Tony C: The Triumph and Tragedy of Tony Conigliaro

This is a great book about Tony C. It shows both his strengths as a person and some of his weak spots, which makes this book a very true and real story. It's a great history of the Red Sox when Tony C. played. It shows the true guts, determination, courage and love for the Red Sox that Tony C. had. No player in any sport has made such an effort to comeback. And, this book captures it all. The Red Sox should retire his number -- just read the book it supports retiring #25. Billy Conigliaro's quote sums up how i feel about Tony C. "I will always remember Tony C. as a fighter, a clutch hitter, warm to his fans. He was a brother who made me proud." Tony thank you so much for all the wonderful memories as a Red Sox player. You have given me the strength to fight my own battles in life. I hope that someone makes a movie from this book.

Dave Cantaneo gives this young fan a second chance to remember a boyhood idol through this very insightful book about the tragic figure thatb inspired thousands of boys my age. The ultimate complement to any baseball player when I grew up was that everyone wanted his baseball card and everyone wanted to "be" the player during pickup games. These were simple times when players were loyal to teams and teams were loyal to fans. Everyone wanted to be Tony C, and since he was just a teenager joining the Red Sox, all of my buddies and I idolized him immediately. This book permits us the opportunity to spend a few hours with a real sports idol. Tony C was to Red Sox fans what the Beatles were to American rock and roll lovers--- except he was right here. Thanks for the book, David.

I am a 12 year old kid and have read the book Tony C. I never watched him play on t.v, and I haven't heard about him until 1991 when i watched a quick clip on sportscenter about him. I couldn't quite remember his name and wanted to find out more about him as I searched for 7 years just to find the guy's name. I came close to finding his name as my friend next door had a model of him, but unfortunately his dog knocked it down earlier and the bottom of the model was broken off and we didn't know his name. Thats when i finally found this book at a local bookstore. This book takes you in depth of his short lifetime. This book tought a lesson to me and i feel that I never give up anymore in anything that i do (like him) This book takes you from his good days in the minors to his excellent early years in the majors until that awful august night. The night when he was struck by the pitch that put him out of baseball. That is where i will end because i don't want to tell everyone the untold, but i do highly reccomend this book. It changed the way i look at everything in life.

My mother wrote the introduction to this acclaimed novel. My mother was the person who originated this idea after reading Tony had died in 1990 and began a quest for his family, who reside in Boston yet. She started on this book in 1993 and helped complete it into the year 1997. My mother visited Boston and Tony's family many times and became quite close to them. Recently, Tony's mother died and my mother and our family were saddened, as we had been close to them. They are remarkable people and I feel privleged to have met such great people. Tony's story is something that began back in 1968 when my mother saw Tony on the Merv Griffin Show and followed him with a strange intensity from that point on. Although she never met Tony ahe feels she knows him through his family. And many people have talked of a movie of Tony's life, but so far the family has not made any definite plans on that subject. Tony's story deserved to be told and my mother helped fulfill his legacy.

Finally, one of those rare sports books that transcend the genre. Tony Conigliaro was a budding baseball star with the Boston Red Sox, and more, when he emerged in the mid-1960s as the first Baby Boomer baseball icon of his generation. An American League home-run champion at age 20 (take that, Tiger Woods!) and only 22 when he made it to 100 career homers, Conigliaro's life took a horrifying turn when he was nearly killed in 1967 by a pitch that hit him in the left temple. Conigliaro briefly returned to baseball and had a couple of good years, until worsening eyesight knocked him out of the game for good. Tall, dark, and handsome, Conigliaro later was carving out a second career through TV baseball broadcasting when, at age 37, he suffered a heart attack. Ensuing brain damage confined him to a wheelchair for the last eight years of his life. He passed away in 1990 at age 45. Cataneo, the author, does a great job of taking us through Tony C's life. We really get to know Conigliaro the person--as child, adolescent, and adult--both on the baseball field and off, with sideline pursuits that included a rock and roll singing career and romances with women ranging from his high-school sweetheart to Hollywood starlet Mamie Van Doren, with a near-miss involving neighbor Racquel Welch. This book is every bit as touching as "Brian's Song" yet every bit as honest and well-researched as any other contemporary tomes professing the highest standards of journalism. Baseball fans will enjoy this book almost as much as general-interest readers will.