, 1992. p. 1B. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
7. Swartz, Bryn. "Bo Jackson: What Could Have Been?". Bleacher Report. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
8. "Leiter to receive Conigliaro award". The Telegraph. Associated Press. December 2, 1994. p. 46. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
9. "Yanks put Boggs on hold". Eugene Register-Guard. December 2, 1995. p. 7D. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
10. "Curtis Pride wins award for courage". The Argus-Press. Owosso, Michigan. Associated Press. December 11, 1996. p. 11. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
11. "Davis to receive Tony Conigliaro Award". Bangor Daily News. November 26, 1997. p. C5. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
12. "Henderson set to steal for the Mets". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. December 14, 1998. p. 6B. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
13. "Marlins' Lowell wins Conigliaro award". Bangor Daily News. December 14, 1999. p. C5. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
14. "Camden Yards Renovations | O's may add another dimension to Camden Yards renovations". The Baltimore Sun. December 10, 2000. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
15. "Luke set to fly with Blue Jays". The Sydney Morning Herald. April 7, 2002. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
16. "Pumped-up Johnson adds Tony C. Award to 10 wins". The Baltimore Sun. December 12, 2001. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
17. "Rijo wins Conigliaro Award". The Victoria Advocate. Victoria, Texas. December 14, 2002. p. 3B. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
18. "Jim Mecir voted 2003 Tony Conigliaro Award winner". MLB.com (Press release). December 12, 2003. Archived from the original on December 10, 2010. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
19. Devil Rays Public Relations (December 10, 2004). "Tampa Bay's Dewon Brazelton wins 2004 Tony Conigliaro Award". MLB.com (Press release). Archived from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
20. Harding, Thomas (January 13, 2006). "Cook inks two-year pact with Rockies: Righty also wins prestigious honor in Boston". MLB.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2008.
21. "Freddy Sanchez wins 2006 Tony Conigliaro Award". MLB.com (Press release). December 6, 2006. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2008.
22. Wilbur, Eric (November 28, 2007). "Lester gets the honor". The Boston Globe. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
23. "Rocco Baldelli wins Tony Conigliaro Award". Tampabay.com. November 25, 2008. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
24. Keefe, Neil (January 11, 2010). "Chris Carpenter Wins 2009 Tony Conigliaro Award | MLB". NESN.com. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
25. "Benoit receives Conigliaro Award for comeback". MLB.com. November 19, 2010. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
26. "Tony C. wins Tony C. award « Muskat Ramblings". Muskat Ramblings. MLBlogs.com. December 9, 2011. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
27. Pepin, Matt (December 6, 2012). "R. A. Dickey wins Tony Conigliaro Award". The Boston Globe. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
28. "John Lackey Wins 2013 Tony Conigliaro Award". MLB.com (Press release). December 3, 2013. Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
29. Pepin, Matt (January 16, 2014). "Nationals catcher Ramos wins Conigliaro Award". MSN Sports. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
30. "Cardinals pitcher Mitch Harris wins 2015 Tony Conigliaro Award". Fox Sports. Associated Press. December 15, 2015. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
31. "Padres INF Yangervis Solarte wins Tony Conigliaro Award". USA Today. Associated Press. December 15, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
32. "Colorado Rockies' Chad Bettis, a cancer survivor, named 2017 Tony Conigliaro Award winner". MassLive. December 7, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
33. Smith, Christopher (December 14, 2018). "Stephen Piscotty, Athletics outfielder whose mother died of ALS, wins 2018 Tony Conigliaro Award". masslive.com. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
34. Browne, Ian (December 20, 2019). "Rich Hill named recipient of '19 Conigliaro Award". MLB.com.
35. Green, Dave (December 21, 2020). "Rockies reliever Daniel Bard wins Tony Conigliaro Award". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
36. "Release:Tony Conigliaro Awards 11/28/22". MLB.com. November 28, 2022.
37. "Release:Tony Conigliaro Awards 11/28/22". MLB.com. November 28, 2022.
38. Harrigan, Thomas (November 29, 2023). "Hendriks wins 2023 Tony Conigliaro Award". MLB.com. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
39. "Red Sox announce Cam Booser as winner of 2024 Tony Conigliaro Award". MLB.com. Retrieved November 25, 2024.

External links

• "Tony Conigliaro Award". BBWAA Boston Chapter.