Adam Conley
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Adam Michael Conley (born May 24, 1990) is an American former
professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...
pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
. He played in
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB) for the
Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...
from 2015 to 2019 and the
Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...
in 2021.


Career


Miami Marlins

Conley was drafted by the
Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
in the 32nd round of the
2008 Major League Baseball draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first rou ...
out of Olympia High School in
Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...
. He did not sign with the organization, and instead attended
Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...
, choosing to major in
Criminal Justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...
. He did not graduate. In 2011, as a junior, he went 6–7 with a 3.50 ERA in 16 starts. He was then drafted by the
Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...
in the second round of the
2011 Major League Baseball draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the first ...
. Conley made his professional debut for the
Gulf Coast Marlins The Florida Complex League Marlins are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Miami Marlins, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to the 2021 season, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Marlins. The team plays ...
that year. He started the 2012 season with the
Greensboro Grasshoppers The Greensboro Grasshoppers are a Minor League Baseball team based in Greensboro, North Carolina. They are members of the South Atlantic League and are the High-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They play their home games at First National ...
and was promoted to the
Jupiter Hammerheads The Jupiter Hammerheads are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in the town of Jupiter, Florida, Jupiter in Palm Beach County, Florida, and play their home game ...
during the season. He was then demoted to the AA
Jacksonville Suns The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Jacksonville, Florida, and are named for shrimp caught in the area. The team pla ...
, for whom he played the 2013 season with. He started 2014 in Triple-A for the
New Orleans Zephyrs New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
. Conley made his major league debut on June 10, 2015. On April 29, 2016, Conley was pulled while pitching a
no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...
against the
Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...
on the road with two outs in the eighth inning. The bullpen would go on to blow the no-hitter and the shutout in the ninth inning. On July 3, 2016, Conley started the
Fort Bragg Game The Fort Bragg Game was a Major League Baseball (MLB) game played between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves of MLB's National League at Fort Bragg Stadium in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on July 3, 2016. The game was broadcast on ''Sunday Nigh ...
, the first time an MLB game was played at an active military base. He pitched the bottom half of the first six innings, allowing no runs scored, and was the winning pitcher. On August 14, 2016, he was placed on the
disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...
. Conley was initially a promising starter in the Marlins’ rotation shortly after his major league debut during the 2015–16 season. Conley then ran into some struggles which proved to be career-damaging, such as several injuries, inconsistent and erratic play, and overall worsening statistics, amongst other issues. He then was moved to relief pitching, with some minor success in 2018. However, his play significantly worsened (6.53 ERA in 60 2/3 innings) over the 2019 season. On August 30, 2020, Conley was designated for reassignment by the Marlins without making even a single appearance during the 2020 season. He was subsequently outrighted by the Marlins to Triple-A on September 6. Due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...
, this effectively ended Conley's season without him ever having thrown a single pitch. On September 28, the Marlins released him from the organization, and he subsequently became a
free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
.


Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

On December 12, 2020, Conley signed with the
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping c ...
of
Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...
for the 2021 season. On May 3, 2021, Adam's wife, Kendall Mays Conley, made a statement on behalf of the family of his release from the
Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping c ...
due to Japan's border closures because of rising cases of
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. At the time, only foreign professional athletes were allowed entrance into the country, but not their immediate family members. Conley was instructed by the organization to report to Japan for
Spring Training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
alone, with his wife and children to follow once border restrictions lifted. Conley refused to relocate to Japan or report for Spring Training without his family for any period of time. His refusal to relocate without his family, coupled with Conley's and the organization's failure to reach a compromise, subsequently led to the Golden Eagles' cancellation of the contract, and the full release of Conley from their organization.


Tampa Bay Rays

On May 10, 2021, Conley signed a minor league contract with the
Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...
, and was assigned to the Triple-A
Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened in ...
. Conley logged a 4.35 ERA in 37 appearances for Durham. On August 14, 2021, the Rays selected Conley's contract. Conley would make 17 appearances out of the bullpen for Tampa Bay, posting a 2.29 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 19.2 innings pitched. On November 7, 2021, Conley was designated for assignment by the Rays after René Pinto was added to the 40-man roster. On November 10, Conley was released from the Rays organization. On November 21, 2021, Conley's impending retirement was alluded to by his spouse. On March 11, 2022, Conley officially announced his retirement from professional baseball. He now works as a private "baseball instructor".


Personal life

Conley was born to his mother, Katy, and father, Larry, on May 24, 1990. He has an older brother, Jeremy. He attended
Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...
, majoring in
Criminal Justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...
, but did not graduate. Conley met and proposed to college girlfriend Kendall Mays, a blogger, after a very brief courtship. In Mays' own words, she says she had only known him a "short time" before they became engaged on April 4, 2011. They were married on September 10, 2011, in
Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...
. The couple have three daughters. They also are parents to an adopted nephew, who was born June 22, 2013. They
homeschool Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...
their children, are advocates of
home birth A home birth is a birth that takes place in a residence rather than in a hospital or a birthing center. They may be attended by a midwife, or lay attendant with experience in managing home births. Home birth was, until the advent of modern medi ...
and
midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...
, and are against vaccination. Adam is an outspoken follower of the Baptist Christian faith, and he and his wife are supporters of the
United States Republican Party The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP ("Grand Old Party"), is one of the Two-party system, two Major party, major contemporary political parties in the United States. The GOP was founded in 1854 by Abolitionism in the United Stat ...
. He enjoys
hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
for sport,
shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...
, and
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
. He is also an amateur pastor, and participates in bible study groups.


References


External links


Washington State Cougars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conley, Adam 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Redmond, Washington Baseball players from Washington (state) Major League Baseball pitchers Miami Marlins players Tampa Bay Rays players Washington State Cougars baseball players Gulf Coast Marlins players Greensboro Grasshoppers players Jupiter Hammerheads players Jacksonville Suns players New Orleans Zephyrs players New Orleans Baby Cakes players Durham Bulls players