Openly Gay Pitcher Delivers Historic Gem

Sean Conroy pitches during Pride Night on Thursday night for the Sonoma Stompers. Conroy, 23, is the first openly gay active pro baseball player in history.

Danielle Putonen/Sonoma Stompers

Originally Published: Just A Bit Outside - Fox Sports

Rob Neyer, Columnist

Thursday night, I wrote a blog post about Sean Conroy, scheduled for his first professional start for the Pacific Association's Sonoma Stompers. Well, things could hardly have turned out better for everyone involved.

Except for the opposing Vallejo Admirals, as Conroy pitched a three-hit shutout. It took the first-year pro 140 pitches, but he struck out 11 Admirals and walked only one.

I'm late to this party. Conroy's been with the Stompers since Opening Day, having been recommended by the club's sabermetric consultants. Couple of fellows named Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller. Maybe you've heard of 'em.

It's hard to say exactly what Ben and Sam saw in Conroy -- they're saving all the gory mathematical details for their book -- but one might guess they appreciated Conroy striking out five times more batters than he walked in his last three seasons at D-3 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. And that he gave up only two homers in 217 innings.

Conroy wasn't drafted, though, which is why he was available to the Stompers. He probably wasn't drafted because he doesn't throw hard at all. They've got PITCHf/x in the Stompers' ballpark, so radio announcer Tim Livingston was kind enough to send me some details of Conroy's shutout:

Conroy sat 81-84 from a low 3/4-sidearm with a two-seam fastball. He relied mostly on his slider -- seven of nine hitters he saw were righties -- with tremendous break on the horizontal plane. He changes to an over-the-top curveball from time to time that sat around 75, and he threw a few changeups to the left-handed hitters.

Against righties, his arm slot comes from behind the eye line of the hitter because he throws off the third-base side, which makes it difficult to pick up. Is fearless about coming inside to righties, even with just 84, as the way he throws, it snakes back on the inside corner. He's got nasty stuff for this league, which favors the hitters.

He only had two hard hit balls all night: The double to P.J. Phillips (Brandon's little brother) on a 1-2 fastball in the first, and a hanger in the fifth that was snagged on a line drive at third.

Thanks, Tim! Nice job on the broadcast, by the way. Hit all the high notes and all the right notes, I thought. (At the end, the shutout complete, I laughed. Might have cried just a little, too. Wanted that shutout, bad.)

Thursday was Conroy's first start with the Stompers, but he's made a bunch of relief outings earlier in the season, and I don't quite know how he didn't show up on my radar until now. For most of the background, here's a story from Tuesday's Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

Oh. Right. I almost forgot to mention: Conroy's gay, and doesn't care who knows it.

Which makes him, as near as anyone can tell, the first publicly gay player in the history of professional baseball. Which seems like sort of a big deal. Considering how many thousands -- or, wait, is it hundreds of thousands? -- of professional baseball players came before Conroy.

Now, you might think this has been noticed just in the last two or three years. You know, with Michael Sam and Jason Collins. Well, a dozen years ago someone asked major-league pitcher Todd Jones, then with the Rockies, what he thought about having a gay teammate. His response included this gem: "I wouldn't want a gay guy around me."

From my response to Jones:

“I hope that, sometime in the near future, a gay baseball player comes out, and that he's strong enough to fight through all the crap he's going to get from jerks like Todd Jones. To me, that player will be a hero, more admirable than just about anybody else in the game, right up there with Jackie Robinson and Curt Flood and the few other professional athletes brave enough to stand up for something other than ever-growing paychecks.”

But punishing jerks for expressing their backward thoughts isn't going to make things any easier for the first player who comes out. We need to work on changing thoughts, not punishing people for having them.

It's 12 years later, and I wouldn't change a word of that. Except I wouldn't call Jones a jerk. That's one of the differences between the then-me and the now-me, as I generally try my best to hate the sin but love the sinner. I wasn't completely fair to Jones, however much I disagree with his sentiment (which, by the way, might have changed by now).

It's 12 years later, and we still haven't seen an openly gay major leaguer. Or an openly gay player drafted or signed by a major-league organization. Again, we're talking about thousands and thousands of young men, and there's no escaping the fact that dozens and dozens of them were gay. And probably scared to death that somebody would find out. Which is, by all accounts, a pretty terrible way to live.

The sport that revels, more than any other sport, in integration has been terribly slow here. Baseball should have been first, but instead it's apparently going to be last. Which means now it's just a question of how last. Hiring Billy Bean was a good step. Enthusiastically supporting umpire Dale Scott was a good step.

But the next step might well be the hardest: creating an atmosphere within professional locker rooms that will make gay players feel comfortable coming out. I don't think it'll take another 12 years, but then again I wouldn't have guessed it's taken this long.

It's highly unlikely that Conroy will pitch in the majors. Throwing 84, he probably won't even get a shot with an affiliated minor-league team. But however long it takes for the breakthrough, I'll bet the first publicly gay major leaguer will save a word of thanks for Sean Conroy. Because the best thing for the cause is good news on the field. And Thursday night, there was nine beautiful innings of good news.

First Openly Gay Pro Player, Sean Conroy, Gets Shutout In Historic Start

Sean Conroy warms up before Tuesday's game. On Thursday, in his first start of his professional career, he pitched a three-hit shutout while celebrating his coming out as the first active openly gay pro baseball player in history.

Christopher Chung/AP via The Press Democrat

Originally Published: The Associated Press, ESPN

AP Wire Services

Baseball history was made in Northern California wine country Thursday night when the sport's first active professional player to come out as gay pitched a shutout before an enthusiastic crowd that seemed more impressed with his performance than his role as a pioneer.

