BRIAN RICHESSON | SCRAPPERS Conroy breaks out of slump, learns to deal with adversity
Don't feel too much sympathy for Mike Conroy.
The Mahoning Valley Scrappers left-fielder began the season hitless in his first 25 at-bats before he got two hits Wednesday night against the Hudson Valley Renegades.
Conroy is only 19 years old, but he's mature enough to recognize that baseball is a game of streaks. So he accepted the fate he had been given.
"No one wants to start the season 0-for-25, but I guess it happens," said Conroy, a native of Scituate, Mass. "When they [the hits] come, they come in bunches. You know you're going to hit. It's just a matter of when."
Had similar slumps
Conroy said he had fallen into similar slumps in the past. He had them at Boston College High School (Mass.). He had them in his first professional season last year at Rookie-League Burlington.
"It's a lot different up here," he said of pro ball. "You play every single day. Every at-bat you can get out of it. You're going to get a lot of at-bats, so you can't really put too much pressure on yourself."
That's exactly what Conroy did -- he stayed composed. He told manager Chris Bando he wanted to be in the lineup, and he woke up every morning planning to break out of it.
"Chris Bando could have sat him down because he was struggling. Mike didn't want to come out of the lineup," Scrappers hitting coach Willie Aviles said. "He's a 19-year-old and he wanted to battle through it. That tells me he's a tough kid and he's going to be good in this game."
Foundation to build
After his two hits Wednesday, Conroy didn't think he was completely out of his slump. He knew it was a foundation on which to build, and he called it "uplifting."
"It's just about concentration right now, on what I have to do to get the job done. Work on the little things," Conroy said. "It's adapting to the wood bats. Being young, I've adapted to pro ball pretty well."
Conroy had an opportunity to play at the University of Miami. Pro ball, though, was simply too enticing to pass up.
So he bypassed college and was taken by the Cleveland Indians with the sandwich pick, 43rd overall, in last year's draft.
"Just because of the fact that I love baseball and want to play every day," said Conroy, on turning pro. "Playing baseball every day, you can't give that up. I have no regrets."
The Indians sent the young Conroy to Burlington for his first professional season. He batted .244 with two home runs and 23 RBIs in 43 games for the Appalachian League team.
"I'm young, so they can take their time with me," Conroy said. "Every day's a learning experience. I learn something new every day."
Fell into slump
Certainly, that was the case in 2002 as Conroy fell into his season-opening slump.
"I was getting myself out," he conceded. "I was not swinging at the greatest pitches in the world that I should be swinging at."
His perseverance impressed the Scrappers coaches, who preferred to let Conroy snap out of his skid on his own without offering too much advice.
"A 19-year-old kid can bury himself, but Mike Conroy has a real good approach to the game," Aviles said. "It's good that he's learning how to face adversity now. It's going to help him in the long run."
richesson@vindy.com