Conroy’s historic start gets Hall of Fame honor

Cooperstown comes calling for Stompers thanks to Pride Night|

It will go down as a seminal moment both in the short history of the Sonoma Stompers franchise and of the much longer story of professional sports. On June 25, 2015, Sean Conroy made his first professional start in front of the home crowd at Arnold Field on Pride Night, which commemorated Conroy being pro baseball’s first openly gay player.

He pitched a three-hit shutout, striking out 11 to earn a win. That historic night will now forever be remembered in Cooperstown, as the National Baseball Hall of Fame announced this past Friday it has officially commissioned artifacts from the game for enshrinement.

“When I found out I was going to be in the Hall of Fame it was definitely unexpected,” said Conroy. “I feel honored that they recognized the whole team and the way in which they supported me and each other that night.”

The Hall of Fame has received the lineup card signed by the entire Stompers team and the official scorecard for record keeping. At the end of the season, the Hall will receive other mementos from the game, including Conroy’s jersey and game hat, a couple of game balls and the now iconic rainbow-colored socks and armbands worn by Conroy’s teammates in support of him. Conroy’s big night occurred mere hours before the United States ruled in favor of marriage equality on June 26. Last week, Milwaukee Brewers minor leaguer David Denson also announced openly he was gay, becoming the first player with a Major League team to do so. Conroy had been in contact with Denson leading up to the announcement.

“It’s surreal. I’m so proud of Sean,” said general manager Theo Fightmaster, “The Stompers are honored to have played whatever role we have played during this chapter of Sean’s career and be a small part of baseball history.”

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