Hank Conger

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name = Hank Conger

|image = Hank Conger on March 22, 2016.jpg

|image_size = 300

|caption = Conger with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016

|team = Minnesota Twins

|number = 35

|position = Catcher/Coach

|bats = Switch

|throws = Right

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1988|1|29}}

|birth_place = Federal Way, Washington, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate = September 11

|debutyear = 2010

|debutteam = Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate = July 8

|finalyear = 2016

|finalteam = Tampa Bay Rays

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label = Batting average

|stat1value = .221

|stat2label = Home runs

|stat2value = 31

|stat3label = Runs batted in

|stat3value = 114

|teams =

;As player

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim ({{mlby|2010}}–{{mlby|2014}})
Houston Astros ({{mlby|2015}})
Tampa Bay Rays ({{mlby|2016}})

;As coach

Lotte Giants ({{by|2020}}–{{by|2021}})
Minnesota Twins ({{mlby|2022}}–present)

}}

{{Infobox Korean name|title=Korean name|hangul=최현|hanja=|rr=Choe Hyeon|mr=Ch'oe Hyŏn}}

Hyun Choi "Hank" Conger (born January 29, 1988) is an American former professional baseball catcher and current coach who serves as the assistant bench coach and catching coach for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). Conger was selected in the first round, with the 25th overall selection, of the 2006 MLB draft. He played in MLB for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Houston Astros, and Tampa Bay Rays from 2010 to 2016. Conger coached for the Lotte Giants of the KBO League from 2020 to 2021 before joining the Twins as a coach in 2022.

Early life

Conger was born in Federal Way, Washington, but was raised in Huntington Beach, California. Conger's mother, Eun, immigrated from South Korea in 1986 and his father, Yun, was adopted from Korea by a United States Navy petty officer and raised in the United States.{{cite news|last1=Whicker|first1=Mark|title=An Angel's life told as an American story|url=http://www.ocregister.com/2006/12/25/an-angels-life-told-as-an-american-story/|access-date=August 22, 2017|work=Orange County Register|date=December 25, 2006}}

Conger originally played basketball due to his size, but began playing baseball at the age of eight and turned his focus there instead. Conger graduated from Huntington Beach High School in 2006, where he was a second team All-American and Gatorade Player of the Year.{{cite web|title=Where are they now — featured people|url=http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/WhereAreTheyNow/Profiles/wherearetheynow_profilesHankConger.html|publisher=Cooperstown Dreams Park, Inc.|date=2010|access-date=July 12, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724180442/http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/WhereAreTheyNow/Profiles/wherearetheynow_profilesHankConger.html|archive-date=July 24, 2014}} Conger had planned to attend the University of Southern California if he had not been drafted in the first round.{{cite news |last1=Gonzalez |first1=Alden |date=May 10, 2013 |title=Angels catcher Hank Conger's mother marvels at son's MLB dream |url=http://m.angels.mlb.com/news/article/47074386/angels-catcher-hank-congers-mother-marvels-at-sons-mlb-dream |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714050534/http://m.angels.mlb.com/news/article/47074386/angels-catcher-hank-congers-mother-marvels-at-sons-mlb-dream |archive-date=July 14, 2015 |access-date=August 22, 2017 |work=MLB.com}}

Professional career

=Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim=

File:20110917-1504 Hank Conger.jpg]]

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim selected Conger in the first round, with the 25th overall selection, of the 2006 Major League Baseball draft. He was selected to represent the United States in the 2010 All-Star Futures Game. He hit a three-run home run, earning him MVP honors.{{cite web |date=July 12, 2010 |title=Hank Conger's 3-run homer lifts U.S. team to Futures win |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/allstar10/news/story?id=5372507 |access-date=September 7, 2010 |website=ESPN}}

He was promoted to the major leagues as part of September call-ups on September 7, 2010.{{cite web|first=Evan |last=Drellich |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100906&content_id=14377548 |title=Trumbo, Conger among Angels' callups | angelsbaseball.com: News |work=Mlb.mlb.com |date=September 6, 2010 |access-date=September 7, 2010}} He made his major league debut on September 11, 2010, as a pinch hitter for Hideki Matsui. His first hit in the major leagues came off of Cleveland Indians pitcher Jeanmar Gómez on September 15, 2010.{{cite web |last=Spencer |first=Lyle |date=September 15, 2010 |title=Conger, Weaver team up to top Indians |url=http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100915&content_id=14704320&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=ana |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100919232427/http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100915&content_id=14704320&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=ana |archive-date=September 19, 2010 |work=MLB.com}} His first home run came off of Jeff Niemann on April 5, 2011.

