Gene Conley

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Gene Conley
Pitcher
Born: November 10, 1930 (1930-11-10) (age 77)
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 17, 1952
for the Boston Braves
Final game
September 21, 1963
for the Boston Red Sox
Career statistics
Win-Loss     91-96
ERA     3.82
Strikeouts     888
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • All star in 1954, 1955, and 1959

Donald Eugene Conley (born November 10, 1930) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played eleven seasons from 1952 to 1963 for four different teams. Conley was also played forward six seasons in the 1952-1953 season, and again from 1958 to 1964 for two teams in the National Basketball Association. He is best known for being the only person to win championships in two different sports, one with the Milwaukee Braves in the 1957 World Series and three Boston Celtics championships from 1959-61.

He also was the winning pitcher in the 1955 All-Star Game and was selected for the 1954 and 1959 games.

In 11 seasons pitching for the Braves, Phillies and Red Sox, Conley posted a 91-96 with 888 strikeouts and a 3.82 ERA in 1588.2 innings.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Conley was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. While still young, his family moved to Richland, Washington. He attended Richland High School where he played multiple sports. He reached the all-state team in baseball, and basketball, and was the state champion in the high jump.[1] Conley attended Washington State University, where in 1950, he lead Washington State to a second place national rank in college baseball. [1] In basketball, Conley was twice selected honorable mention to the All-America team, leading the team in scoring with 20 points per game.[1]

During the summer, Conley pitched semi-professional baseball in Walla Walla, Washington, in which scouts from almost every Major League Baseball team came to recruit him. [1] He also was getting contract offers to play professional basketball from the Minneapolis Lakers and the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. At first he declined the offers, saying that his family doesn't want him to sign any professional contracts until he finished school.[2] But the offers were getting bigger, and in August of 1950 he signed a professional contract with the Boston Braves for a $3,000 bonus. [1]

In 1949, he married They are still married and have three children and seven grandchildren.[3]

[edit] Minor League career

Conley attended spring training in 1951. He was assigned to Hartford of the Eastern League by the request of former Braves star Tommy Holmes, who was managing the club.[4] After a month, Conley had a record of five wins and only one lost and was praised by observers in the league, saying that he had the best fastball since former pitcher Van Lingle Mungo played in the league in 1933.[5] On June 10th, he threw a one-hitter against Schenectady Blue Jays, giving up the lone hit in the seventh inning.[6] Holmes was promoted to manager of the Braves on June 25, and was replaced by future Baseball Hall of Famer Travis Jackson.[7] By August 1st, Conley had a record of 16 wins, with only three losses, leading the league. [8] He was unanimously selected to the Eastern League All-Star team on August 29 [9] He received the Eastern League MVP award that season, after he became the first player in Hartford history to win twenty games in a single season. [10]

In the beginning of the 1952 season, Conley, along with fellow rookies George Crowe and Eddie Mathews, was invited to spring training, with a chance of making the roster.[11] Around that time, the United States Army was drafting for the Korean War. Many major and minor league players were selected to fight in the war, depleting team rosters. Conley was deferred because of his height (6'8'), which was above the Army maximum height for a solder.[12]

[edit] Professional Basketball career

In the middle of his first season of professional baseball, Conley agreed to sign with the Wilkes-Barre Barons of the strugling American Basketball League [13]

[edit] Professional Baseball career

[edit] Retirement

After his retirement, Conley started working for a dust tape company in Boston.[14] After a year working there, the owner of the dust tape company died. Conley later founded his own paper company, Foxboro Paper Company, in which he owned for 36 years until retirement.

Conley currently lives in Clermont, Florida, where he plays golf and watches the Orlando Magic play on his free time.[14] In 2004, his wife released a biography of him, called One of a Kind, which chronicled his life in both baseball and basketball and how his family dealt with him being gone for most of the year.[15]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e Roger Dove. "Conley Tabbed a Major Sure-Shot", The Sporting News, January 2, 1952, p. 2. Retrieved on 2008-01-03. 
  2. ^ Donald Honig. Baseball between the Lines: Baseball in the Forties and Fifties as Told by the Men Who Played It. U of Nebraska Press, 193-205. ISBN 0803272685. 
  3. ^ Jon Goode (March 2, 2005). Double play Catching up with Gene Conley. Boston.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
  4. ^ Bob Ajemian. "New Tempest Brews in Boston", The Sporting News, April 18, 1951, p. 14. Retrieved on 2008-01-05. 
  5. ^ "Eastern League", The Sporting News, May 30, 1951, p. 30. Retrieved on 2008-01-05. 
  6. ^ "Eastern League", The Sporting News, June 20, 1951, p. 34. Retrieved on 2008-01-05. 
  7. ^ "Travis Jackson Replaced Holmes in Harford helm", The Sporting News, July 4, 1951, p. 33. Retrieved on 2008-01-05. 
  8. ^ "Conley, 20, Tops E.L as Hill Winner", The Sporting News, July 4, 1951, p. 33. Retrieved on 2008-01-05. 
  9. ^ "Scranton Places 4 Players on Eastern League All-Star Team", The Sporting News, August 29, 1951, p. 33. Retrieved on 2008-01-05. 
  10. ^ "Conley gets MVP award", The Sporting News, September 26, 1951, p. 31. Retrieved on 2008-01-05. 
  11. ^ Al Hirshberg. "Ailing Braves to Try Old Fashioned Cure, More Daylightball", The Sporting News, December 12, 1951, p. 20. Retrieved on 2008-01-06. 
  12. ^ Steve O'Leary. "Braves Official High on Six-Eight Rookie", The Sporting News, November 21, 1951, p. 11. Retrieved on 2008-01-06. 
  13. ^ "Eastern League", The Sporting News, August 29, 1951, p. 33. Retrieved on 2008-01-05. 
  14. ^ a b Jeff Twiss. Timeout with Gene Conley. NBA.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  15. ^ Melanie Curtsinger. Gene Conley: One of a Kind. Orlando Magic. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Boston Celtics 1958-59 NBA Champions

6 Russell | 14 Cousy | 15 Heinsohn | 16 Swain | 17 Conley | 18 Loscutoff | 21 Sharman | 23 Ramsey | 24 S. Jones | 25 K.C. Jones | 29 Tsioropoulos | Coach Auerbach
v • d • e
Boston Celtics 1959-60 NBA Champions

6 Russell | 14 Cousy | 15 Heinsohn | 16 Richter | 17 Conley | 18 Loscutoff | 19 King | 20 Guarilia | 21 Sharman | 23 Ramsey | 24 S. Jones | 25 K.C. Jones | Coach Auerbach
v • d • e
Boston Celtics 1960-61 NBA Champions

6 Russell | 14 Cousy | 15 Heinsohn | 16 Sanders | 17 Conley | 18 Loscutoff | 20 Guarilia | 21 Sharman | 23 Ramsey | 24 S. Jones | 25 K.C. Jones | Coach Auerbach
v • d • e
Milwaukee Braves 1957 World Series roster