Red Sox put rivalry lines aside with heartwarming honor for Yankees pitcher

When the New York Yankees picked up reliever Tim Hill midway through the 2024 campaign while he was flailing with the Chicago White Sox, it seemed like a low point of his MLB career. Those who were more familiar with Hill's story might've been able to more accurately predict his comeback, however. After all, the stakes of "entire career on tenterhooks" were nothing to the 34-year-old.

2026 will mark Hill's third consecutive season with the Yankees after New York picked up his no-brainer option, a drama-free offseason compared to what they made fans go through last winter. From the moment Hill first picked up a pill and slung it in pinstripes, he was a fan favorite, and he backed up the power of his windup's imagery by delivering ERAs of 2.05 and 3.09 in the uniform. The franchise's greatest horror story following his arrival involves him sitting, placid, in the bullpen while chaos unfolded around him.

Clearly, the love for Hill transcends rivalry bloodlines; the Boston Red Sox bestowed him with the 2025 Tony Conigliaro Award this week, recognizing outstanding courage amid adversity.

At the age of 25, less than a year after being drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 32nd round and starring in the low minors, Hill — spurred on by an inability to get up to speed during workouts — underwent a routine blood test, which led to a colon cancer diagnosis. The heart-wrenching fork in the road came eight years after Hill's hardscrabble father, Jerry, had also passed from the disease.

Red Sox honor Yankees reliever Tim Hill with Tony Conigliaro Award for his courage after cancer diagnosis

Not only was Hill staring directly at a months-long battle with Stage 3 colon cancer at a stunningly young age (with an uncertain ending), but he was forced to resurrect the hardest possible conversation with his loving mother before diving the family headlong into another life-or-death ordeal.

The treatment occasionally stopped him in his tracks. He was unable to eat. He was forced to pause, regroup, and hope for the best upon resumption. He was down to 150 pounds when treatment finally ended that November.

And, by spring training 2016, he was back on a big-league mound. By the end of 2017, he was on the Royals' 40-man roster. In 2019, he posted a 3.63 ERA in 46 innings, establishing the reliable archetype he'd eventually come to embody year in and year out in the bullpen.

Hill's life-altering adversity crested one decade ago, but must not be forgotten every time he strides to the mound, armed with a century of guile, and refuses to let runners in scoring position advance or cross the plate. Boston's seen plenty of that first-hand as well. Thankfully, those in charge didn't let their hatred blind them from recognizing a remarkable man, completely unique in today's game, with unparalleled will.