PHOENIX — A giant is roaming through the visitor's clubhouse at Chase Field, his frame — all 6 feet 5 inches and 240 pounds of it — making a room full of massive men look small.
Twenty-year-old Atlanta Braves rookie sensation Jason Heyward has a physical stature coupled with a mental makeup few possess, especially among those in the 20-year-old's peer group.
Heyward, National League Rookie of the Month in April and May, hit a home run in his first Major League at-bat, a towering 414-foot blast off Chicago Cubs fireballer Carlos Zambrano, and has been tabbed as a savior by many in a city with a rich baseball tradition. He is currently second in National League All-Star voting among outfielders.
Two lockers down from Heyward sits another rookie, one whose journey to the big leagues came without the presence of the hype machine.
Brooks Conrad is 10 years older than Heyward and about half a foot shorter. His hair is thinning, and the only thing that makes him stand out as a baseball player, at first glance, is the team memorabilia draped over his shoulders. He is not on the All-Star ballot.
Now, can you guess which player has baseball's biggest hit of the season?
The diamond in the desert
The daily grind of media interviews for major leaguers can be trying at times, but Conrad has a big smile creep up his face when asked to talk about his college baseball days.
“There were so many great times at ASU, and it was such a great place to go to college,” Conrad said, taking a stroll down memory lane.
“Obviously, getting a chance to play for the Arizona State baseball program is awesome. We never made it to the World Series while I was there, but we had some great teams.”
Conrad came to Tempe as a freshman in 1999 out of Monte Vista High School in Spring Valley, Calif., anxious to be a part of a storied baseball tradition.
The scrappy infielder made his mark, earning a spot on the All-Pac-10 team during his sophomore and junior seasons. The former came in 2000, when a talented ASU squad lost in the regional title game, cutting short a season Conrad and his teammates believed had potential to be a special one.
“Going back over there [to ASU], I work out at the college in the offseason, I talk with [former ASU coach Pat Murphy] and we always say, ‘Man, what the hell were we doing? We should have won that series back in 2000.’”
Even without a trip to Omaha to add to the scrapbook, Conrad looks back fondly of his time as a Sun Devil — he once hit a ball over the “green monster” in center field at Packard Stadium, a feat that, at the time, had only been achieved 17 times.
“I had all kinds of good times there,” Conrad said. “It was just a great three years.”
Long bus rides
After a productive junior season, Conrad was taken in the eighth round of the 2001 MLB draft by the Houston Astros. In contrast, that rookie now two lockers down from Conrad was selected in the first round as the 14th overall pick by the Braves as a 17-year-old out of high school and spent two-plus seasons in the minor leagues.
Conrad's dues would take a bit longer to pay.
Able to play at several positions in the infield during college, the former Sun Devil figured he would spend a few years trekking around small towns on buses playing in the minor leagues, but as the calendar years turned The Show wasn't calling.
Conrad made his way up to the Round Rock Express, Houston's Triple-A affiliate, in 2005, where he was still playing two years later.
“It was kind of a situation where the team that drafted me [Houston] didn't really have a spot,” he said. “That's the way it kind of worked out.”
But the numbers Conrad was producing piqued the interest of another team. In 2008, the Oakland Athletics acquired the minor leaguer and he played the majority of that season with the club's Triple-A squad, the Sacramento River Cats. Finally, after hitting 28 home runs with 91 RBI in 117 games, Conrad received the call and made his Major League debut on July 21, 2008, seven years after being drafted.
“I still wanted to play and loved playing the game,” said Conrad, explaining what kept him going through all the years of playing in small towns and taking painfully long bus rides. “I just hung in there and believed that some day I'd get a shot.”
Following the 2008 season, Conrad was signed by the Braves with an invitation to attend spring training. He didn't make the parent club to begin the season, which meant 110 more games of minor-league ball before joining the Braves in July.
This season Conrad made the 25-man Braves roster out of spring training and has been used as a utility infielder and pinch-hitter, appearing in 39 games. He has relished his stay in the big leagues – one he isn't taking for granted.
“Ever since I've been [in Atlanta] it's been great,” Conrad said. “The coaching staff has given me some shots to play, and it's been awesome.”
The other rookie admires the dedication Conrad has put into his career and the determination he showed in forging his somewhat longer path to the majors.
“Brooks is a great guy on this team,” Heyward said. “He comes prepared every day to the field — he pulls for us and we pull for him. We're just happy to have that guy around.”
The hit
It was shaping up to be another highlight in a surprising rookie season for Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mike Leake, himself a former Sun Devil, who made his MLB debut without ever playing a game in the minors.
On May 20, Leake pitched six innings against the Braves in Atlanta, yielding three runs (one earned) while going 2-for-3 at the plate. He exited the game with his team leading 9-3 in the seventh, a near lock to pick up his fifth win of the season.
Atlanta had other ideas.
The hits began falling in the bottom of the ninth, and the Braves scratched across three runs to cut the lead to 9-6 and loaded the bases with one out. In need of a pinch-hitter, legendary Braves manager Bobby Cox called on Conrad.
As he stepped into the batter's box, Conrad picked up some dirt and rubbed it in his hands — he gave up batting gloves in college.
“I like the feel of dirt, rosin, tar and all that stuff,” he said.
Conrad worked the count to 2-2 on Cincinnati reliever Francisco Cordero. Then he made history on a 97-mile-per-hour fastball.
The screaming line drive headed toward the left field wall. Conrad watched as Reds outfielder Laynce Nix leaped up to try and make the grab.
“I thought he caught it,” Conrad said.
Nix didn't. Instead, the ball bounced off the end of his glove and into the stands—a pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam.
“I've been to two rodeos and three goat ropins',” Braves television announcer Chip Caray said after the hit, “but I've never seen anything like that.”
Conrad, who had momentarily stopped at first base, was in disbelief as he saw his teammates storming out of the dugout, ready to greet him at home plate. Amid a crowd of players mobbing the 5-foot-11 Conrad at home plate, it was Heyward who could be seen swallowing up his fellow rookie.
“That whole day was a team effort, and [the grand slam] topped it off,” Heyward said. “When he topped it off with that home run it was something special, something you'll never forget.”
The moment still seems a bit surreal to the player who authored it.
“That was definitely the biggest highlight I've had in my baseball career,” Conrad said. “After that it took me a couple days to settle down and get some sleep, because it was unbelievable.”
One of the guys
Conrad is proud to be a part of a long line of ASU baseball players who have made some mark on the Major League game. He's been watching with pride as former Sun Devils like Andre Ethier and Dustin Pedroia become household names. After his long journey to achieving his big league dream, Conrad is glad to be a part of the club.
“I stuck around for a while and finally got my shot,” he said. “I got to be one of those guys that said, 'Yeah, I made it.'”
Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu
