Belfast-born PJ Conlon making pitch for baseball's major league

PJ Conlon was born in Belfast in 1993 and learned the rules of baseball from video games after moving to California at the age of two.

The 23-year-old is signed to the New York Mets and although he still plays in the minor leagues he impressed at a recent major league camp with his left-handed 90mph fastball.

He was named the Mets’ minor league pitcher of the year in 2016 and his rise in the game could prove to be a useful catalyst for the sport back in his place of birth.

Tom Kelley, president of Baseball Ireland, the governing body for teams in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, said: “It’d be awesome to get a player like him into the major leagues, but to also get the message out.”

PJ’s story has been attracting media attention on both sides of the Atlantic thanks to his unique background.

PJ and his family left his home in the Falls Road area just after the 1994 ceasefire.

Many of the articles written about him have discussed Northern Ireland’s troubled past and his religion, but like Rory McIlroy he would rather discuss sport than politics.

In an interview with the New York Times he said it would be “a cool thing and a huge honour” to join the small group of players from Ireland to play major league baseball.

He added: “Baseball is starting to get a little steam in Ireland, and I think that could maybe kick-start it a little more.”

The island of Ireland accounts for just under 50 major league players, but none were born post-partition so Northern Ireland cannot lay claim to any of them, even those born in what now make up Northern Ireland’s six counties.