T.J. Hoe, Former MLB Player, Com Out as Gay

Contents:

• 'IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME FOR THIS:' BRYAN RUBY BE ONLY ACTIVE PRO BASEBALL PLAYER TO BE OUT AS GAY
• FORMER MAJOR LEAGUE PCHER T.J. HOE OUT AS GAY
• 9 BASEBALL PLAYERS WHO CAME OUT AS GAY
• PRO BASEBALL PLAYER BRYAN RUBY OUT AS GAY
• FORMER PRO BASEBALL PLAYER OUT AS GAY & ANNOUNC ENGAGEMENT
• MOR LEAGUER SOLOMON BAT OUT AS GAYSHARHARE-SQUARE-293195MOR LEAGUER SOLOMON BAT OUT AS GAY
• ANRSON COMAS, MOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER, COM OUT AS GAY
• BRYAN RUBY BE ONLY ACTIVE PROFSNAL BASEBALL PLAYER TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• FIRST OPENLY GAY PRO PLAYER, SEAN CONROY, GETS SHUTOUT HISTORIC START
• FIRST ACTIVE PRO BASEBALL PLAYER OUT AS GAY
• JAGUARS ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT
• BRYAN RUBY BE FIRST ACTIVE PRO BASEBALL PLAYER TO E OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
• NATNAL COMG OUT DAY: PUBLICLY GAY PRO BASEBALL PLAYER CREAT SUPPORT GROUP FOR OTHERS
• CELEBRATG LGBTQ SPORTS HISTORY: THE ONLY MLB TEAM WH PLAYERS WHO HAVE E OUT AS GAY
• GAY BROADSTER ERIC BACH ADVOT FOR MORE LGBTQ REPRENTATN BASEBALL

'IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME FOR THIS:' BRYAN RUBY BE ONLY ACTIVE PRO BASEBALL PLAYER TO BE OUT AS GAY

Yet 's Ruby's hidn part of his inty that he now believ n have the biggt impact, partially bee 's so foreign to the worlds of baseball and untry is a gay man, the only active profsnal baseball player at any level to be publicly out.

" FOLLOW THE MONEY: MLB player salari and payrolls for every major league teamHis g out follows a summer which Las Vegas Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib and Nashville Predators prospect Le Prokop also me out as gay. “As a untry mic songwrer, at first I thought beg gay was a huge weakns, ” said Ruby, who will be showsed the upg documentary, "Out Nashville. "I grew up a culture where homosexualy was taboo, " Jon, a baseball ach at Friends' Central High School Philalphia, said.

FORMER MAJOR LEAGUE PCHER T.J. HOE OUT AS GAY

Bean played the major leagu as an outfielr for nearly a and me out as gay himself after his retirement the 1990s. "It's not all super rosy, " Ruby ach om past generatns have been subtly homophobic, urgg him to keep his sexual orientatn a secret or to be wh a woman to keep up a ont. Gehrig Richs, the Volno' assistant ach, said he imag teammat beg protective of Ruby if gay slurs were to persist once he's out publicly.

Hoe me out as gay and announced his engagement to his partner, Ryan Nezel, an emotnal social media post, who pched for the Cleveland Indians and the Toronto Blue Jays om 2014 to 2017, said he lived out his childhood dream of playg profsnal baseball Cleveland at 23, but that he ed as a “dg” to “numb what was really gog on si. So, here we gonna talk about some of the bravt of all begs; as we know, Like other sports, homophobia is still prevalent baseball. The prsure toward acceptg pri players baseball may be why homosexual players who e out as gay before or after retirement have a short reer.

Moreover, Santan ma headl after g out as gay ont of his mother and teammat while filmg This Is Life, a TLC documentary 2017. Later, terviewg wh SB natn outsports, he mentns hearg anti-gay slurs by teammat the locker room or gam felt like havg a knife the heart. Moreover, he later beme the first major league affiliated player and send active profsnal baseball player to e out as gay publicly.

9 BASEBALL PLAYERS WHO CAME OUT AS GAY

In 2003, Bean wrote the book named Gog the other way to answer cricism and hope of gay athlet accepted by others sports.

Sce 2016, no homophobic slur has been chanted for the first time, and looks like MLB is dog s bt to change the perspective toward homosexual players. Here's a list of those the profsnal and llege baseball world proud enough to wear a rabow p wh their pstrip and e out as gay.

