Sgled Out tells the story of Glenn Burke, MLB's first gay player

Contents:

• THE FOTTEN HISTORY OF THE FIRST OPENLY GAY MAN TO PLAY MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
• 9 BASEBALL PLAYERS WHO CAME OUT AS GAY
• SGLED OUT TELLS THE STORY OF GLENN BURKE, MLB’S FIRST GAY PLAYER
• FIRST OPENLY GAY PRO PLAYER, SEAN CONROY, GETS SHUTOUT HISTORIC START
• FIRST ACTIVE PRO BASEBALL PLAYER OUT AS GAY
• CELEBRATG LGBTQ SPORTS HISTORY: THE ONLY MLB TEAM WH PLAYERS WHO HAVE E OUT AS GAY
• THE FIRST OPENLY GAY MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL UMPIRE REFLECTS ON G OUT, COORS FIELD AND THE ‘ROBO-UMPIRE’
• 'IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME FOR THIS:' BRYAN RUBY BE ONLY ACTIVE PRO BASEBALL PLAYER TO BE OUT AS GAY
• DAVID DENSON MAK HISTORY AS FIRST OPENLY GAY ACTIVE PLAYER BASEBALL
• MOR LEAGUER SOLOMON BAT OUT AS GAYSHARHARE-SQUARE-952935MOR LEAGUER SOLOMON BAT OUT AS GAY
• BRYAN RUBY BE FIRST ACTIVE PRO BASEBALL PLAYER TO E OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• MARERS TO MAKE BASEBALL HISTORY BY FLYG GAY PRI FLAG
• HOW MANY OPENLY GAY MLB PLAYERS HAVE BEEN THERE? HONORG LGBTQ INS OF BASEBALL ON PRI NIGHT

THE FOTTEN HISTORY OF THE FIRST OPENLY GAY MAN TO PLAY MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

” The requt “was meant to jolt the baseball tablishment to acknowledgg that there were ed gay men playg the game, ” Andrew Maraniss wr his new book, Sgled Out: The Te Story of Glenn Burke.

9 BASEBALL PLAYERS WHO CAME OUT AS GAY

Along wh beg the first openly gay man to have played the MLB — he me out 1982, after leavg the league — Burke and his teammate Dty Baker are often creded wh ventg the high five.

Yet his acplishments were largely fotten or tentnally obscured, whether by a homophobic society that had no e for a gay athlete or by a baseball anchise that wanted to claim cred for the thgs Burke had done for the team whout acknowledgg the prence of an out gay man their Sgled Out, Maraniss do his bt to pture the tragedy and weight of Burke’s story. He signed a Mor League ntract wh the Los Angel Dodgers his first uple of years the mors, Burke didn’t yet know that he was gay, jt that he was “different” om his teammat.

SGLED OUT TELLS THE STORY OF GLENN BURKE, MLB’S FIRST GAY PLAYER

He also spent the off-season prowlg the gay bars of the Castro San Francis, across the Bay om his hometown of Maraniss explas his book, was unheard of for profsnal male athlet to be gay at that time.

The other players were so far removed om gay culture, and so unspectg that one of their teammat might possibly be gay, that many of them simply missed the ample evince of Burke’s inty. His teammat were fur and, after he was gone, the team traer nfirmed Burke had been trad bee Campanis and manager Tommy Losarda didn’t want any gay men the Oakland, Burke stggled to fd his groove after an jury. Followg one 1979 game at the Oakland Colism when A’s fans were yellg homophobic slurs at Burke the outfield, he chased down the heckler the nurse and grabbed him around the neck.

Unbeknownst to Burke, however, manager Billy Mart was vilently homophobic and sent him down to the mors so he wouldn’t “ntamate” the rt of the team.

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

He would never aga play a major league game, nor would he hold a regular beg forced out of the A’s, Burke remaed his Bay Area home and relished the opportuny to live an openly gay life whout worryg about whether would get back to the prs or jeopardize his baseball reer. But he had a ntrollg and emotnally abive partner who spent most of the money Burke had ma— a partner who had also prsured Burke for years to e out publicly as gay, even when might have st him his partner, Michael Smh, fally nvced Burke to e out a 1982 article the magaze Insi Sports.

