It might sound sarcastic on first pass. The idea that the Boston Red Sox would willingly give an award – an actual award, for good things – to an active player on their great rival’s roster. But it has this week happened.
The Red Sox have chosen to honor New York Yankees reliever Tim Hill with the Tony Conigliaro Award, a national recognition instituted in 1990 by the Boston Red Sox to honor the memory of the namesake Mr Conigliaro. It is given annually by a panel of Red Sox voters to the MLB player who best “overcomes an obstacle and adversity through the attributes of spirit, determination, and courage that were trademarks of Conigliaro”, a former Red Sox hitter who returned to play a couple of successful seasons in the late 1960s and early 1970s despite a 20-month absence and deteriorating vision caused by being hit in the face with a pitch.
Hill’s Uphill Battle
In the case of Hill, the Red Sox have awarded him the honor on account of something that happened before his majors career even started; per MLB.com’s release, Hill battled cancer while still a minor leaguer.
Before Hill was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 32nd round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft, he lost his father, Jerry, to colon cancer at the start of his sophomore year of high school in 2007. In February 2015, during his first minor league spring training, Tim felt unusually exhausted after fitness tests, and blood work from his team physical led to further testing. That testing revealed the left-hander had Lynch Syndrome, which had been passed down from his father and led to a 50 percent chance that Tim would pass it along to his future children. A colonoscopy also revealed Hill had Stage 3 colon cancer at age 25, and he endured surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy to overcome the disease after his five-year survival rate was projected at 65-75 percent.
His chemotherapy lasted eight months and he fell from 220 pounds to 150, while he also took online classes to obtain his degree from Bacone Collegeâwhere he finished his college career. He was declared cancer-free in late 2016 and returned to baseball, eventually making his Major League debut in 2018.
It is unusual for the Red Sox and Yankees to praise each other, but for all the rivalry, t’is only ever a game. Hill’s recognition offers a moment to look at what he does on the mound, and why a club would single out a pitcher from another franchise.
Hill’s Yankees Rebirth
Signed in July 2024 after being released by the Chicago White Sox, Hill was re-signed before last season began, and promptly had his best year as a pro. In the 2025 season, he appeared in 70 games for the Yankees, throwing 67.0 innings with a 3.09 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.
Across his career with the Yankees, White Sox, San Diego Padres and Kansas City Royals – Hill has logged 389.1 innings, posted a 3.84 ERA and recorded 276 strikeouts. His offerings are distinguished not through power, velocity or a high strikeout rate; instead, Hill is one of the most effective ground-ball specialists in the league. He led the majors in ground ball percentage in 2024 amongst all relief pitchers, and was second only to Jhoan Duran in 2025, on account of the sink on his sinker and side-arm delivery.
Previous winners of the Tony Conigliaro Award include Cameron Booser, a Red Sox reliever, who last season won on account of making it back to the majors after an abrupt retirement brought about by addiction issues and a motor vehicle accident. Hill is the first Yankee to receive the award in its 25-year history.
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