"But if I had any overarching advice, it would just be to be yourself. I could write a book on my own experience and how I got through what I went through," he says. "I think everyone's experience is different. And when I asked about the tragedy at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, he had nothing he wanted to share publicly.īut wisdom based on his own experiences for anyone who might need it? That's ground he'll tread.
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Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage, saying in a TV interview that his preference is to be in the spotlight for baseball. He was fine with losing his Pride Night spotlight to the U.S. Later, he would do the same in college at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.ĭescribed by those who know him well as "quiet" and "cerebral," Conroy's not the spokesperson type. Rather than stay in hiding, he came right out to his high school teammates. "'It's just a better life, because I know what life was like when I was in high school.'"īut Conroy had a better idea. "I said, 'I think you should kinda keep it in your back pocket until you get through high school,'" Conroy's mother, Terry, told Lindbergh. They were immediately accepting but also worried.
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It's already put him in the Hall of Fame, and it's still offering a glimpse at a brighter, more inclusive future for professional baseball.Īs recounted in Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller's book about running the 2015 Stompers, The Only Rule Is It Has to Work, Conroy came out to his parents when he was a teenager. So far, though, Conroy's story has been different. Before becoming the first openly gay player in Major League Soccer, Robbie Rogers' coming out originally coincided with his retirement. Jason Collins and Michael Sam were celebrated for coming out but then swiftly nudged aside. Glenn Burke and Billy Bean had unhappy and short-lived careers as major leaguers who were not out publicly. The precedents for Conroy's experience aren't encouraging. The Stompers are one of only four teams in the independent Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs, where players make only a couple hundred bucks a month in a three-month season. The moment may have been surreal, but what happened last June was very real. Photo credit: Conroy family photo, courtesy of the Sonoma Stompers.