An outfielr for the Los Angel Dodgers and the Oakland A's between 1976 and 1979, Glenn Burke beme the first Major League Baseball player to e out as gay to teammat and owners while still active, though the team asked that he keep his sexualy secret om the public and he plied.

PRO BASEBALL PLAYER BRYAN RUBY OUT AS GAY

"They n't ever say now that a gay man n't play the majors, bee I'm a gay man and I ma , " he told The Philalphia Inquirer. @billybeanballThe only livg Major League Baseball veteran who has e out as gay, outfielr Billy Bean played for the Tigers, Dodgers, and Padr over a reer that spanned om 1987 to 1995.

He me out four years after retirg om the field, and wrote his 2003 book Gog the Other Way: Lsons From a Life and Out of Major League Baseball that the bullyg and homophobic world of baseball led him to walk away om pro ball. "Beg gay don't change anythg about the way I play or teract wh teammat, " he said a team statement released for Pri Month. @_DavidD_41A first baseman for the Helena Brewers, rhe Milwkee Brewers' rookie affiliate team Montana, David Denson 2015 beme the first player affiliated wh Major League Baseball to e out as gay.

@DunngtonTylerA pcher for rookie and Class A teams affiliated wh the Cardals 2014, Dunngton told Outsports he left pro ball bee of homophobia. "I experienced both ach and players make remarks on killg gay people durg my time baseball, and each ment felt like a knife to my heart, " he said. Durg an 11-year mor league reer, John Dillger would vis bear gathergs on the road but kept his gay sexualy secret up until his retirement 2005.

FORMER PRO BASEBALL PLAYER OUT AS GAY & ANNOUNC ENGAGEMENT

@tampaMarkJWhen Mark Johnson and teammat won a champnship for the Universy of Tampa 1998, he still was nial about his gay sexualy, he told Outsports, but he beme more nfint over his adult life.

MOR LEAGUER SOLOMON BAT OUT AS GAYSHARHARE-SQUARE-293195MOR LEAGUER SOLOMON BAT OUT AS GAY

When Tyson Lk, director of baseball operatns at the Universy of South Carola, cid on Natnal Comg Out Day 2016 to publicly reveal he was gay, he beme the first person Divisn I llege baseball to ever e out as LGBT. An umpire for Major League Baseball most notable for a rather famo row wh Pete Rose, Dave Pallone would eventually be ducted to the first class of the Natnal Gay and Lbian Sports Hall of Fame.

ANRSON COMAS, MOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER, COM OUT AS GAY

He later wrote his 1990 memoir Behd the Mask: My Double Life Baseball that he believed he was fired bee he was gay. Former Major League Baseball (MLB) pcher TJ Hoe, who played for Cleveland and the Blue Jays, has e out as gay and announced his engagement to his boyiend Ryan Nezel.

Augt 10th, 2022SAN DIEGO -- Former Giants Mor League pcher Solomon Bat me out publicly as gay an Instagram post on Tuday, also announcg that he had been released by the anizatn.

”Bat is the send Mor League player to e out as gay, jog former Brewers farmhand David Denson, who beme the first openly gay player affiliated baseball 2015. No active Major League player has e out as gay, though Billy Bean, who now works as MLB’s senr vice print for diversy, equy and cln, and Glenn Burke both me out after their playg reers end.

BRYAN RUBY BE ONLY ACTIVE PROFSNAL BASEBALL PLAYER TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Mor League Baseball player Anrson Comas me out as gay an Instagram post on player, who hails om the Domin Republic, has played for the Chigo Whe Sox system, Out Sports, 23, began the post wh an troductn, wrg that the post might not be for homophobic people, but maybe they’d get somethg out of went on to say that he was proud and happy to be queer.

“This may be my most personal thg I ever share and ’s that I’m proudly and happily part of the LGTBQ+ muny, ” Comas wrote, addg a Pri flag at the ntued his post: “I’m also a human wh a great soul, I’m rpectful, I’m a lover, I love my fay and iends and that’s what really matters, I enjoy my work a lot, beg a profsnal baseball player is the bt thg that happened to me so I jt wanna say somethg to those people that says that gay people n not be someone this life, well look at me I’m Gay and I’m a profsnal athlete so that didn’t stopped me to make my dreams e te. Profsnal baseball player Bryan Ruby publicly me out as gay on Thursday, beg the first active pro player the sport's history to do so. Ruby is an fielr wh the Salem-Keizer Volno the Mavericks Inpennt Baseball 's announcement shortly after other active profsnal athlet Carl Nassib (NFL) and Le Prokop (NHL) me out publicly as gay earlier this an terview wh USA Today, Ruby explaed why he me out now and what he hop his announcement will lead to.

