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Thursday Throwback: An Oakland Athletics’ Starting Pitching Staff With Two 18-Year-Olds

By Richard Paloma

In 1978 the Oakland A's debuted two 18-year-olds, fresh out of high school, on their pitching staff. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
In 1978 the Oakland A's debuted two 18-year-olds, fresh out of high school, on their pitching staff. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /
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1978 Pitching Debuts of 18-Year-Olds Mike Morgan and Tim Conroy

Not many kids who graduate from high school end up with their first job anything similar to what happened to both Mike Morgan and Tim Conroy with the Oakland Athletics in 1978.

The weekend after Mike Morgan graduated from Valley High School in Las Vegas in June 1978, he was selected as the fourth overall pick in that year’s draft. Days later, on June 11, in a move that would be unheard of today, fresh from walking across the stage at his graduation commencement, Morgan walked out to the pitcher’s mound at the Oakland Coliseum making his Major League debut as the starting A’s pitcher in front of 18,000 fans.

With the 32-25 Oakland Athletics in first place in the AL West, and his mom and dad sitting behind the third base dugout, the 18-year-old faced a Baltimore Oriole lineup that included future Hall of Famer Eddie Murphy, Ken Singleton, Doug DeCinces, Rick Dempsey, and Mark Belanger. Opposing him that day was southpaw Scott McGregor.

Morgan walked his first batter and gave up two runs in the first inning (one earned), surrendering two hits and a passed ball. He settled the rest of the game, scattering some hits and not giving up another run until the eighth, a solo HR to Oriole DH Lee May.

In his first outing, he pitched a complete game. Unfortunately, McGregor shutout the A’s, limiting them to only six hits, a double and five singles, pitching a complete game himself.

Morgan’s second start was June 17 with the sharply declining team riding a 10-game losing streak, also against the Orioles, but in Baltimore facing their ace and All-Star Mike Flanagan (who won the Cy Young the following year). Morgan was yanked after the first inning where he faced seven batters allowing three runs and four hits as the A’s went on to lose 5-4.

After losing his third start, a June 22 game against the Rangers where he went up against fireballer Dock Ellis, he was sent down to AAA after giving up six runs on five hits over 2.1 innings. Morgan remained in the minors until he was traded to the Yankees for Fred ‘Chicken’ Stanley in November 1980

Tim Conroy, who was also selected later in the first round of the 1978 draft, had just turned 18 and had graduated from Gateway High School in Monroeville, Pennsylvania in early June that year. On June 23, the day after Morgan was sent down and Manager Jack McKeon not learning from the teen-aged experiment of Morgan, the left-handed Conroy got the start for the A’s against the first-place Royals in the second game of a twilight doubleheader.

Conroy went three-and-a-third innings, leaving the game with a 5-0 lead, giving up only two hits but five walks. He had no decision in the 5-4 A’s win in which he was charged with a run on a sacrifice fly after he left the game. In his second start in Oakland against the Rangers, Conroy left with one out in the second inning. He was charged with five runes, only one hit, but walked four batters. In that game, the A’s came from behind to take a 7-6 lead in the sixth inning and Conroy again received no decision.

Conroy would go back to the minors where he would reappear as a regular part of the A’s pitching staff from 1982 to 1985 going 10-19 with a 4.37 ERA over five A’s seasons. He would pitch another two years for the Cardinals going 8-13.

Next: Jesse Hahn Optioned to Triple-A

Morgan had a much more successful career. After some minor league tutelage, he was brought up by the Yankees in 1982 where he remained in Major League Baseball for over 20 years until retiring after the 2002 season. He played for twelve different teams in his 22-season career and is one of 29 players in baseball history to appear in Major League baseball games over four decades. He was an All-Star for the Dodgers in 1991 and won a World Championship with the Diamondbacks in 2001.