Yangervis Solarte has been selected the recipient of the Tony Conigliaro Award by a committee of media members, Major League Baseball executives, Red Sox officials and members of the Conigliaro family. The Padres third baseman is the 27th winner of the annual award, given to a major league player “who has overcome adversity through the attributes of spirit, determination and courage that were trademarks” of Conigliaro.

Solarte, who was nominated by the Padres’ community relations department, received 11 first-place votes from a 20-person panel. He finished ahead of Phillies catcher Tommy Joseph and Royals catcher Salvador Perez in the balloting.

Solarte, 29, experienced both on-field success and personal loss in 2016. On Sept. 17, his 31-year-old wife and the mother of their three daughters, Yuliett Pimentel Solarte, died of complications related to cancer. Solarte left the Padres in July to spend four days at his wife’s side, and again in September when her condition worsened.

A week after Yuliett’s death, Solarte rejoined the club. His children and his mother accompanied him to San Diego.


“From the beginning of the season, my wife had always pushed me and hadn’t wanted her illness to get in the way of things,” Solarte said upon his return. “She always wanted me to play and to remember I have three daughters. She was always reminding me of that.”

Solarte finished the season hitting .286 with 15 home runs and 71 RBIs — all career highs. He missed six weeks early in the year due to a hamstring strain.

“He’s had a heck of a year,” Padres manager Andy Green said in September. “With what he’s been through at home, his ability to still perform on a baseball field has honestly been astounding to me.”

“In the midst of a personally challenging year, and despite suffering the kind of loss that many of us can’t fathom, Yangervis showed up to the ballpark each day and played his heart out, always supporting his teammates with a smile,” Tom Seidler, the Padres’ senior vice president of community and military affairs, said in a release. “The spirit, determination and courage he has displayed through personal tragedy could not be more representative of what the Tony Conigliaro Award is about.”


In honor of Yuliett, the Padres donated to — and encouraged players and fans to support — the Friends of Scott Foundation. The San Diego-based nonprofit’s mission is to help children with cancer and their families by providing emotional and financial support.

A native of Swampscott, Mass., Conigliaro hit a home run in his first at-bat at Fenway Park in 1964. A year later, the outfielder became the youngest player to lead his league in home runs, with 32. He also became the youngest American League player to reach 100 career home runs, doing so at 22 years and 197 days old.

Conigliaro’s promising career was derailed in 1967, when he was struck in the face by an errant pitch. He missed all of the 1968 season before returning to play two more years in Boston, hitting a career-high 36 home runs in 1970. Declining vision led him to retire in 1971. He attempted another comeback with the Red Sox in 1975, but ended his career after batting .123 in 69 plate appearances.

Conigliaro suffered a heart attack in 1982. He died eight years later at the age of 45.


The award that bears his name will be presented to Solarte at the 78th Boston Baseball Writers’ dinner, co-hosted by the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America and the Sports Museum, on Jan. 19.