FIRST ACTIVE PRO BASEBALL PLAYER OUT AS GAY

Burke was a proud Black, gay man, so the -group language and cultural referenc he ed sound awkward om the voice of an thor who shar neher inty wh his subject.

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

Even the gay and Black history portns of the text, which are fold for ntext about the world that Burke habed, read like the Spark Not versn of gay and Black history— the basics you uld get om readg a Wikipedia page.

The elr Losarda’s homophobic treatment of Burke had larger implitns: the longtime Dodgers manager nied that his own son was gay, even after he died of AIDS, and remaed silent about HIV, the vis that killed both Burke and Losarda, Jr.

Hopefully, one day, Burke’s story will be told by a wrer who is Black and/or gay, who n brg necsary texture and perspective to his important story. 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. @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.

THE FIRST OPENLY GAY MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL UMPIRE REFLECTS ON G OUT, COORS FIELD AND THE ‘ROBO-UMPIRE’

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. @_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.

"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. @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. 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.

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

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. 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. That day, Burke, a tremendoly talented prospect, after years of fightg his way through the mor leagu, beme the first gay player Major League Baseball history, though no one knew at the time.

DAVID DENSON MAK HISTORY AS FIRST OPENLY GAY ACTIVE PLAYER BASEBALL

Dpe lookg like a potential star the mors, he stggled to fd his footg Los Angel, and never played more than 83 gam a sgle never officially me out as gay durg his reer, but his sexualy was an open secret. ” For Baker, the cisive moment was when Burke lied about stayg wh his mother on a road trip to San Francis where, stead of spendg time wh fay Oakland, he was hangg out wh gay iends across the his teammat disvered that Burke was gay, most claimed to not be bothered. He was able to fd athletic succs aga through participatn the San Francis Gay Softball League and the Gay Gam, though the fal years of his life would prove tragic.

The appendic further this aim as Maraniss clus both a timele chroniclg the history of gay rights the Uned Stat and a list of LGBTQ Black Amerins that terted rears n rearch themselv.

Burke’s story is a celebratn of a gay man’s achievements a homophobic world, an elegy for a man whose life, sir, and ambns were hampered due to attus towards his sexualy. -- 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.

MOR LEAGUER SOLOMON BAT OUT AS GAYSHARHARE-SQUARE-952935MOR LEAGUER SOLOMON BAT OUT AS GAY

"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.

"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.

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

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.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Today, as the Los Angel Dodgers prepare to play the World Seri agast the Tampa Bay Rays, -founr Jim Buzski remds that the Dodgers anchise is a part of LGBTQ sports history as havg the only two MLB players who ever were public about beg gay.

” A memorable moment “Out” occurs when is relled that the Dodgers — tryg to stifle mors that a popular player was gay — offered Burke $75, 000 to get married. The Dodgers and their manager, Tom Lasorda, prented a versn of themselv as a clean-cut, All-Amerin team and a flamboyantly gay player uld not be tolerated, pecially one who hung out wh Lasorda’s gay son.

While baseball is still wag for s first openly gay active MLB player, Bean’s elevatn to a posn of thory the missner’s office is a sign that thgs have changed sce the days when Glenn Burke was lled a faggot by his manager. On the rponse he’s gotten om the gay muny after umpirg the majors for more than three s and penng a memoir “The Umpire is Out: Callg the Game and Livg My Te Self”: SCOTT: The people I’ve talked to on this book tour, tellg me my story changed their life, my story gave them the urage to do this, or … this one lbian uple San Francis, she was, I gave her a big hug bee she said, “You don’t know how much hearg about you a game I love …” and that kd of stuff. 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.

MARERS TO MAKE BASEBALL HISTORY BY FLYG GAY PRI FLAG

" 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.

HOW MANY OPENLY GAY MLB PLAYERS HAVE BEEN THERE? HONORG LGBTQ INS OF BASEBALL ON PRI NIGHT

"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. While ’s far om plete retributn for a league where homophobia was accepted for s and harmed several people (like Lenny Dykstra, who has openly admted to hirg private vtigators to blackmail gay umpir), ’s a sign of progrs.