Update: It was a good night for Belfast-born PJ Conlon as he helped the New York Mets to a 7-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in his major league debut. Conlon pitched just over three innings as the Mets’ bats woke up to end a six-game losing streak.

He also got his first major league hit and scored a run. As you might imagine, his family was more than a little excited.

It was a solid opening to a major league career. As for what happens next and when Conlon might get another game, that will depend on how Mets manager Mickey Callaway juggles his pitching roster ahead of the expected return of Jacob deGrom at the weekend.

 

Earlier story:

In Cincinnati on Monday night, PJ Conlon is set to take the mound in his first appearance for the New York Mets. When the 24-year-old left-hander throws his opening pitch against the Reds, he will become the first Irish player in the major leagues for more than 70 years, and the first Belfast native for more than a century.

The son of a Scottish mother and a father from the Falls Road, Patrick Joshua Conlon was born in the Royal Victoria Hospital and his family moved to California when he was two. He learned the game with encouragement from his father and by playing video games, before going on to play at the University of San Diego and being drafted (selected) by the Mets in 2015.

He made his first start in the organization for their Single-A (lowest-level) team, the Brooklyn Cyclones, and subsequently became the Mets’ minor league pitcher of the year in 2016. Last month, Conlon  made his debut for the Mets’ Triple-A (top ‘reserve-level’) team, the Las Vegas 51s (named, of course, after Area 51, although they’ll be changing their name and affiliation for next season).

And now he gets his big chance.

The Mets, who go into tonight on a six-game losing streak, have been having some problems with their pitching rotation and just parted ways with former ace Matt Harvey.

With Jacob deGrom going on the disabled list for a week with an elbow injury, manager Mickey Callaway decided not to disrupt his bullpen (relief pitchers, who come in later in the game) by giving one of them the start. So on Monday night, according to Major League Baseball, Conlon will become the 48th Irish-born player to appear in a top-level game, but the first since World War II.

Says Callaway: “He’s a guy that throws strikes, has a good changeup and maybe he can keep them off balance for a while and then let our bullpen come in and try to finish the job.” Mets beat writer Matthew Cerrone said last year: “He also has some sort of technique that – I swear – makes the ball seem like it slows down in mid-flight. It literally looks like he’s shooting a cotton ball out of [a cannon].”

Newspapers on both side of the Atlantic have profiled the young pitcher and pointed to how his story has been generating interest in baseball both in Ireland and among the expat community in the US. He recently told the New York Times: “I get people reaching out to me from Ireland through social media and they think it’s really cool.” His Twitter account is @pjconlon29.

Dave Hannigan wrote a nice piece about Conlon for the Irish Times in March, and recalled the last Irish player to turn out in the majors. Cork native Joe Cleary made his debut for the Washington Senators in August 1945. “At the end of any athletic career, most people are fortunate if they get a footnote in history,” Hannigan writes. “Cleary gets three. Not all are accolades he might have wanted”.

As his own major league chapter begins tonight, the Mets – and plenty of people in Belfast – are confident PJ Conlon will turn out to be much more than a footnote.

Tonight’s game starts at ten past midnight Belfast time, and you can follow PJ’s progress live at the New York Mets site.

*Also, if you’re interested in baseball in Ireland, check out The Emerald Diamond, an excellent 2006 documentary film by John Fitzgerald about the national team.


Also published on Medium.