One in a series looking back at notable individuals, teams and events in Western Pennsylvania high school sports.
Tim Conroy graduated from Gateway High School in early June of 1978. About three weeks later, he was pitching in the major leagues.
Conroy is one of five former WPIAL players who were first-round picks directly out of high school. But Conroy’s story is like no other.
On June 6, 1978, the Oakland A’s selected Conroy with the 20th overall pick. Only 17 days later, Conroy was the starting pitcher for the A’s against the Kansas City Royals. A’s owner, Charles O. Finley, had the wild idea of moving Conroy and Mike Morgan, another first-round pick out of a Las Vegas high school, straight to the majors without throwing one pitch in the minor leagues. The June baseball draft started in 1965. Since then, according to the Baseball Almanac, Conroy and Morgan are two of only 21 players to go straight from either high school or college to the major leagues.
“When Mr. Finley told me that, I was very stunned,” Conroy told the Post-Gazette in 1978. “Then, when he told me I was starting the second game of the doubleheader in Kansas City, I was speechless. I’ve never been so excited.”
Conroy pitched 3⅓ innings in that game against the Royals, allowed only two hits and one run. But he walked five. Less than a week later, Conroy made another start against the Texas Rangers and gave up five runs in 1⅓ innings and walked four. He did not get a decision in either game.
The A’s sent Conroy to the minor leagues after his second start. He made it back to the majors in 1982 and went on to play four seasons with the A’s and two with the St. Louis Cardinals. His best season was 1983 when he finished 7-10 with a 3.94 ERA. Counting 1978, Conroy pitched six seasons in the majors and had an 18-32 record.
But at Gateway High School, Conroy was one of the best pitchers in WPIAL history. He had a 22-2 career record and the losses came in 1977 and 1978, both to Penn Hills. The 1978 Penn Hills team, coached by Neil Gordon, went on to win a PIAA title.
Statistics tell of Conroy’s dominance at Gateway. A 6-foot, 180-pound left-hander whose fastball was clocked in the 90s, Conroy struck out 22 batters in one seven-inning game. One batter reached base when Gateway’s catcher dropped a third strike.
As a sophomore and junior at Gateway, Conroy did not give up an earned run. As a senior, he struck out 88 in 39 innings and had a 0.80 ERA.
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh
First Published: April 30, 2020, 9:30 a.m.
