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The Tony Conigliaro story
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I'd go see it in a heartbeat. Not because I'm an admitted Red Sox homer, but because I'd like to see Tony C play and hear what others have to say about him. I was too young to rememeber him before the accident. Everything I've heard is that he was an exceptional player and rising star at the time.
He was the youngest home run title winner. He was the youngest to 100 homers. He was so quick he stood on top of the plate daring pitchers to come inside on him. Unfortunately, one who did had the ball get away from him.
Tony C. hit his first Big League home run the year following his high school graduation. He was 19!
Tony hit 24 HRs as a teenager, the most ever hit by someone that young despite missing several weeks with a broken forearm. He hit the first pitch he ever saw at Fenway out of the park. He won the HR title at 20 with 32 HRs but Mel Ott had hit 42 at age 20 so Tony's total was only the second best total at that young age. Virtually every year of his early career Conigliaro would be hit by a pitch and suffer a broken bone and miss some time. It is right that he was known for standing right on top of the plate. This could be a very interesting movie.