Mets rookie Michael Conforto completes the rare World Series ‘Triple Crown’
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — New York Mets outfielder Michael Conforto is 22 years old and was the youngest player in either starting lineup for Game 1 of the World Series. And yet, this is his third World Series.
Put this in your trivia bank: After taking the field Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium, Conforto has now played in the Little League World Series, the College World Series and MLB World Series. The World Series Triple Crown, people call it.
“Once I got the Little League one, then the College World Series, I had some conversations with my dad. We were kind of just wondering, ‘Wow many people have done that?'” Conforto said to The Stew. “Because that was my next goal, to be in the World Series.”
[Related: Mets, Royals remember the last time their teams won the World Series]
Oh, we’ve got the answer. It’s two. Jason Varitek did it when he played in the World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and Ed Vosberg earned his triple crown in 1997 with the Florida Marlins. Conforto played on the 2004 Little League team from Redmond, Wash., then the 2013 Oregon State team. Here’s a wonderful through-the-years look at Conforto, courtesy of Little League International.
“They get a little bigger as you go,” Conforto said. “But this one takes the cake, that’s for sure.
Conforto — a first-round draft pick in 2014 — played 56 games for the Mets this season, hitting .270 with nine homers, after getting called up in late July. Now, here he is, in the thick of the biggest baseball event of the year. And even in the starting lineup. His Game 1 was memorable. He drove in the Mets’ third run on a sixth-inning sac fly. He was also part of a bumbled play in the outfield that gave the Royals their first run.
The Mets lost 5-4 in 14 innings, but at least Conforto can now say he’s now part of an exclusive club. Even more exclusive: He’s the only player to drive in a run in all three World Series.
[Elsewhere: Manhattan bar renamed ‘Daniel Murphy’s’ throughout World Series]
“It’s now starting to hit me,” Conforto said. “A big thing was walking out on this field. Surreal is a good word to describe it. It’s all happened so fast. It really feels like yesterday I had just gotten called up and I was playing my first game in the big leagues. From that day until here, feels so short and so quick.”
There’s one thing important on Conforto’s mind now. Neither of his previous World Series teams won. He’d like to change that this time.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