Sean Conroy, 23, led the Sonoma Stompers to a 7-0 victory during his first start with the 22-man team that is part of the independent Pacific Association of Baseball Clubs. The right hander struck out 11 players and allowed three hits over nine innings.

"He wanted to be that guy, and coming out here and doing this shows you what kind of man he is," Tim Livingston, the team's radio broadcaster, said after a ground ball ended the game and Conroy's teammates jogged over to hug him. "To see this little field here in the middle of nowhere, when we look back, it will have been the perfect setting for this."

The atmosphere at Arnold Field, the Stompers' 370-seat home field, was low-key, with no obvious signs it was a historic game or even gay pride night at the ballpark -- except for the rainbow-striped socks and arm warmers some players (but not Conroy) wore.

The Stompers did not make a special announcement or call attention to the milestone so Conroy could focus on his pitching, general manager Theo Fightmaster said.

When the starting lineup was announced, however, Conroy got the loudest cheer.

"We've had gay people here forever; it's not like it's a big deal," said Barry Bosshard, who along with his wife, Laura, is putting up Conroy and another player at their home during the Stompers' 78-game season. "But it's major pressure on him because he's never really broadcast it and he is a very humble, private person."

The Stompers recruited the upstate New York native out of college in May. Fightmaster says Conroy privately shared his sexual orientation with teammates and management before agreeing to come out publicly in time for the team's gay pride night.

"His goal has always been to be the first openly gay baseball player, so he was very much in favor of telling the story, of carrying that torch," he said.

Nancy Dito, 67, attended the game with 25 friends from a local group for LGBT seniors and was one of three fans picked to throw out a first pitch.

"It's great they cheered for him," Dito said of the warm reception for Conroy. "I think it's courageous and wonderful he's doing this."

Major League Baseball historian John Thorn confirmed Conroy is the first active professional to come out as gay. Glenn Burke, an outfielder for the A's and Dodgers, and Billy Bean, a utility player with the Tigers, Dodgers and Padres, came out after they retired.

"While this pitcher who was unknown to me before your call may not be a prospect for Major League Baseball, he certainly deserves our applause," Thorn said.

Conroy, who had earned four saves as a closer for the Stompers before taking the mound as a starter for the first time, said he told his family he was gay at age 16 and was open with his high school, summer league and college teams. It would have been strange not to do the same once he moved across the country and started making friends on the team in Sonoma, he said.

As far as coming out publicly, Conroy said he saw it as a way to help his team and to set an example for other players.

"It's not that I wanted it to go public, but I didn't care if it was open information. It's who I am," he said. "I am definitely surprised that no one else has been openly gay in baseball yet."

Conroy says he hopes to catch the eye of a big league scout but hasn't focused on much beyond this season.

The life of a Stomper is certainly a far cry from the majors. Players live with host families during the June-to-August season, earn $650 a month on average, and supply their own cleats, batting gloves and elbow guards.

Bean, who serves as Major League Baseball's ambassador of inclusion, said none of that diminishes his contribution to professional sports.

"It doesn't matter if he pitches in the big leagues or not; he's going to become a leader (tonight) in many ways," Bean said.

Conroy's history-making start came at a watershed moment for gay rights, with the U.S. Supreme Court scheduled to rule any day now on whether to make same-sex marriage legal across the nation.

Mark Vogler, 50, co-owner of a local company that sponsors LGBT tours and events in wine country, marveled from behind a fence not far from the catcher as he watched Conroy throw some of what turn out to be 140 pitches.

Vogler grew up in another part of Sonoma County and left as soon as he could because the anti-gay hostility was so high.

"To see Sean walk out and not get booed and have his teammates support him, it's heartwarming," he said.

On Historic Night, Conroy Thrills With Three-Hit shutout

Sean Conroy gets a congratulatory hug from Isaac Wenrich after throwing a 3-hit shutout on Pride Night as the first openly gay active player in professional baseball.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations 

Over 30 years since former Major Leaguer Glenn Burke announced to the public at large that he was gay and 15 years after another Major Leaguer, Billy Bean, did the same, a monumental moment for all of professional sports happened at a small, municipal field tucked away in the heart of the Sonoma Wine Country.

On Pride Night at Arnold Field Thursday evening, the first active openly gay player in the history of professional baseball not only made history, but did it in spectacular fashion. Sean Conroy threw a complete game shutout, allowing only three hits and striking out 11 to lead the Sonoma Stompers to a 7-0 victory over the Vallejo Admirals.

From the beginning of the evening, Conroy (2-0) had control of the environment of Arnold Field and the attention not just of the fans, but of local and national media that was on hand to cover Thursday's historic event. Yet with the spotlight shining bright on the 23-year-old from Clifton Park, New York, he never wavered, never crumbled, and if anything, he thrived under the pressure.

The sidearmer never touched above 84 MPH, but his fastball movement and wipeout slider kept Vallejo (8-13) off-balance. Conroy only had two balls hit hard all night long, one being a double hit by P.J. Phillips in the first and another on a line drive snagged by T.J. Gavlik at third base in the fifth.

Outside of those two balls hit by the Admirals, it was smooth sailing for Conroy. He didn't let a runner get past second base and never had more than one base runner on at a time. He allowed only three hits total, walked one and hit a batter. His 11 strikeouts were one shy of the team record set by Roman Martinez in 2014 and tied by Gregory Paulino on Wednesday night.

On Conroy's 140th pitch of the night, Kristian Gayday fielded the ball at third and threw over to first to end the game. After a hug from catcher Isaac Wenrich, the celebration line began and Conroy was warmly greeted by teammates and fans alike as he walked off the field. While talking to media after the game, the Conroy celebration continued when he got ambushed with an icy cold cooler of water from his teammates.

When asked about what the night meant to him, Conroy was still trying to put together what had just happened. "I still haven't been able to process it," said Conroy, "After the final out, I just wanted to celebrate with my teammates like we always have."

Offensively, Sonoma got big nights from Joel Carranza (3-for-4), Isaac Wenrich (2-for-4, two-run homer) and Fehlandt Lenten (two-run homer). All seven runs came consecutively in the third through sixth innings, as they chased Vallejo starter David Dinelli (3-2) just six days after Dinelli shut down the Stompers back in Vallejo.

Even with Sonoma sweeping a team for the fourth time already this season and the team winning 16 of their first 19 games, the greatest victory the Stompers have had this season came tonight. Conroy's start will be remembered not just for its dominance, but for it being exactly what he had hoped to do in making the start in the first place.

From the time he came out at the age of 16 to his friends and family, and to each of his teammates and team members since, he had wanted to set an example for others to follow, much like the way he has followed in the footsteps of Burke and Bean. Many times, the moniker of "role model" has been given to people because they exemplify peak performance for others to follow. Yet Conroy is a role model not just because of his performance, but because he understands the big picture of players like him in professional sports.

Jason Collins did it in basketball. Michael Sam did it in football. Now Sean Conroy has done it in baseball. It's his goal to continue up the professional ranks and give himself the opportunity to play at the highest level. With his remarkable start on Thursday night, his march towards that goal continues, and perhaps his courage will encourage others to do what he's done.

Sonoma goes on the road Friday for the first of three games in Pittsburg against the Diamonds. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. with the radio coverage beginning at 6:50 p.m. on StompersBaseball.com and the TuneIn app.

BOX SCORE

Paulino Dazzles, Stompers #StompOff In 1-0 Win

Gregory Paulino was sensational on Wednesday night, throwing the second complete game shutout of the season for Sonoma.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

By Bill James' game score, it was the single most dominant performance in the history of the Sonoma Stompers franchise. Nine shutout innings, only four hits, no walks, 12 strikeouts for a score of 91. Yet as the game entered the bottom of the ninth, it was still scoreless, and Gregory Paulino was hoping that somehow, some way, the his offense could get one run across and make good on his historic start.

Thanks to Vallejo Admirals errors in the inning, Paulino got his wish. On a double play ball with the bases loaded and one down, Juan Martinez took a ground ball at short and as he stepped on the bag at second, he airmailed a throw 10 feet over Joshua Wong's head at first, allowing Joel Carranza to score the game's only run and give Sonoma a 1-0 walkoff victory.

In the offensively-charged Pacific Association, where teams are scoring a combined 11.5 runs per contest, Paulino (2-1) and Vallejo's (8-12) Demetrius Banks put together two sensational performances. While Paulino was using all three of his pitches to keep hitters flailing at his offerings, Banks was using primarily a fastball with great movement to keep Sonoma's (15-3) high-powered offense at bay. In fact, by Pitch F/X numbers, Banks threw a fastball 80 times in 90 pitches on the evening.

As good as Banks was, however, it was Paulino who wowed everyone. The 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic touched 91 MPH with his fastball and had both a killer changeup and a slider that Vallejo couldn't touch. He threw 103 pitches and a remarkable 78 went for strikes, a 75.8% percentage. He only had issues in the fifth, when Vallejo got runners on first and second with two outs, but Paulino struck out both P.J. Phillips and Michael Cerda to end the inning.

The Admirals never got a runner past second base, and even when they tried to run on Paulino, Isaac Wenrich was ready with his rocket for an arm behind the dish. In the ninth, Jaylen Harris was trying to get into scoring position for Cerda, but he was thrown out by Wenrich trying to steal second base. It was the ninth time that Wenrich had thrown out a baserunner in 2015, and one pitch later, Paulino had his franchise record-tying strikeout.

After allowing eight runs in his first start of the season, Paulino has allowed only four earned runs and 14 baserunners (11 H, 3 BB) in his last 23 innings. He has struck out a batter an inning over that time, as well.

After not having a pitcher throw a complete game shutout in team history, the Stompers now have two in their past 10 days. Matt Walker's one-hitter against Pittsburg on June 15 and Paulino's performance Wednesday night are the only two shutouts in the Pacific Association this season.

The 2:12 game time makes Wednesday night's game the shortest in the Pacific Association this season. Of the 205 total pitches thrown by both teams, 137 went for strikes. Both teams had only four hits each.

Now, the spotlight will shine on Arnold Field once again Thursday night on Pride Night. Sean Conroy, who has been sensational as Sonoma's closer in 2015, will start the series finale to commemorate his status as the first openly gay player to enter the professional baseball ranks.

The first pitch for that night's highly anticipated event is set for 6:05 p.m. and the gates at Arnold Field will open at 5 p.m. Tickets are available online at StompersBaseball.com and at the Stompers Fan Shop located at 234 West Napa Street in downtown Sonoma. Tickets will also be available at the gate. For more information, call the Stompers at (707) 938-7277 or email the team at info@StompersBaseball.com.

Openly Gay Player Making Historic Start For Sonoma Stompers

Sonoma Stompers right-handed pitcher Sean Conroy throws with a teammate at Arnold Field during practice in Sonoma on June 23.

Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat

Originally Published: The Press Democrat

Lori A. Carter, Reporter

When pitcher Sean Conroy takes the mound in Thursday’s Sonoma Stompers game, he has two reasons to be a little nervous.

One, it will be the first start of his professional baseball career after serving as a reliever in the team’s first 18 games of the season.

And two, as the starting pitcher on Pride Night, Conroy will be acknowledging publicly that he is gay.

According to the Stompers, Conroy, 23, of Clifton Park, N.Y., is the first openly gay player to enter the professional baseball ranks.

His appearance, as part of gay pride celebrations this month throughout the Bay Area and the nation, is sure to generate headlines for the Stompers, who won attention last week with a visit from the controversial and always colorful Jose Canseco.

A few gay pro baseball players have come out after their careers ended, but none while playing Major League Baseball or in the minors, according to the Stompers, an independent minor league team unaffiliated with MLB or its farm system.

Conroy seems at ease with his milestone.

“I’ll be thinking of one, then the other. Then it will go away,” he said of making his first start, and of laying bare his private life while standing out there on the mound all by himself. “After the first pitch, everything goes away.”

Since he came out to his parents at age 16, Conroy has never actively hid his sexual orientation, so coming out Thursday won’t be a surprise to his friends or family, or necessarily a big pronouncement on gay rights.

But he understands the potential positive influence his experience can have on young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people struggling with their identities.

“I’ve always played baseball because it was fun, and I loved the sport,” Conroy said. “Being gay doesn’t change anything about the way I play or interact with teammates.

“I hope that in leading by example, more LGBT youth will feel confident to pursue their dreams, whatever those dreams may be.”

His historic start comes as the team celebrates Pride Month and leads into Pride Weekend in Northern California. Saturday and Sunday is San Francisco Pride Weekend, following several gay pride events in Sonoma County this month.

“I’m incredibly proud of Sean for taking this monumental step,” said Stompers president and CEO Eric Gullotta. “This is a courageous step he’s taking and we’re humbled that the Stompers are a small part of it.”

The recognition wasn’t anything Conroy sought. Many of his teammates knew — as did his high school and college teammates — and he’d spoken with Gullotta during a carpool one day. Conroy said he never felt the need to hide who he is or declare his orientation, letting the situation come up naturally.

Gullotta mentioned it to team general manager Theo Fightmaster, who said he wanted to help Conroy tell his story with the backdrop of area pride events.

He told Conroy he’d like to “help him carry that torch” if he felt comfortable with the potential notoriety.

“This is not the easiest workplace environment to do that in,” Fightmaster said. “In a perfect world, it doesn’t matter. But, sadly, it still does a little bit.”

“He wants to be that role model,” he said. “It’s a special young man that can not only throw a pretty good breaking pitch, but also looks at the big picture.”

Conroy’s big picture is his baseball dream.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound right-hander is 1-0 in six appearances and hasn’t allowed an earned run. In seven innings of work, he’s struck out six hitters, walked one and allowed two hits. He leads the Pacific Association with four saves and is holding opposing hitters to a meager .125 batting average.
 
Undrafted out of Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute in New York this year, Conroy was the college team’s ace this season, which ended in May. He was 6-2 with a 1.87 ERA in 82 innings, striking out 87, his senior year.

The Liberty League Pitcher of the Year and second-team Division III All-American caught the eye of Stompers sabermetricians. They loved his stats and alerted team ownership, who signed Conroy the day after his college season ended.

Since arriving in Sonoma County a month ago, Conroy has moved in comfortably with a host family just outside Sonoma and made friends on the team, including second baseman Sergio Miranda, who suggested the rest of the team may try to show its support for Conroy publicly in some way.

“I was joking with some teammates that I should wear those high rainbow socks,” Conroy said. “I love having the support, especially on Pride Night, when the fans are there for the cause and not just me.”

Stompers Impress Again In 10-3 Win Over Admirals

Third-base coach Takashi Miyoshi congratulates Danny Baptista after his solo homer that led off the second inning of Tuesday night's 10-3 victory over Vallejo.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

For the fourth time in 2015, the Sonoma Stompers had a double-digit run output and took advantage of seven Vallejo Admirals errors en route to a 10-3 victory at Arnold Field on Tuesday night.

Sonoma (14-3) had 13 hits on the evening and were led by great nights from both Danny Baptista and TJ Gavlik. The 7- and 8-hitters for Sonoma did a ton of damage in their first trips to the plate, with the duo going back-to-back with solo homers to lead off the second inning and give Sonoma a lead they would not relinquish.

Baptista went 3-for-4 on the evening to up his batting average to .391. He's now the leading hitter in the Pacific Association. Gavlik went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two driven in while filling in for the injured Kristian Gayday at third base. Also adding two hits were Fehlandt Lentini, which included his team-leading sixth double of the season, and Joel Carranza.

On the hill, starter Eric Schwieger (3-0) was very good, allowing only five baserunners (three hits, two walks) and two earned runs while striking out seven in his six innings of work. Jerome Godsey came in to replace Schwieger in the seventh, and the former SRJC star got out of a big jam in the seventh when Vallejo (8-11) was threatening after a double by Brad Young.

Young's double plated Jordan Hinshaw to make it 6-3, but Kale Sumner got waved home as Matt Hurley got to the ball in the left field corner. A perfect relay throw got to catcher Isaac Wenrich with Sumner some 30 feet in front of home plate, making it an easy first out for the Stompers in the inning.

Next up was Joshua Wong and he hit a sharp ground ball to shortstop, but Young started running to third on contact, making him an easy target for Gered Mochizuki to throw in front of at third base for the second out of the inning. Vallejo made three outs at either third base or home plate on the evening, making it a difficult night both on the basepaths and in the field for the Admirals.

Godsey would complete the final two innings without much issue and notch his first save and the fourth three-inning save of the season for the Stompers. Sonoma has allowed only eight runs in 52 innings of relief work this season and have now taken three out of the last four against Vallejo.

The two teams will return to Arnold Field on Wednesday evening for game two of their three game series. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at StompersBaseball.com or by visiting the Fan Shop at 234 West Napa Street in downtown Sonoma. They can also be purchased at the gates of Arnold Field beginning one hour before first pitch. For more information, call (707) 938-7277 or email the Stompers at info@StompersBaseball.com.

After Three Weeks, Stompers Are Gold Standard Of Pacific Association

The Stompers are on a roll after three weeks of play in the Pacific Association.

Robbi Pengelly/Sonoma Index-Tribune

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

With many excited eyes on the team coming into 2015, it seems that the Sonoma Stompers have found a way to exceed even the highest of expectations. At 13-3, Sonoma is six games ahead of both Vallejo (8-10) and San Rafael (7-9) coming into Tuesday's action, and they're doing it with exemplary performances in all facets of the game. When Grantland's Ben Lindbergh and Baseball Prospectus' Sam Miller were brought on to help Sonoma from a baseball operations and scouting perspective, many believed that the Stompers would have an immediate advantage just because of both men's expertise. Yet even the duo that hosts the Effectively Wild podcast will tell you that they didn't expect a start like this.

"Nope." said Lindbergh when asked about the start, "I hadn't even seen the other teams before the season started. It was really hard to anticipate how we'd compare."

After three weeks, the Stompers have solidified their grasp on the top spot in the Pacific Association. No other team has as prolific an offense, with a team triple-slash of .302/.386/.448. The team's .834 OPS is 114 points higher than second-place San Rafael's. They lead the league in hits (179), extra-base hits (49), runs (116) and homers (18). They're tied for the league lead in walks (69) and have struck out the fewest times (122).

From 1-to-9, the team has been a constant offensive force, with five players batting .300 or better and six players above .370 in on-base percentage. The lowest slugging percentage on the team amongst regulars is .357, and all nine regulars have an OPS of at least .789.

"This is a really spectacularly deep team," said Miller, "As much as anything, I think it's just that there's no soft spot for teams to feast on. With 22-man rosters in this league, we're winning because we don't have a 22nd man."

To put the OPS numbers in perspective, the range of the nine regulars begins at Joel Carranza's .789 and ends at the top with player-manager Fehlandt Lentini's .954. The league average OPS through the first three weeks is .756 for eligible hitters (2.7 PA/game). All nine starters are at least 33 points above average, and Lentini's fourth-best mark is 1.45 standard deviations above the average, putting him in the 97th percentile in the league for offensive performance. The 37-year-old Sonoma native has been the star of the team so far, and much like fellow Sonoman Jayce Ray in 2014, he's putting together an MVP-level performance.

Yet with an offense performing as well as Sonoma's has, the ominous cloud of regression looms large. Last year, the idea of cluster luck was introduced and became one of the key concepts in determining how teams go on hot and cold streaks. It became a go-to example for whether the performance of a team was based on talent or timing. With the early season results, the Stompers might be susceptible to cluster luck, but with all nine regulars performing at such a high level, it's tough to see even with regression that the team will lose too much steam.

"We definitely have some of the league's best players. Feh certainly is," says Lindbergh, "I think the differentiating factor is the depth. We have the really good guys, but we don't have the really bad guys. I think even post-regression we could still be really good. I believe the bats."

"We have the depth to give guys days off, or if the pitching staff gets tired to swap one of the relievers in for a starter for a couple times through the rotation, so we should be a little less vulnerable to a fatigue- or injury-based slump," said Miller.

Defensively, Sonoma has a league-leading ERA (3.34) and has allowed the fewest walks in the league (47). The Stompers' run differential through the first 16 games sits at +50, and while the offense gets a lot of ink, a lot of credit also goes to a pitching staff that has induced plenty of weak contact and a stable defense that has been terrific behind that staff.

One look at the stats shows Sonoma way ahead of the other teams in both hits (129) and runs (66 R/53 ER) allowed. That's 34 fewer hits than San Rafael and 42 fewer runs. They've also allowed the fewest home runs (12). Batters are hitting just .237 against Sonoma with a .346 slugging percentage. Using the 2.7 PA/game cutoff, that's akin to the sixth-worst batter in the league on average.

It's a part of the team that Miller says might be the best thing that the Stompers have done so far in 2015.

"I think defense tends to not slump nearly as much as everything else, and our defense is probably the single factor that has thus far set us apart," he said. "We've allowed .8 unearned runs per game this year; the league average is 1.8 per game. And beyond those unearned runs is the corresponding improvement in our range, slowing the running game, avoiding wild pitches and past balls, etc."

In the outfield, Lentini roams center like a gazelle and makes the difficult plays look routine. Matt Hibbert is a center fielder by trade playing in right and can cover whatever ground Lentini can't, which isn't much in the first place. Mark Hurley has already added a couple of plays to a growing highlight reel early on, giving Sonoma the best defensive outfield in the league.

Miller agrees. "Having three de facto center fielders has made our outfield defense insane."

On the infield, Kristian Gayday is a smooth gloveman at the hot corner with a strong throwing arm. Up the middle, veteran infielders Gered Mochizuki and Sergio Miranda are a solid tandem and have worked well with the few early-season shifts the Stompers have employed. Danny Baptista has taken most of the innings at first base, showing off great reflexes and a reliable pick. He's also had a couple games at third base and has looked good there, as well. Utilityman TJ Gavlik might be the best defensive infielder on the team and has already made some terrific plays in only seven games.

