Michael Conforto’s wife, Cabernet, sent the video to his phone Monday night while he was still at the ballpark: their 2½-year-old son, Camden, jumping up and down in celebration in front of the television while 5-month-old Colter looked on.
“He kind of understands what happened,’’ Michael Conforto said of Camden. “But not really.”
Conforto’s father, Mike, understood. He was the one who had pitched all those Whiffle balls in the backyard, where the script was always the same: Bottom of the ninth, little Michael connecting for the walk-off home run.
Eleven years and four teams into Conforto’s big-league career, that make-believe moment finally arrived Monday. It landed 405 feet from home plate in the left-center field bleachers, accompanied by the unmistakable roar of 32,997 at Wrigley Field. In his 3,845th major-league at-bat, Conforto, 33, pinch-hitting with two outs in the ninth and down to his last strike, hit his first walk-off home run. Cubs 5, Reds 4.
Dad texted.
“He was pumped,” Conforto said Tuesday afternoon. “I haven’t been out there [hitting] a ton, and this is a new role for me. But he was just sending the message, like, ‘Proud of how you’re always ready, gracious and thankful for the opportunities that come, and just the best thing you can do is just be ready.’ ”
No, Conforto said, he doesn’t recall giving much thought to whether this moment would ever come for him. But when it did, he viewed it through a different lens than he might have if it had arrived earlier.
“I do find myself thinking more about, like, what’s important to me in my playing career,” he said. “Now that I’m closer to the end of my career than I am the beginning, it’s like, more and more, it feels like I just to want to win games and be a part of something special.
“Whatever capacity that is, what means the most to me is being part of a group of guys that are committed to something, pulling in the same direction.”
Conforto was once the toast of New York with the Mets, a 2014 first-round draft choice who made it to the big leagues within a single year. Called up at the end of July 2015, he helped lead the Mets to the World Series, where he hit two home runs. He was 22.
A year later, he was sent down to the minors. He rebounded in 2017 to make the National League All-Star team. Two years later, he hit 33 home runs, his third straight season of 25 or more. While in Mets spring training, he encountered a precocious teenager named Pete Crow-Armstrong.
“How could I forget Pete?” Conforto said of the future Cubs sensation. “He was the same way he is now — fiery, competitive, ener-getic, speaks his mind. When he was with the Mets, there were some older guys that were old-school, [believing rookies should be] seen, not heard. I never really felt that was the right way to do things. I was like, this kid is gonna help us. Everyone could see the talent he had. I remember we’d be in outfield drills and he was running circles around me.’’
The success of the first half of his career deserted Conforto, his decline accelerated by a shoulder surgery that cost him the 2022 season, when he was set to cash in as a free agent. He eventually signed a two-year, $36 million deal with the Giants but underperformed. Last season, he signed a one-year, $17 million deal with the Dodgers but batted .199 and was left off the postseason roster.
His big paydays appear to be over. Same for his days as an every-day player. But he’s determined to claim his place in the game.
“I feel like I’ve gotten away from the inward energy and put more into my teammates and just [want] to have a role in the game, in the attack, to win the game rather than go out there and get my hits and my homers,” he said.