I'm a Yankee fan, but this is a serious question: How popular was Tony C in Boston at the time of his death? He had the respect of Yankee fans, but I'd like to know what you guys thought of him. Was he a fan favorite, good community guy, good teammate, etc.?
We hardly hear anything about him in NY.
Thanks...

tony c. was LOVED by sux fans! youngest hitter ever to reach 100 hr. never the same after beaning. damn you jack hamilton!!!

Tony was loved in Boston! He was a local boy that played hard with very high expectations before he was hit by Jack Hamilton.

He was a home run hitting machine and died much too young.

God bless you Tony!

I know media coverage is different now, with heroes manufactured by PR teams and the networks, but was he as popular as say, Nomah in his prime? Like a Booby Orr or a Hondo?

yeah!- and then some! local boy makes good!

He sure was popular...Local home grown.Who knows how great he would have been...Still hear about his family now & then..Billy C. ect

Let's put it this way---before he got beaned, Tony C was more popular than Yaz. He was a sure-fire Hall of Famer if tragedy hadn't struck.

He never blamed Jack Hamilton, who went to his hospital bedside after the game in tears.

He had a short career as a sportscaster on Channel 10 in Providence before he died way too young.

mike, i know i have crs, but wasn't there a beanball war going down? if not ,i undamn jack hamilton.

thanks, guys

Dunno about the beanball war (I was just about to turn 14) but I know Hamilton felt miserable about it long afterwards.

Originally posted by 28inches
I know media coverage is different now, with heroes manufactured by PR teams and the networks, but was he as popular as say, Nomah in his prime? Like a Booby Orr or a Hondo?

I've got to disagree with the Bobby Orr comparison!!!

In Boston NO ONE COMPARES TO BOBBY ORR!!!!!!!!!

His number should be retired.


I don't know about nobody comparing to Bobby Orr,
I think Larry Bird is right up there with another who didn't get enough recognition Bill Russell. It's too bad Bobby had knee trouble earlier than he should have, imagine if his career was as long as Bobby Hull's???

Bill Russell's lack of popularity was a racial thing, no?

One thing I remember about Tony Conig was how he used to really crowd the plate. He would get as close as he could and practically put his head right over home plate. It was impossible for a pitcher not to throw close to him. I was young when he played and used to watch a lot of games with my Dad and uncles. I remember them commmenting "this guy's gonna get killed some day". When he came back after his rehab he backed off the plate.

On the other subject, about the most popular athlete. Hard to say but at one time or another most have had some bad press. In my recollection though the only Boston athlete that the press never said anything bad about was Bobby Orr. He was definately a breed apart from the rest. Of course he was probably the best hockey player I ever saw and never did anything wrong on or off the ice either.

Didn't he get shafted on some business deal? I think I remember something about his agent ripping him off???

agent steered him to chicago, didn't tell him that bruins offered him a percentage of ownership of team. i think his name was eagleston, real pos.

Yes, I recall hearing that Bobby Orr's agent never told him about the Bruins offering partial ownership of the team, because the agent would not benefit financially in that deal. The agent made out better with the Chicago deal and thus steered Bobby Orr to Chicago never informing him of the total Bruins deal. On one of the Boston sports shows Bobby Orr said he never wanted to leave Boston and wouldn't have left had he known of the Bruins offer. He said his biggest regret though was that he recommended the agent to several other players and they got shafted in deals as well.

Originally posted by afterhours
agent steered him to chicago, didn't tell him that bruins offered him a percentage of ownership of team. i think his name was eagleston, real pos.

That peice of crap (Eagleson) is in prison now for ripping off LOTS of his clients!!!

Was Derek Sandersen involved with the same agent? He had business problems, too, right? Drugs finished him off if I remember correctly. He was the first of the longhaired players.

don't know if derek was hooked up with the pos. drug addition started as abuse of painkillers, and alcohol. had severe hip problems. last i knew he was clean. GREAT color man on b's broadcasts.

How about Ron Mix and Babe Parilli? Good guys?

how about bo bo brasil?:bl:

I hear he was a pain in the a**. :smash:

Originally posted by 28inches
Bill Russell's lack of popularity was a racial thing, no?

Partly that, partly because there were other Celtic stars like the Couz, Heinsohn, Sudden Sam Jones and Havlicek on Russell's teams.

Russell's offensive stats weren't great, so a lot of casual fans never appreciated his greatness.

Plus Russell didn't have the most engaging personality, to put it mildly. He's mellowed a lot in recent years.

If you are talking about Orr, he sure did. His agent didn't tell him of an offer that the Bruins made that would have kept him in Boston for life and got him partial ownership.

Alan Eagleson F'd Orr, the Bruins and Boston.


Oops. didn't see page 2 of the thread

Didn't Eagleson do time for that or something else ???

Did you guys think of Bill Lee as a clown? :happy:

i think big fish would enjoy this thread:D

BF was in the Teacup ride last nite listening to the game on a transistor radio and got violently ill. :laughs:

Originally posted by Squid kids Dad
He sure was popular...Local home grown.Who knows how great he would have been...Still hear about his family now & then..Billy C. ect

Billy C just did my Bathroom.... He works for a contractor out of Salem. When he was here working I managed to dig out this pic I had of him that they used to give out w/ a fill up at Esso gas stations way back when.

Hell of a nice guy!!

A damn shame about Tony though he had a lot of hard luck after that beaning