Reese Kaplan -- Baseball Is Yet to Have Its Rainbow Connection

While the struggles of baseball coaches, managers and front office personnel with sexually inappropriate behavior continues to clutter the sports headlines with their wrongdoings, it appears that the outrage expressed by a great many writers, bloggers and pundits is a bit hypocritical given the lack of progress made in other lifestyle choices made by baseball people.

Who here remembers the 2014 revelation by college football star Michael Sam when he revealed publicly that he was gay?  It was the first time a player had opened up about his off-the-field lifestyle and many wondered whether or not it would end his NFL career before it began.  He did get drafted by the St. Louis Rams and openly kissed his boyfriend upon the announcement of his selection being made.  He played in preseason and on taxi squads but never set foot on the NFL playing field as a regular player.  He did play a few seasons in the Canadian league for the Montreal Alouettes before giving up his pro football dream.  It wasn’t much of a debut, but it was a critical turning point for professional sports.

Baseball has been far more closed minded about such things and only after players’ careers ended (or were nearly over) would such announcements be made.  There were a number of players who made such proclamations after their careers ended, but relatively few who were brave, confident or unlucky enough to have their sexual preferences revealed while they still hoped to earn a living on the diamond.

The first name to make a huge impact in this regard was the former Los Angeles Dodger and Oakland A’s outfielder, Glenn Burke.  He played parts of four seasons from 1976 through 1979 and accumulated the equivalent of one full season worth of playing time during that period of time.  He was not a great player, finishing his 523 ABs in the Major Leagues with 2 HRs, 38 RBIs and a .237 AVG.  The best contribution he made on the field was with his legs, stealing 35 bases over those four years.  Without a high batting average or run producing power, his defense would have to be All Star caliber to keep him in the Majors.  Unfortunately his accumulated WAR for his career was a -2.4.  

So on the basis of playing alone, Burke wasn’t all that much of a professional.  He was a frequent guest at after-game night spots with fellow ballplayers to go drinking, dancing and showing off his stylish wardrobe.  At the time no one seemed to notice that he never departed these venues accompanied by a female companion.  He was quick to criticize the women introduced to him by friends and teammates as too fat, not pretty enough or without high style.  No one thought anything wrong with that, but as his story evolved, it became apparent he was making excuses.  

Dusty Baker was profiled in the recent book entitled, Singled Out by Andrew Maraniss.  He mentioned that at the end of road trips Burke was always leaving alone as he had a friend picking him up from the airport.  When they went out dancing, Burke was always the center of attention with moves “like James Brown or Michael Jackson” which always got him a deep crowd of women who wanted to get close to him.  

During 1977 players and others associated with the Dodgers finally began to realize the truth about Burke’s lifestyle.  When Davey Lopes was told the reality of the situation, he was shocked but said he didn’t care so long as he was good for team chemistry and exhibited his sense of humor.  “I don’t give a shit,” said Lopes about Burke’s gay lifestyle.

When they went to San Francisco for a late season series, Baker and Burke joked about the latter being home to enjoy home cooking from his mother.  However, when Baker ran into her, she said she hasn’t seen Burke as he’s been “hanging out with his friends.”  It was then Baker realized that some of what was being said about Burke was likely the truth.  

What complicated Burke’s situation even further was his friendship and affection for Tommy Lasorda, Jr., the manager’s son.  This 19 year old was a high fashion model type who was much more interested in music, clothing and photography than he was in his family natural affiliation for baseball.  The Dodger players assumed “Spunky’s” lifestyle but never made a big deal about it because his father was their manager.  He died in 1991 from complications of AIDS, but Lasorda Sr. never once acknowledged that truth about his son.  

The baseball lifestyle was full of hugs, slapping of butts, nudity in the locker room and a tremendous amount of time spent in the company of other men.  No one thought anything about it because the presumption was that all of the ballplayers were straight.  However, as Burke’s secret became more well known, the players often wore towels in the locker room and stopped making opening homophobic jokes in his presence.  

After leaving baseball, Burke embraced his choices and in 1982 competed in what is now known as the Gay Games as a runner.  By 1986 he’d switched to playing basketball in the league and then moved onto softball.  Like the younger Lasorda, Burke passed away in 1995 from AIDS.  He was inducted in the first year into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame.

Of course, Burke was not alone in his secretive lifestyle.  Former Tigers and Padres outfielder Bill Bean played parts of Major League seasons from 1987 through 1995, not even accumulating 500 ABs during all that time and producing very little offensively.  He was a career .286 hitter in the minors but only .226 in the majors.  He left baseball but helped MLB embrace this lifestyle by becoming its first ever ambassador for inclusion.  He said that there have only been 2 out of over 20,000 ballplayers who identified as gay in the long history of Major League baseball.  Obviously those numbers don’t match the population in general, but he uses it as a metric to expose just how difficult it is to be gay among a traditionally straight environment.  

As baseball continues to evolve, it’s possible more players will be open about their sexuality as they try to ascend the ladder into the majors.  It is a difficult road but one that must be faced.  Right now 25 additional players in the NFL came out of the closet after their careers ended.  It’s time for baseball to let players know that they should simply be themselves and not live a life of pretending.