Lindbergh credits Sonoma's advanced scouting and charting with a lot of the success early on. "[It's] probably the most tangible effect of what we've done so far," says Lindbergh, "The players seem to value the scouting information." In addition to the scouting, the Stompers have used video recordings to help players make adjustments both at the plate and on the mound.  One player in particular who saw a benefit was Paul Hvozdovic, a left-handed reliever.

"Paul asked to see video of an appearance when he thought his mechanics were off. And I showed him, and it confirmed what he was thinking. He was able to correct the problem in his next appearance, and threw three scoreless innings." That came this past Saturday against Vallejo, when Hvozdovic's late-innings work kept the game in reach for Sonoma to come back and defeat the Admirals, 8-7.

All of this information when used correctly can be helpful to the team, and even if it's hard to quantify the effects of looking at video or hitting tendencies in advanced scouting reports, if any of it is the least bit positive, it's something a team will use in order to help them win. That's the essence of what Lindbergh and Miller have been doing, and they're hoping that the pieces of information they're able to provide to the players will continue the team's successful run so far.

"Ben and I have a lot of improvement we need to make before I'd claim we've added anything," Miller said, "This has been the players playing well. It all comes down to execution."

Stompers Take Vallejo Series Convincingly With 9-3 Win

Mark Hurley's four hit day helped the Stompers to a series victory over the Vallejo Admirals.

James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers

Tim Livingston, Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations

After facing adversity on Saturday and responding with a thrilling comeback win, the Stompers on Sunday looked more like the team that has run roughshod over the Pacific Association through the first three weeks of the season.

Beginning with Fehlandt Lentini's leadoff homer and ending with a five-run fourth inning that saw 10 batters come to the plate, the Sonoma Stompers rode their impressive offense to victory yet again on Father's Day with a 9-3 win over the Vallejo Admirals.

Lentini swung at the second pitch of the game off starter Scott Weinschenk (0-1) and hit it deep and out to left field to get Sonoma (13-3) out to the early lead, and from there, it was business as usual for the Stompers, who had yet another double-digit hitting day with 12.

While Lentini's blast, his third of the season, was most definitely the loudest hit of the day for the Stompers, left fielder Mark Hurley continued his tremendous run at the plate with a four-hit day and even reached a fifth time on an error by Vallejo (8-10) second baseman Michael Cerda. With six hits in the series, Hurley's batting average has climbed from .239 up to .313 since June 14.

In addition to big days from Lentini and Cerda, Gered Mochizuki and Danny Baptista had two hits each, with Mochizuki driving in three runs and Baptista raising his team-leading batting average to .369. He's now only one point behind Vallejo's PJ Phillips for the league lead in hitting.

The offense was reminiscent of the performances that have defined the incredible start of the 2015 season for the Stompers. This week saw the team's offense take a step back at points, but yet even with those setbacks, the team's overall performance has continued to be exceptional even in an offensively charged league.

Their triple slash line of .302/.386/.448 is still by far the best in the Pacific Association, with the team's .834 OPS 114 points ahead of second-place San Rafael. And while the offense has gotten most of the headlines by averaging 7.25 runs per game, the pitching has been up to task, as well.

Matt Walker (2-0) followed up the first ever complete game shutout in Stompers history on Tuesday with another quality start on Sunday afternoon, allowing three runs on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Walker leads all Stompers starters in ERA and innings pitched through the first three weeks.

The bullpen continued its sensational run, as well. Jon Rand, Jr.'s three innings of shutout work earned him yet another three-inning save, his second of the year. That's now a 1.29 ERA for the Stompers bullpen, as they've allowed only seven runs in 49 innings as a unit.

The team has a league-best 3.34 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP and a lot of it has been batted-ball based. The team has only 111 strikeouts as a team, by far the worst in the league, but they've also only walked 47 batters, yet another league-best mark. So while there is some luck involved, there's also some weak contact that is driving these results and keeping the Stompers at the front of the pack in the Pacific Association.

After an off day on Monday, the Stompers will welcome Vallejo to their home, Arnold Field, for the first of three games on Tuesday night with the first pitch set for 6:05 p.m. Tickets begin at just $4 and it will be a Big Bargain Tuesday with Rawhide Dogs costing fans only a $1 each.

Stompers Conquer Adversity In 8-7 Comeback Win

Joel Carranza looks at his team-leading fifth homer of the season that helped spur on the Stompers come-from-behind win in Vallejo on Saturday night.

Danielle Putonen/Sonoma Stompers

Sam Miller, Special Assistant to the GM, Scouting

It’s clear early in this season that the Stompers can hit, and pitch, and field, and steal, and rip off the sort of hot streak that leaves the rest of the league five games back two weeks in. What wasn’t clear was whether they could do the one thing that every team, even every great team, must: Bounce back from adversity.

And now we know.

After two close, hard-fought losses to Pittsburg and Vallejo, the Stompers went into Saturday’s game looking to avoid their first losing streak of the season. They fell behind, then further behind, and before the twilight shadows had even reached the field Sonoma was down 7-2. Vallejo’s starting pitcher Nick Flory was painting corners in the middle innings, slowly expanding the strike zone and repeatedly enticing Stompers to take fastball hacks against off-speed finesse. Through six, he had allowed just the two early runs on a wind-aided home run by Mark Hurley, striking out five and walking just one. And that’s when Sonoma’s thunder struck.

