RIP Billy C

oldmil007

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Jul 15, 2005
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Most likely maybe he and his brother are having a catch right now and afterwards, when he's getting measured up for his Cosmic All Stars uniform, they'll all want to know what position he'd like to play.
 

Mugsy's Jock

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Speaking as a little brother, I always pulled for Billy C., though it definitely bummed me out when he beefed with Yaz. Not sure -- did they reconcile?

Awesome (long) profile at SABR, and one inspiring anecdote below.
Tony took exception when Fred Lasher of the Indians hit him during the second game of a doubleheader on July 12 (he’d homered in the first game) and Tony charged the mound. Lasher stood ready with his fists, but Tony karate-kicked him and set off a brawl. Tony was ejected from the game. The first batter up in the top of the second was Billy Conigliaro, who hit Lasher’s first pitch into the second deck in left field
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/billy-conigliaro/
 

jacklamabe65

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When I heard about it, I still thought of Billy as the kid brother, loyal, not-as-talented, but filled with grit. He reached out and thanked via email after I wrote that piece about Tony back in 2004. A week later, he sent me a `1964 Topps Card of Tony. I still have it. He's playing catch again with Tony - and they're both young and immortal.
 

67YAZ

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My uncle loves telling his story about playing against Billy C in high school. By then, Tony was in the pros and everyone knew Billy would be next.

Billy skidded into the parking lot well after the team bus, hopping out of a brand new sports car with his girlfriend in tow. In the top of the first, Billy ripped a double off the wall, and then standing on 2B complained loudly to to no one in particularly that he just missed that pitch. Billy then struck out a couple times before the coach pulled him because Swampscott was so far ahead. Billy took off in his car with his girl before the game ended.

Maybe Billy was an arrogant 18 year old, but after hearing this story for the 50th or 100th time, I realized the point is that the Conigliaro Brothers are Boston folk heroes. My uncle always tells this one with a littl reverence, a little irreverence, and that glow that comes with a brush with greatness.
 

YTF

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I'd posted this earlier in the P&G "These peopled died..." thread, but seems more appropriate here in the main forum.

Baseball has lost it's share of HOF and star players in the past year, but for some reason the passing of Billy Conigliaro has touched something in me. I reckon it's because I first started to watch baseball the late sixties and early seventies. Back then, as kids I think we mainly followed just one team (usually the local team) rather than the entire sport as the wide exposure that the game enjoys today didn't exist back then. The Sox were my team and EVERY pack of baseball cards that I opened was a quest to find Red Sox cards. Mantle, Mays, Aaron...all nice players, but it was Red Sox players that I wanted most and it didn't matter if I had doubles, triples or even a greater quantity of each player. I'll forever remember Billy C as one of my guys along with the likes of Ray Culp, Doug Griffin and Mike Andrews.


38659


38658
 

terrynever

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I always think of the terrible choice Billy had to make when Tony suffered a stroke in his car. Never want to be in that situation with anyone, let alone a brother.
 

jaytftwofive

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Jan 20, 2013
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If I'm not mistaken, didn't Billy C blame Yaz for the trade of Tony C? Never proven though if remember. I think he also blamed Yaz when he got traded. My Dad always believed that Yaz got Dick Williams fired because he used to complain in 69 to Yawkey about Williams as a manager.
 

E5 Yaz

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Completely blanked that Billy C got a WS ring with the 1973 A's
 

ColdSoxPack

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If I'm not mistaken, didn't Billy C blame Yaz for the trade of Tony C? Never proven though if remember. I think he also blamed Yaz when he got traded. My Dad always believed that Yaz got Dick Williams fired because he used to complain in 69 to Yawkey about Williams as a manager.
That was the narrative yes. They were jealous of Yaz and blamed him for everything.
 

Vermonter At Large

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That was the narrative yes. They were jealous of Yaz and blamed him for everything.
Yeah. I loved Tony, and by association his brother too, but they were just kids from the North Shore whose adolescence got extended into adulthood. I try to think of them fondly as ballplayers, and leave the rest of their humanity for others to consider ...
 

LoweTek

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I met him. He came to a fantasy camp once in the 90's. Honestly guys, he was a good guy, nice guy but a strange dude. Always sort of stared at you as you spoke to him. I don't think I'd like to be known primarily as "Tony C's little brother" either.

RIP
 

jaytftwofive

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Jan 20, 2013
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I met him. He came to a fantasy camp once in the 90's. Honestly guys, he was a good guy, nice guy but a strange dude. Always sort of stared at you as you spoke to him. I don't think I'd like to be known primarily as "Tony C's little brother" either.

RIP
My nephew and his cousin went to one of those in the summer of 1993 on Cape Cod. George Foster, Bernie Carbo and Bill Lee were there among others. I don't know if it's the same one? My nephew said Lee was the nicest of all. Carbo was friendly but weird and signed everything John 3:16 and talked about God and Jesus a lot. Foster was not that nice according to him.
 

Harry Hooper

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It's always a great story when a player from short-season Northern US or Canada makes it to the big leagues. When they come from "just around the corner" like Billy C, it just adds to it all. Of course, things didn't go so smooth over the years. RIP
 

LoweTek

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My nephew and his cousin went to one of those in the summer of 1993 on Cape Cod. George Foster, Bernie Carbo and Bill Lee were there among others. I don't know if it's the same one? My nephew said Lee was the nicest of all. Carbo was friendly but weird and signed everything John 3:16 and talked about God and Jesus a lot. Foster was not that nice according to him.
Not that one. This was a camp which has run for many years starting in Winter Haven in '87 and moving to Ft. Myers in '94, usually some time in January or early February for a week. It was cancelled this year for you know why. Lots of different regular player attendees. Lee was certainly one of them (he was uber competitive) along with guys like Stanley, Sullivan, Bell and Pesky. Basically former players from every decade since the 40's.

Early on, there were a lot of guys from the 40's teams who played with Ted and Ted Himself used to come for a few days before he got sick. Most of those guys have since passed away.

One year Yaz came for an Eddie Popowski tribute. Yaz was kind of odd too. Very shy and spent most of his time with the clubhouse guy he knew from his playing days or looking for the smoking permitted areas of the hotel. Yaz did give me hitting lessons though.

Bernie came for a few years and you're spot on with your description. He was living in Winter Haven running some kind of church and I lived outside Orlando. I was managing an over 30 semi-pro team at the time and invited him to meet us at some cages in between Winter Haven and Orlando to give hitting lessons for reasonable pay. He came and brought Jesus t-shirts to sell to the guys. It created a very awkward situation.