On August 18, 1967—
forty-seven years ago today—
Tony Conigliaro suffered one of the worst beanings in MLB history. The Angels'
Jack Hamilton fired a fastball at Tony's head and a sure-fire
Hall of Fame career was derailed. The technical injury was:
"a linear fracture of the left cheekbone and a dislocated jaw with severe damage to his left retina." His batting helmet did not, of course, have the protective ear-flap that is so familiar to us today. The Red Sox
'Impossible Dream' season had quickly turned into a nightmare. A year or so later, he remarkably won the
Comeback Player of The Year award, but it was never the same again for the kid from
St. Mary's High School in Lynn, Massachusetts. He was the fastest player ever to 100 HRs, but he would end his career with just 166. He was a shooting star that left us at the far too young age of 45. He is still missed.