FIRST OPENLY GAY PRO PLAYER, SEAN CONROY, GETS SHUTOUT HISTORIC START

-- Baseball history was ma Northern California we untry Thursday night when the sport's first active profsnal player to e out as gay pched a shutout before an enthiastic crowd that seemed more imprsed wh his performance than his role as a Conroy, 23, led the Sonoma Stompers to a 7-0 victory durg his first start wh the 22-man team that is part of the pennt Pacific Associatn of Baseball Clubs. "The atmosphere at Arnold Field, the Stompers' 370-seat home field, was low-key, wh no obv signs was a historic game or even gay pri night at the ballpark -- except for the rabow-striped socks and arm warmers some players (but not Conroy) Stompers did not make a special announcement or ll attentn to the tone so Conroy uld foc on his pchg, general manager Theo Fightmaster the startg lp was announced, however, Conroy got the loust cheer. "We've had gay people here forever; 's not like 's a big al, " said Barry Bosshard, who along wh his wife, Lra, is puttg up Conroy and another player at their home durg the Stompers' 78-game season.

Fightmaster says Conroy privately shared his sexual orientatn wh teammat and management before agreeg to e out publicly time for the team's gay pri night. "His goal has always been to be the first openly gay baseball player, so he was very much favor of tellg the story, of rryg that torch, " he Do, 67, attend the game wh 25 iends om a lol group for LGBT senrs and was one of three fans picked to throw out a first pch.

FIRST ACTIVE PRO BASEBALL PLAYER OUT AS GAY

"While this pcher who was unknown to me before your ll may not be a prospect for Major League Baseball, he certaly serv our applse, " Thorn, who had earned four sav as a closer for the Stompers before takg the mound as a starter for the first time, said he told his fay he was gay at age 16 and was open wh his high school, summer league and llege teams. "It don't matter if he pch the big leagu or not; he's gog to bee a lear (tonight) many ways, " Bean 's history-makg start me at a watershed moment for gay rights, wh the U. Supreme Court schled to le any day now on whether to make same-sex marriage legal across the Vogler, 50, -owner of a lol pany that sponsors LGBT tours and events we untry, marveled om behd a fence not far om the tcher as he watched Conroy throw some of what turn out to be 140 grew up another part of Sonoma County and left as soon as he uld bee the anti-gay hostily was so high.

JAGUARS ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT

Bryan Ruby, who plays for the Salem-Keizer Volno Oregon, ma history Thursday as he publicly me out as gay —the first active profsnal baseball player to do so.

In June, fensive end Carl Nassib of the Las Vegas Rairs announced he is gay, makg him the first active NFL player to do so.

Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength ach Kev Maxen me out as gay on Thursday what is believed to be a first for a male ach major U. Bryan Ruby envisns a better world of cln and thenticy baseball, so he's sharg his story to be part of the is the latt profsnal male athlete this summer to talk so openly about beg gay by speakg wh USA Today Sports' Stt Gleon. His story follows those of Carl Nassib the NFL and Le Prokop the speaks openly about beg gayRuby, 25, plays for the Salem-Keizer Volno.

BRYAN RUBY BE FIRST ACTIVE PRO BASEBALL PLAYER TO E OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

Teammate have ed gay slurs, he said, and opponents would purposely e as Bean nnectnBilly Bean has bee a mentor for Bryan Ruby.

NATNAL COMG OUT DAY: PUBLICLY GAY PRO BASEBALL PLAYER CREAT SUPPORT GROUP FOR OTHERS

(Photo by Mchell Layton/Getty Imag)Billy Bean me out as gay after his retirement the 1990s and is now the league's vice print and special assistant to the missner. "Dodgers player Glenn Burke was not open about his sexualy to the media, but his teammat knew he was gay when he played the 1970s.