With one out in the seventh, Sergio Miranda and Gered Mochizuki put together back-to-back doubles; Joel Carranza and Isaac Wenrich followed with back-to-back home runs, and in a five-minute spree the Stompers had cut the lead from five to one—and knocked the beguiling Flory out of the game.

By that point, the Stompers starter Mike Jackson, Jr. was also in the showers, having fought through five innings. While the converted reliever wasn’t as sharp as he had been in his first two starts, he also wasn’t as bad as his final line (seven runs, four earned, on 12 hits) appeared. Many of those hits were aided by a thick Vallejo infield surface, which restrained groundballs so tightly that quality pitches were turning into timid infield singles. (No such excuse exists for allowing P.J. Phillips’ long third-inning home run, however.)

Jackson gave way to lefty Paul Hvozdovic, who rebuffed the Admirals’ assault and kept the lead at five—then, after the Stompers’ seventh-inning rally narrowed the gap, to one.

Meanwhile, after Flory left, the Admirals turned to Josh Evans, a hard-throwing right-hander who had struck out 17 batters in 11 innings and allowed just one run on the year. The previous night, Vallejo’s power bullpen shut down the Stompers, but against Evans Sonoma rallied: Matt Hibbert doubled and Fehlandt Lentini did, too, tying the game. An error at first base put runners at the corners, and, with one out, Gered Mochizuki grounded to second base. That thick infield again claimed its toll, slowing the ball enough that Vallejo couldn’t turn an inning-ending double play. Mochizuki beat the relay to first while Lentini crossed the plate.

Hvozdovic returned to the mound and held the Admirals scoreless once more, striking out Glenn Walker with the tying run in scoring position. Hvozdovic stomped off the mound in triumph, having struck out four while allowing only one baserunner.

The only sour mark came when Kristian Gayday, in a race against Flory to first base, lunged for the base and landed with awkward force. He crumpled to the ground and writhed in pain for more than a minute. He was able to leave the field unassisted a couple minutes later, with a limp but some optimism that the injury will be no worse than day-to-day.

Saturday was not the first time Sonoma has trailed big this year, and it was not the first time they back, either. The Stompers trailed Pittsburg 9-2 in the season’s first series and won, 10-9. They trailed San Rafael 5-0 last weekend and won. And, on Saturday, they completed the tour of the league’s bullpens, rallying from five down against Vallejo. It’s as though they’re touring the region and spray painting their message: No Lead Is Safe.

In the most literal sense, the explanation for their ability to comeback is obvious: They have a deep lineup that puts sustained pressure on pitchers; they have power and speed, patience and aggression, and no matter what sort of pitcher they’re facing they have a solution in the lineup who matches up well. And they have an extremely powerful bullpen, one that confidently shuts down offenses for half-games at a time, a five-man unit that, after Saturday’s game, has thrown a cumulative 46 innings and allowed just seven runs—a 1.39 ERA.

But maybe the most important factor, and the most daunting one for the rest of the Pacific Association, is simply this: When they take a punch, they spring right back up. For league rivals looking for Sonoma’s weakness this year, cross one possibility off the list: This team knows how to bounce back from adversity.

Jose Canseco Is Coming To A Ballpark Near You And He's Looking For Redemption

Jose Canseco steps to the plate.

Spencer Silva/SB Nation

Originally Published (With Video & Audio): Athletics Nation - SB Nation

pencer Silva, Columnist

Jose Canseco is not boring; never was, never has been, never will be. With so much fuss being made of "playing the game the right way" and "respecting the unwritten rules" of baseball, it's easy to forget why we love watching sports: it's the only truly unpredictable form of entertainment. Mr. Canseco embodies that particular brand of entertainment, both on and off the field.

During his pro career, he was famous for mammoth shots well into the upper decks of major league ballparks, authoring Major League Baseball's first 40/40 season, and also authoring "Juiced," the book in which he outed himself as the so-called "godfather" of baseball's now infamous Steroid Era.

He's received equal attention for his off-the-field exploits, which range from run-ins with the law, insisting Madonna wanted "his genes" in the form of a love child, shooting off his own finger with a semi-automatic shotgun, firing rounds at sharks while deep sea fishing (with a different semi-automatic weapon), hosting pool parties debated in the halls of congress, auctioning off a fire-breathing, horned Bud Selig portrait on twitter, and painting his pet turtle -- aptly named "Juiced" -- to resemble Iron Man. The list could go on and on... and on.

Since leaving Major League Baseball, Canseco has made a second career out of playing for non-affiliated minor league baseball teams -- or, more colloquially, independent league teams. This past weekend -- as AN readers will know -- Canseco played for the Sonoma Stompers and has signed a three-day contract to play for the Pittsburg Diamonds next week (June 23-25). (Vivek wrote a nice piece about the Diamonds and Canseco, which you can read here.) The fans will be treated to the customary Jose Canseco experience: a handful of at-bats, batting practice, and, on Thursday, a home run derby.

I went to last Friday's game in Sonoma and had a chance to catch up with Canseco to find out what he's been up to, and how, despite being long in the tooth (in baseball years) and down a finger (it's still there, but he'll never have full use of it), he manages to compete with players half his age, as he puts it.

Jose Canseco is still massive. Even at 50 -- he'll tell you he's 51 -- some 250 pounds hang from his 6-foot-4-inch frame. Veins twist around his forearms like vines on a stone column, his biceps the size of watermelons, and his teeth are so white they look like they must glow in the dark. He's just finished a round of batting practice on this hot Friday afternoon, and he sits on the dugout bench to answer a few questions. He's in great shape, but, catching his breath, mentions "I haven't taken that kind of BP in awhile."

