Sonoma Stompers pitcher Sean Conroy made history by pitching a shutout on Thursday night, and he couldn’t have had better timing.
Conroy is the first openly gay professional baseball player, thus making him the first gay player to throw a shutout. The 23-year-old struck out 11 batters and only allowed three hits in nine innings pitched.
“He wanted to be that guy, and coming out here and doing this shows you what kind of man he is,” Stompers radio broadcaster Tim Livingston said, per The Associated Press. “To see this little field here in the middle of nowhere, when we look back, it will have been the perfect setting for this.”
Conroy spoke about being the first openly gay professional baseball player.
“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 couldn’t have picked a better day to pitch a gem. On Friday, a day after his historic accomplishment, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage cannot be banned in any state.
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