"This is a great day for the league and baseball, " Bean told Outsports about Hoe's told Outsports the prospect of beg only the third out MLB player was dntg, pecially after he heard what others say about gay people. McCoy for The New York TimHis Sexualy Don’t Defe Him, but It Can Set Him ApartEric Bach is an openly gay broadster for the Frericksburg Natnals. Three years earlier, while he was studyg journalism at Michigan State Universy, he had publicly e out as gay an say he wrote for Outsports.At the time of the say, he braced for a backlash, but nothg materialized.

He worked his way up om ternships to full-time broadstg jobs, and while anyone wh an ter nnectn uld learn he was gay, nobody asked, and he did not say so aga publicly. It was paful at the time — the worst thg that had happened to him as a gay man, he said — but has reced far enough to his memory that did not e to md an hourlong terview about his experienc as a gay broadster. As far as Bach knows — and as far as many of his unterparts wh other teams are aware — there are no other openly gay broadsters the sport.

CELEBRATG LGBTQ SPORTS HISTORY: THE ONLY MLB TEAM WH PLAYERS WHO HAVE E OUT AS GAY

McCoy for The New York TimBorn to BroadstLong before he knew he was gay, Bach knew he wanted to be a sports broadster.His father was a ach, and a love of sports ran through the fay. Whatever.”)He began to accept that he was gay durg his sophomore year of high school, but wh that acceptance me worry. He didn’t take them personally, but they ma him unfortable, as did the ia of g out.“I knew the stuff wasn’t directed at me,” Bach said, “but I was thkg, ‘Oh, is this how ’s gog to be for me my entire life?’”By the start of his sophomore year at Michigan State, Bach was ready to tell his parents that he was gay, tchg his father off guard but nfirmg what his mother had prevly assumed.

He did each job to the bt of his abily, and his sexualy never me up.Still, he has found that there’s a difference between beg a gay man baseball and beg pletely fortable as one.ImageKnown as the FredNats, the Class A Natnals play at Virgia Cred Unn Stadium Frericksburg, Va.Cred...Michael A. Bach and Manager Jake Lowery had been enjoyg a meanrg chat when the young broadster sprang a self-nsc qutn.“I was sually like, ‘You know I’m gay, right?’” Bach said.

That uncertaty mak him feel self-nsc a way he believ is mon for gay people mostly straight spac.“I feel like that’s the burn a lot of gay people live wh — tryg to be perfect for straight people,” he said.His job requir equent teractn wh the players and the achg staff — addn to his duti as play-by-play announcer, Bach also is the ma public relatns ntact for the team — and he said he hadn’t fully relaxed any of them. The environment is not hostile, but Bach never fets that he is the only openly gay person the room.ImageIn a small operatn like a Class A team, Bach teracts wh the players que regularly.

GAY BROADSTER ERIC BACH ADVOT FOR MORE LGBTQ REPRENTATN BASEBALL

Cred...Edward Mrer/Frericksburg NatnalsThat feelg is somewhat “self-flicted,” Bach said, but he believ the solutn is to brg more openly gay people to sports and create a safe environment for those who are already there but have felt necsary to hi their inti.Major League Baseball has touted self as a place of clivy. Billy Bean, an openly gay former player, was named the league’s first ambassador for cln 2014 and has sce been promoted to senr vice print and special assistant to Commissner Rob Maned.

In Febary, Anrson Comás, a mor leaguer the Chigo Whe Sox anizatn, me out as gay wh a post on Instagram, and the announcement was met wh public support om his club and some people around the game.Other cints suggt there is more work to be done. The Boston Red Sox lled up a mor leaguer, Matt Dermody, who had posted an anti-gay msage on Twter 2021, and Anthony Bass, a reliever for the Toronto Blue Jays, reposted a vio on social media that lled for boytts of L.G.B.T.Q.-iendly pani.Dermody and Bass were subsequently released by their teams, though their poor performance on the field was most likely a major factor those cisns.“I don’t thk some silly Rob Maned iative is gog to help anythg,” Bach said of the league’s creatg a diversy fellowship.

But he has also cid that if he is to achieve his dream of llg major sports, he don’t want to leave part of himself behd.“Those of that are this very small mory sports have to keep on havg the nversatns, keep on workg really ick’ hard to earn your spot this space,” he said.He aspir to be a gay person at home a big-league booth. McCoy for The New York TimA versn of this article appears prt on  , Sectn A, Page 27 of the New York edn wh the headle: A Gay Broadster Climbs the Ladr, But It’s Been Lonely.