Sean Conroy

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| name = Sean Conroy

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| position = Pitcher

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1992|3|18}}

| birth_place = Clifton Park, New York, U.S.

| bats = Right

| throws = Right

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Sonoma Stompers ({{Baseball year|2015}}–{{by|2016}})

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Sean Conroy (born March 18, 1992) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He competed for the Sonoma Stompers of the Pacific Association.[http://pointstreak.com/baseball/team_roster.html?teamid=75371&seasonid=30269 Sonoma Stompers Roster] Conroy is prominently featured in the book The Only Rule Is It Has to Work, by Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller.{{Cite book|isbn=978-1627795647|title=The Only Rule is It Has to Work: Our Wild Experiment Building a New Kind of Baseball Team|last1=Lindbergh|first1=Ben|last2=Miller|first2=Sam|date=3 May 2016|publisher=Macmillan }} Conroy made history in 2015 as the first openly gay professional baseball player.

Early life

Sean Conroy was born on March 18, 1992. He grew up in Clifton Park, New York. He came out as gay to friends and family at the age of 16. He was open about his sexuality with teammates at both the high school and collegiate levels.[http://www.out.com/sports/2015/7/22/sean-conroy-first-active-pro-baseball-player-come-out-discusses-future "Sean Conroy, the First Active Pro Baseball Player to Come Out, Discusses the Future"]

College career

Conroy attended NCAA Division III Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he pitched for the Engineers baseball team.[http://www.rpiathletics.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=7243 Sean Conroy RPI Baseball biography] During his time at RPI, he amassed a 21–7 record with a 2.05 ERA. He struck out 223 batters in 259 innings of work. His senior season success earned him D3baseball.com second team All American honors, along with first team All-New York region honors.[http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-sports/article/Sean-Conroy-of-RPI-picks-up-honors-6285486.php "Sean Conroy of RPI picks up honors"]

Professional career

Following his senior season at RPI, Sean Conroy signed with the Sonoma Stompers of the Pacific Association. The team had never seen him pitch before, but signed him as a result of his impressive statistics at RPI. The team did not know his sexuality at the time of his signing. Upon his arrival Conroy began the process of telling individual teammates, and eventually owner Eric Gullotta.[http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2016/05/sean_conroy_the_first_openly_gay_player_in_pro_baseball_history_was_signed.html Article in Slate] Conroy made his debut after publicly coming out on June 25, 2015 during the team's "Pride Night" game. Conroy pitched a complete-game shutout while striking out 11 batters.[http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Pitcher-Sean-Conroy-Makes-History-as-Sports-First-Openly-Gay-Pro-309933491.html NBC Bay Area] Conroy finished the season with a record of 5–3 while maintaining at 2.70 ERA. He also earned 10 saves.[http://pointstreak.com/baseball/team_stats.html?teamid=75371&seasonid=29496&view=pitching Sonoma Stompers 2015 pitching statistics] In 2016, Conroy went 4–2 with a 5.02 ERA.[http://pointstreak.com/baseball/team_stats.html?teamid=75371&seasonid=30269&view=pitching Sonoma Stompers 2016 pitching statistics] Conroy retired from baseball in 2017.[https://www.outsports.com/2019/10/26/20933244/lgbt-sports-history-sean-conroy-milb-baseball-gay-sonoma-stompers-california “ LGBT Sports history: Sean Conroy was pro baseball’s first gay active player”]