On July 19, 2011, Conger was optioned to the Salt Lake Bees of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL) to make room on the Angels' active roster for Tyler Chatwood. At the time, Conger was hitting .194 and opponents had been successful at stealing bases 48 out of 56 attempts against him. On August 18, 2011, the Angels recalled Conger.{{cite news |last=Ely |first=David |date=August 20, 2011 |title=Conger competing in Halos' catching logjam |url=http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110819&content_id=23438374¬ebook_id=23446144&vkey=notebook_ana&c_id=ana |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406173701/http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110819&content_id=23438374¬ebook_id=23446144&vkey=notebook_ana&c_id=ana |archive-date=April 6, 2012 |work=MLB.com}}

=Houston Astros=

On November 5, 2014, the Angels traded Conger to the Houston Astros in exchange for Nick Tropeano and Carlos Perez.{{cite news |title=Rays trade LHP Ramos to Angels for minor leaguer |url=https://www.espn.com/espn/wire?section=mlb&id=11827860 |access-date=November 5, 2014 |agency=Associated Press |work=ESPN.com |date=November 5, 2014 |quote=Earlier in the day, the Angels traded catcher Hank Conger to Houston for righty Nick Tropeano and minor league catcher Carlos Perez.}} Conger connected for his first career grand slam on August 1 off Jeremy Hellickson in the fourth inning versus Arizona Diamondbacks. He also had homered earlier in the second inning for his first career multi-home run game to lead a 9–2 win.{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/recap?gameId=350801118 |title=Conger, Correa both hit 2 homers as Astros down DBacks 9–2 |work=ESPN.com |agency=Associated Press |date=August 1, 2015 |access-date=January 20, 2025}} Despite hitting 11 homers in a part time role for the Astros, Conger did not control the running game.

=Tampa Bay Rays=

On December 2, 2015, the Tampa Bay Rays acquired Conger for cash considerations.{{Cite web |last=Topkin |first=Marc |date=December 2, 2015 |title=Rays trade for Astros catcher Hank Conger |url=https://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/rays/rays-work-to-tender-contracts-to-arbitration-eligible-players/2256248/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=October 16, 2024 |website=Tampa Bay Times |language=en}} Conger opened the 2016 season in a platoon with Curt Casali.{{Cite web |last=Mooney |first=Roger |date=March 30, 2016 |title=Curt Casali, Hank Conger to split duties |url=http://fantasy.usatoday.com/news/curt-casali-hank-conger-to-split-duties |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509063130/http://fantasy.usatoday.com/news/curt-casali-hank-conger-to-split-duties |archive-date=May 9, 2016 |website=USA TODAY}} Conger hit .194 before being optioned to the Durham Bulls on July 11, 2016.{{Cite web |last=Chastain |first=Bill |date=July 11, 2016 |title=Rays option Conger to Durham |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/rays-option-catcher-hank-conger-to-triple-a-c189245512 |access-date=October 16, 2024 |website=MLB.com}}

=Arizona Diamondbacks=

Conger signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks on February 9, 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/mlb/diamondbacks/2017/02/18/arizona-diamondbacks-catcher-hank-conger-out-oblique-strain/98097670/|title=Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Hank Conger out with oblique strain|first=Bob|last=McManaman|website=The Arizona Republic}} He played in 58 games for the Triple–A Reno Aces, batting .239/.316/.394 with six home runs and 40 RBI.{{Cite web |last=Alderton |first=Bryce |date=August 5, 2017 |title=Minor league update: Former Edison High standout contributing for Jupiter |url=https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/sports/tn-dpt-sp-milb-update-20170804-story.html |access-date=October 16, 2024 |website=Daily Pilot}} Conger was released by the Diamondbacks organization on July 28.{{Cite web|title=Minor MLB Transactions: 7/31/17|url=https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/07/minor-mlb-transactions-73117.html|access-date=July 19, 2024|website=mlbtraderumors.com|language=en}}

=Pericos de Puebla=

On May 4, 2018, Conger signed with the Pericos de Puebla of the Mexican League. He was released on July 11.

Post-playing career

=Lotte Giants=

On December 24, 2019, Conger joined the coaching staff of the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization as the new catching coach.{{Cite web |last1=HYO-KYUNG |first1=KIM |last2=YOO-RIM |first2=KANG |date=April 12, 2020 |title=Conger emphasizes focus to Giants' catchers |url=https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3075988 |access-date=October 16, 2024 |website=Korea JoongAng Daily |language=en}}

=Minnesota Twins=

On December 10, 2021, the Minnesota Twins hired Conger as the first base and catching coach.{{cite web |date=December 10, 2021 |title=Press release: Twins add Hank Conger to Major League coaching staff |url=https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-twins-add-hank-conger-to-major-league-coaching-staff |access-date=October 16, 2024 |website=MLB.com}}