The 1973 season began pretty
well for Billy C. Finally acquired legitimately by Oakland – initially he was
traded for Oscar Brown in June of ’72; then he wasn’t because he was on the
disqualified list due to his retirement; then in November he was again as a
free agent away from the Brewers; and finally in February he was reinstated
on the Brewers roster and sold - a good training camp led to his winning the
starting center field job from Angel Mangual and other new guy Billy North. By
late April he’d started there in ten of the club’s first 14 games and was
hitting .300 when a hard slide into second pinged his knee a bit and he sat a
few games. He returned to do some pinch hit work but by early May it was
evident something was seriously wrong and he went under the knife to repair
some damaged cartilage. By the time he returned in July North had taken over in
center and though this Billy got some turns in left his hitting was still
affected by his tender knee. Here he poses in Oakland for what would be his final card. By
the likely time of this photo his average was crashing and the fun April was
far behind. He’d get some playoff and Series time and then undergo more surgery to do further repair work on his knee. He wouldn’t make it out of spring
training in ’74, though, his roster spot ostensibly taken by Larry Haney, when
in reality he was probably dropped to clear room for Herb Washington, Charlie O Finley’s newest pinch
runner. In the end, just like with his brother Tony, injury derailed a
promising career. At least he got a ring out of it. And a long happy life.
Those two things eluded Tony.
Billy Conigliaro grew up in Lynn, Massachusetts
where he was, like his brother, a pretty big deal football and baseball star.
At Swampscott High School he was a halfback, pitcher,
and outfielder. Sought after by a bunch of D-1 schools for the former sport he
opted to sign with the Sox when they upped his bonus to $60,000. Generally
regarded as a better fielder and faster runner than Tony but with not as much
power, he hit .272 that summer in A ball. The next three seasons he lost time
to the military and injuries. In ’66 he flopped a bit in Double A - .226 with
24 RBI’s in 82 games – but hit .313 in a few games back in A ball. In ’67 he
only got 124 at bats between his late reporting and a broken hand and hit .274
but with 29 RBI’s in A ball. In ’68 he put up a 7/41/.238 season in Double A. His
brother’s beaning in ’67 caused Tony to miss the balance of the season and all
of ’68. In ’69 Billy had a super spring training, hitting north of .400 and
Tony was finally ready to come back so the long-sought Conigliaro brothers
outfield seemed ready to occur that season.
Going into ’69 spring
training the initial thought was that Billy Conigliaro would take over his
brother’s old spot in right field. Initially that seemed workable because with
the loss of Joe Foy at third base to expansion, George Scott was moving to that
position and Carl Yastrzemski was taking over first base. That left Billy,
Reggie Smith, and other newbie Joe Lahoud the three outfield spots. But when
Tony C returned earlier than expected there were suddenly four guys to share
space. Billy ended up getting some starts in right and center – his natural
position – to open the season and he continued his spring training onslaught,
hitting .313 through early May. But for a non-power guy he was putting up a few
too many K’s and with Tony having a nice comeback and Lahoud better in the
power department, Billy became the odd man out. In early May the Sox picked up
Don Lock from the Twins and Billy got sent to Triple A. There he had a nice
year and did show some power, hitting
.298 with 13 homers and 81 RBI’s before returning to Boston in mid-September
for some reserve work and an occasional start at both positions. While he hit
pretty well average-wise he also recorded 23 K’s in his 80 at bats. In ’70 Lock
was gone and while Tony continued his comeback in right, Billy won the starting
job in left with another hot spring and this time Lahoud got shut out a bunch.
Billy had a mostly unfettered rookie year and his numbers were good enough to
win a spot on the Topps Rookie team. While Tony posted his best year, the Red
Sox powers-that-be were not totally convinced that his eyesight was back
long-term and they took advantage of his big numbers to trade him to California. The
Conigliaro brothers were not shy about expressing their opinions and Billy let
the world know that the reason for Tony’s departure was a conspiracy headed by
Yaz and Reggie Smith to get him out of town. The locker room in ’71 became
pretty hostile and while Billy had a nice start to the season – he was hitting
over .300 through May and was at the top of the AL in doubles after being moved
to center - his caustic attitude and
open opinions began eating away at his playing time. In August he hurt his
ankle which impeded his swing the rest of the year and his at bats and RBI’s
declined, though his doubles totals remained high. After the season he was part
of the big trade with Milwaukee
in which he, George Scott, Joe Lahoud, Jim Lonborg, Ken Brett, and Don
Pavletich went to the Brewers for Marty Pattin, Tommy Harper, and Lew Krausse.
When Conigliaro went to Milwaukee he claimed he
was finally free of both the conspiracy boys and of his brother’s domineering
shadow. He had another good training camp and began the season as the team’s
regular guy in right. But he came out slowly and didn’t get above .200 until
late May. Still, Milwaukee
showed a lot of patience and Billy was still starting most games through
mid-June. But in a double-header towards the end of the month he saw that old
nemesis Joe Lahoud – who’d also come over in the big trade from Boston – was
penciled in the line-up and Billy C packed up his bags and left, retiring to
return to Boston to work in a couple of businesses he and his brother had
purchased. The Brewers had no idea what was going on and shortly after they arranged
the initial Ollie Brown deal and then found it was voided because they also put
Billy on the disqualified list to clear space. When things finally got cleaned
up Billy landed in Oakland,
had his brief season and was then done. He had a short comeback in ’77 when
Charlie O invited him to spring training in the wake of all his free agent
losses. Billy did well enough in camp to be offered a Triple A contract but he
balked at a return to the minors and that was it. So his stats on the back of
his card are his final ones up top. He went hitless in four post-season games
and hit .264 in the minors.
Conigliaro’s time after
baseball was certainly not uneventful, and a lot of tragedy was involved. While
still playing in Boston he and Tony had
purchased a couple business interests: a Ramada Inns franchise that was
expanding in New England; and a golf course club on the water in Massachusetts. Billy and
Tony were both active in their management from about ’72 on and at some point
the golf club morphed into a lounge. Billy was also an avid photographer and he
began his own photography business. In ’76 he made news when he was indicted
for an assault at Tony’s club but nothing came of that. In ’81 he lost his
house to a fire but the big tragedy came in ’82 when he was driving Tony to an
audition for a local announcing gig. Tony had been having physical issues on
and off since his beaning and on that trip he suffered a debilitating heart
attack. He was rushed to the hospital and was in a coma for a while. He recovered
a bit but never fully and he had to be in pretty much permanent care either at
home or in hospitals until his death in ’90. While spending a big part of that
time helping care for his brother, Billy also continued to run the brother’s
businesses and opened a camera store. In the Nineties he moved into home
renovation and got his contractor’s license. In 2002 he got married for the
first time and shortly thereafter began to reconnect to baseball, since then
appearing regularly at card shows and other events on behalf of the Sox.
Billy gets some color in the
star bullets and cartoon. A big ladies man while playing and presumably after
he would get about 25 letters a day from female fans during his career. Topps
gives him a 5 card which is an awful big stretch for his recent work.
Those big trades help a bunch
here:
1. Conigliaro and Jim Lonborg
’69 to ’71 Red Sox and ’72 Brewers;
2. Lonborg and Ron Schueler
’74 to ’76 Phillies.
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