LANSING, Mich. — Every journey has twists and turns with a few bumps along the way, and Craig Conklin's ride to the Lugnuts fits that mold. His goal, like so many, was to play in the MLB.
"The second my grandfather got me in the front yard and played catch with me, I was going to do baseball in some way, shape or form," Conklin said.
One fall, Conklin even lived in his car, so he could walk on to a junior college team in California. By the end of his college career, professional teams were interested.
"Then, my girlfriend got pregnant. It was like well sign and run off and leave my pregnant girlfriend struggling, or do something responsible and challenging, so I joined the Army," Conklin said.
He spent three years at Fort Campbell in Kentucky with the 101st Airborne Division. His dad then became terminally ill, and he was honorably discharged on a hardship waiver. Through the journey, I asked Conklin if he thought he'd be in this spot.
"Yeah," he said emphatically. "There was never a doubt."
While working multiple side jobs, Conklin started hanging around scouts at Cuesta College in Southern California.
"They're not going to give away trade secrets. It's a hard circle to break into. There was some older guy that was willing to share some information with me on how to do it," Conklin said.
At the time, Major League Baseball had a scouting development program. That was the break Conklin needed. After 15 years as a scout for the MLB, he started working with the Oakland A’s, but then, tragedy struck.
In 2017, his youngest daughter died in a car accident at the age of 28.
"It was devastating. I thought I was strong before because I had experienced a lot of tragedies and different things in my life, but that's next level," he said. "This sounds weird, but I had never felt more alive through the pain of losing her than at any point in my life."
After that, Conklin transitioned into player development, and after spending last year as the hitting coach with the Lugnuts, he’s now getting his first shot at managing in the minors.
"It's very rewarding, but it's expected. It's just work. It's just like as a player," Conklin said. "The obstacle is the way man, get around it, figure it out."
His goal, like all of the players in Lansing, is to get to the big leagues, but Conklin is focused on what he can do to help the Oakland A's organization.
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