Jeff Millers column from Sundays Orange County Register: ANAHEIM – Considering what he used to ask for, this fan request seemed abundantly reasonable. So Hank Conger paused in mid-pennant race last week, on the eve of the Angels winning their first American League West title since 2009, right there in the middle of the team’s clubhouse, to wish his most heartfelt “happy birthday” – to someone he has never met. Sometimes, the best presents are the ones that can’t be wrapped. “I have to admit,” Sal DeFilippo Jr. says, “when I saw the video I freaked out.” A video, just a video. Ten seconds on an iPhone. That’s all it took for Conger to make Sal Jr.’s 16th birthday his best one yet. You might be surprised, though, how many pro athletes wouldn’t spend 10 seconds or 10 cents to acknowledge a fan who blindly reached out to them. But this is Hank Conger, who grew up here, went to Huntington Beach High, was such an Angels fan as a kid that he remembers the theme music from the team’s telecasts on KCAL/9 and, on Wednesday, after clinching the West, stood on the field and shouted up to the home crowd, “I wanna hug everybody here, every Angels fan!” For someone who works behind a mask, this guy isn’t afraid to let a little personality show. And this also is Hank Conger, who, as a young baseball fanatic, used to write to his favorite players asking only for their autograph … on a batting helmet? “Like they were actually going to give me one,” Conger says now, laughing. “At the time, I was thinking, ‘Well, they’re probably rich. They probably have millions of helmets lying around. They could give me one.’ Being here now, I can see that’s kind of a ridiculous request.” But this video request? This was nothing, especially after Conger read the email from the birthday boy’s father, Sal Sr. The DeFilippo family lives near Las Vegas, which might seem like a long way from here. But, when it’s this deep, devotion isn’t something to be measured in miles. Sal Jr. won’t even watch Angels games unless Conger is playing. “If you’re a 49ers fan,” he explains, “would you watch Chargers-Ravens?” When Conger bats, father and son don their Angels plaid fedoras for good luck. The wallpaper on Sal Jr.’s laptop is an image of Conger photo-shopped to show him contemplating a celestial body. Their father-son fantasy football team is called “Harder, Better, Faster, Conger,” and maybe that seems silly to you, but they won their league last year and there was absolutely nothing silly about the $400 that came with first place. Better still is the origin of this devotion, Conger climbing atop a pedestal after first falling on his face. Sal Jr. had never even heard of Conger until attending a game at Angel Stadium in May 2013. It happened to be the day Conger dropped down a bunt against Baltimore’s shifted defense for an eighth-inning single, his trip to first base including a real trip, Conger stumbling to the ground but regaining his feet to reach safely. “Not only was it the greatest thing in the history of the game, but it was just awesome, too,” Sal Jr. says. “The guy can’t just bunt; he can do it with flair!” Conger appreciates this story because he remembers appreciating Angels like Gary DiSarcina, the team’s former old-school shortstop and now third-base coach. DiSarcina played with more famous teammates like Jim Edmonds, Chuck Finley and Troy Percival. But, fast-forwarding to today’s Angels, anyone can be a fan of Mike Trout; it takes something different to cherish Hank Conger. “It’s pretty cool just because I think he’s basing this more off of personality than anything,” Conger says of Sal Jr.’s fandom. “I can totally relate. Growing up, I was a huge Ken Griffey Jr. fan and a huge fan of some other big-time players. “But there were other guys, you could tell just by their personality or the way they went about their business, I was like, ‘Wow, that guy is one of my favorite players.’ It’s not based off of stats but personality.” Last week, some readers were critical of a couple of my recent Angels columns, suggesting I’ve been overly pessimistic. I appreciate their thoughts and will forever defend their right to be completely wrong. But, early in the week, one of them emailed to say my mostly cloudy commentary wouldn’t matter anyway because the Angels were destined to lose the wild-card game. So, here was a guy who identified himself as an Angels fan arguing that the Halos, then with a 10½-game lead and 11 games ago, weren’t even going to win the division. And I’m the negative one. For those folks, I hope you appreciate this column. If not, I hope you at least appreciate Hank Conger. “I understand why some guys wouldn’t want to do that video,” he says. “But for me, as a huge baseball fan, I guess I understand the fans having an appreciation toward a certain player. Fans are what really drive the players and the game of baseball. Besides, that took what, maybe 10 seconds?” Ten seconds to make a kid’s day and on his birthday, too. For a guy paid to squat, Conger couldn’t have stood taller. So, happy 16th, Sal Jr. Hope you had a good one Thursday and pretty certain you did. See, the Angels lost that night to Seattle, 3-1, but their only run came on a ninth-inning homer by Hank Conger.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 17:53:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015