Up first: Jose, why are you here?

People have drinking addictions, smoking addictions, drug addictions. My addiction is baseball. It's real simple. I enjoy being here, and, for me, it's an excuse to get in shape, to stay in shape and compete with guys half my age... I mean, I wouldn't care if I strike out four times, or if I hit a home run. It's going to be the same for me -- it's gonna be a great time.

Canseco didn't strike out four times Friday. In fact, he didn't even strike out once. Before the game he joked about his eye sight and how he needed to 'get out in front' on fastballs. But, the truth is, his bat speed is still elite. I shot the footage below at 400 frames per second (FPS) and, despite his age, his swing was still quicker than many of the others I shot at a much slower 120 FPS.

The swing yielded a deep fly out to centerfield. The Stompers' home, Arnold Field, is some 425 ft. to dead center, and this ball fell just 15 feet shy of the ivy-covered wall -- the wind was blowing in, too. Despite the Oh-fer, a palpable excitement filled the grandstand every time he stepped into the box. Asked how fans normally react to him these days, he said:

“You know, it's funny, cause it just depends. If I hit a home run my first at bat, the crowd goes crazy. So I think the fans see me physically and think, ‘wow, he's 51, but looks great physically.’ I don't think they want to see an old guy out there striking out, or swinging weakly. They want to see a Jose Canseco of the actual past, they want to see an aggressive swing. Sure, the fans would love to see me crush one over those lights, and kinda relive the old Oakland A's days. I would love to do that for them.”

The next evening at Arnold Field, he treated fans to the throwback he aspired to. In his third at-bat, he scorched a first-pitch fastball up in the zone from former Padres farmhand Max Beatty -- a pitch clocked at 90 mph, no less -- an estimated 410 feet over the bleachers in left center field.

He's right. No one wants to see an aging slugger, even one as great as Canseco, embarrass himself against competition he's clearly incapable of playing against. Upon review, however, it appears he still has more talent in his quinquagenarian body than most of us could ever dream of. Sure, he doesn't run well, the reason he's DH-ing in most of these events, but something special happens when he wraps his hands around that bat. It's as if the rasped piece of wood breathes new life into his aging body. The blurred image of a middle-aged man in a baseball uniform suddenly sharpens into the likeness of a former MVP. It's magical.

What's more, is... he's having fun. For someone with a choleric reputation (and an impressive rap sheet), he doesn't mind a laugh at his own expense. In fact, he welcomed the Stompers' four-fingered foam-hand promotion, a nod to the mishap that led to him shooting off his own finger last year, cleaning a shotgun. He wants to set his brash image aside and contends that his exploits have been overblown by the media for some 30 years, that the real Jose Canseco is a... nerd?

People who really know me, that spend day to day with me, know who I really am, and I'm really... a... a nerd. I mean, I may not look it, but people who know me, know I'm extremely quiet and conservative. Um, I'm a very pensive individual and sure, I make mistakes like anyone else -- I mean I shot my damn finger off -- but I'm not what the media has portrayed me to be for the last 30 years. Not even remotely close. Anyone who really knows me will tell you that.

He's equal parts self deprecating and confident, a coexistence hilariously found throughout the interview.

When you talk to Canseco about hitting, it's immediately clear you've broached a comfortable subject. He speaks much about the "Art of Power Hitting." And, if power hitting is an art form, Canseco is one of its masters, a Rembrandt or a Caravaggio. Despite what one may think, he doesn't preach the word of fence-swinging, but rather, compression:

People think I try to hit home runs, but I don't. I try to compress the baseball as hard as I possibly can, and when you do that: it goes. I try to hit the ball extremely hard. I don't try to hit balls out of the ballpark.

He says he's patenting an "invention" of his right now, a device he calls the PX4040 (or the "Power Extended 40/40"). It's the size of an elbow guard, and he claims that it adds "11 mph" of bat speed to a swing with its use. It's hard to know what to take at face value with Canseco, a man endearingly prone to hyperbole (in Juiced, for instance, he claimed to have run a 3.9 40-yard dash, which would be the fastest time on record).

After his "playing days" are over, he hopes to enter the coaching ranks. There's still a long row to hoe before he regains the trust of Major League Baseball, but it's hard not to believe Canseco is a relatively untapped resource for hitting instruction. Asked if he'd be interested in rejoining the MLB as a coach, he said:

I would love to. I think it's definitely been closed off. I think eventually I might be able to, if someone gives me a chance to be a, you know, a third base coach or hitting instructor at the major league level. I can definitely help out the power hitters to approach the ball with the proper angle and technique and compress it more and get some backspin behind it, to make the ball go further. I definitely know how to do that. Even at my age of 51.

The conflation of the past, present and future is blurry with Canseco. On one hand, he travels around the country doing events, largely on the back of a celebrity gained, at least in part, from stoking controversy and losing friends -- though he's quite proud of blowing the lid off baseball's steroid epidemic, even taking some credit for "cleaning up" the game. On the other hand, Canseco wants to be accepted back into major league parks. Last year's 1989 World Series reunion was a big event for Canseco, and in the broadcast booth, he found himself choked up describing the love and appreciation he felt from A's fans and the organization.

I was kind of in shock that they contacted me and asked me to do it.  I saw a lot of my former teammates, and they accepted me quite well. We relived the 1989 world series, and the fact that we won. I didn't know what kind of reply I would get from the fans, but I got a positive reply from them, and it was great.

If Jose Canseco comes through your town this summer -- and he probably will -- pay a visit to your local ballpark. He's still worth the price of admission.