On this day, May 7th, 3 years ago, Patrick 'PJ' Conlon became the first Irishman in 73 years to play in a Major League game. The Belfast born lefthander took the mound for the New York Mets as the starter against the Cincinnati Reds in front of just over 15,000 at Great American Ballpark. He pitched 3.2 innings in an eventual 7-6 win for the Mets, giving up 4 hits and 3 runs before being replaced by Paul Sewald in the 4th inning.
Conlon was born to an Irish father and Scottish mother in Belfast in 1993, the family moved to California some time before his 2nd birthday and he officially became an American citizen when he was 16. His Heritage made him the first Irish-American player to appear in Major League Baseball since Joe Cleary, a Cork native who pitched in one game for the Washington Senators in 1945.
By comparison, Conlon had a much more successful stay in the Majors than fellow countryman Cleary. Cleary pitched only 0.1 innings for the Senators, managing to face nine batters and giving up 7 runs in a 15-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Griffith Stadium. Conlon, however, went on to pitch in 2 more games for the Mets in 2018; He was the starter in an 8-5 win against the Atlanta Braves and pitched the last 2 innings of a 7-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Conlon returned to the Minors for the 2019 season, playing in 13 games across four different levels of the Mets organisation. He went as low as Rookie ball and as high as AAA in a season that saw him throw just 250 pitches and finish with a 4.91 ERA. Conlon was released by the Mets at the end of the 2019 season per his request and then retired from the game. He retired having played a total of 7.2 innings in the big leagues, giving up 15 hits, seven runs and two walks, striking out 5 and finishing with an 8.22 ERA.
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