Connor Grey, center, is pictured with his father, Randy, brothers Rich and Kyle, and mother, Lyn, following Tuesday’s New York Yankees-New York Mets game at Yankee Stadium in New York. Photo courtesy of Rich Grey
Connor Grey’s appearance on the New York Mets’ roster this week has placed him in some rarified air.
More rare, in fact, than one might think.
Dan Lunetta, the director of minor league operations for the Detroit Tigers, confirmed as much Wednesday night.
“The percentages that I have always felt are fairly accurate are 5 to 8 percent of players in the minor leagues in a given year may reach the major-league level,” the Jamestown native said. “That’s even for just one day. … The odds are long.”
Gray has grown accustomed to overcoming them over the last decade.
From his native Frewsburg, to St. Bonaventure University and from Bonas to minor league outposts like Hillsboro, Oregon, and Jackson, Tennessee, Gray has seemingly seen, and experienced, it all and yet has never blinked.
So when the SportsNet New York cameras panned to the Mets’ bullpen in the bottom of the fourth inning with the bases loaded with Yankees on Tuesday night, there was the 28-year-old warming up. Mets’ starter Taijuan Walker managed to wiggle out of the jam, however, and Gray sat back down and never did end up entering the game.
But the bottom line remained the same: The kid who grew up playing in the Frewsburg Little League nearly 20 years ago was in the visitors’ bullpen at Yankee Stadium.
The mere mention of it left another Frewsburg Central School alum in awe.
“What a deal,” said Shane Conlan (Class of 1982) in a cellphone conversation last night. “He must have worked his butt off to get that far. That’s insane.”
Conlan, the former Penn State University All-American and Pro Bowl linebacker with the Buffalo Bills, knows a thing or two about the grind that it takes to reach baseball’s pinnacle, because he was tempted to embark on the same journey almost exactly 40 years ago as he was nearing the end of his senior year at Frewsburg High.
A three-sport star for the Bears, Conlan’s first love was always baseball, so when the Pittsburgh Pirates came calling and invited him to a one-day tryout at Three Rivers Stadium in June 1982, he jumped at the chance, even though he’ d already been offered a full ride to play college football for the Nittany Lions.
The workout went well. So well, in fact, that a Pirates’ scout called Conlan, who was considered quite an outfield prospect, that night to find out what he had decided.
“My dad was like, ‘You’re going to school. You’ve got a scholarship, so you’re going to play football,'” Conlan said. “At the time, Joe Paterno said that I could play both. Maybe not my first spring, but in the second spring I could definitely play.”
Ultimately, he exchanged his diamond dreams for ones on the gridiron. Five years later, he was the eighth overall pick in the 1987 NFL draft and he eventually played in three Pro Bowls and three Super Bowls.
Still, Conlan seemed just as excited about Grey’s journey.
“It’s so cool for his family,” he said. “… To go through what he went through has to be a thrill.”
Lunetta said he wanted to sign Gray into the Tigers’ organization several years ago after looking at the reports on the right-hander.
“But signing a player who is a minor-league free agent is a committee call, so to speak, and I was overruled, which is fine,” Lunetta said. “That’s the nature of the beast. It happens. I’m very happy to see he has gotten the call, and I really hope he gets the opportunity to appear in a game, or games, with the Mets.”
Lunetta then recalled how Wynton Bernard, now with Colorado, was called up to the big leagues earlier this month after spending 10 years in the minors. Like Grey, Bernard even saw time in an Independent League before he landed with the Rockies.
“Don’t ever give up on a dream,” Lunetta said. “At one point in time, especially for an athlete, he or she is going to know if it’s time to walk away. Until you reach that point, don’t ever give up on that dream.”
Gray hasn’t.
“Man, it’s unbelievable what he’s achieved,” Conlan said. “I know how hard it is to get there.”
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