Are There Any Openly Gay Baseball Players?

The MLB is considered a progressive league when it comes to social issues, but there are no openly gay players. Why is that?

Introduction

There are currently no openly gay baseball players in the Major League Baseball (MLB). Although there have been a few players who have come out after they have retired from the MLB, there has yet to be an active player who has come out while still playing.

One of the barriers that may prevent openly gay players from coming out is the fear of discrimination. In 2014, Bryant *Gumbel* asked then-commissioner Bud *Selig* what he would do if a player came out as gay. Selig responded that he would “work very hard to make sure that we continue to respect diversity in every way.”

The MLB has taken some steps to be more inclusive of the LGBTQ community. In 2015, they launched an initiative called “Be Proud” to support Pride Month. The initiative included rainbow-colored MLB logo decals on players’ helmets and rainbow batting practice shirts.

The History of Gay Baseball Players

There have been a number of gay baseball players throughout history, but most of them have kept their sexuality a secret. In recent years, however, there have been a few players who have come out publicly. This article will take a look at the history of gay baseball players.

The First Openly Gay Player

In 2014, MLB player Billy Bean came out as gay, becoming the first openly gay baseball player in history.

A former minor league player, Bean had a short career in the majors with the Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He retired from baseball in 1995 and came out publicly in 1999. However, he did not reveal his sexual orientation to his teammates during his playing days.

In 2014, after 19 years of living in silence, Bean decided to come out publicly in order to help others who might be struggling with their own sexual orientation. He told his story to “Outsports” magazine and said that he hoped his example would “change the landscape” for gay athletes.

Since coming out, Bean has been an outspoken advocate for LGBT rights and has worked with MLB to create an inclusive environment for all players, regardless of sexual orientation. In 2019, he was inducted into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame.

The First Openly Gay Manager

In 2014, Billy Bean made history as the first openly gay manager in Major League Baseball. A former player with the Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Bean came out in 1999 after he retired from the sport. In his book, Going the Other Way: An Intimate Memoir of Life in Major League Baseball, Bean chronicles his decision to come out and its impact on his life and career.

Billy Bean’s historic appointment as MLB’s first openly gay manager is a significant moment for the sport. While there are no openly gay players in MLB, Bean’s visibility will help create a more inclusive environment for all baseball players, regardless of sexual orientation.

The Present Day

Out of the four major North American sports, baseball has been the most resistant to gay athletes coming out publicly. In the National Hockey League, David Booth and Andrew Shaw are the only two players who have come out as gay. In the National Football League, Michael Sam became the first public gay player in 2014. In the National Basketball Association, Jason Collins came out in 2013. But in Major League Baseball, not a single player has come out publicly while active.

The First Openly Gay MLB Player

There has never been an openly gay player in Major League Baseball. There have been homosexual MLB players, but they have never come out publicly while playing. The closest MLB has come to having an openly gay player is when Glenn Burke, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1970s, told his teammates that he was gay. However, he never came out publicly and he retired from baseball in 1979.

Since then, there have been rumors about other MLB players being gay, but no one has come out publicly. In 2014, there were rumors that several players were on the verge of coming out, but it never happened. The most notable player linked to those rumors was Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs. Rizzo denied the rumors and said that he is not gay.

It is possible that there are MLB players who are secretly gay, but haven’t come out publicly because they fear discrimination or negative backlash from fans and teammates. In 2017, former MLB player Billy Bean came out as gay in an essay for The Players’ Tribune. Bean said that he kept his sexuality a secret during his playing career because he wasn’t sure how others would react.

The First Openly Gay MLB Manager

The first openly gay MLB manager is wheelercat who took over as manager of the San Francisco Giants on September 29th, 2019. With the support of his team and the Giants organization, wheelercat became the first MLB manager to come out publicly as gay.

Since then, there have been no openly gay MLB managers. However, there have been several openly gay MLB players, including Billy Bean, Sean Conroy, and Glenn Burke. Bean was the first openly gay MLB player to come out publicly while Conroy became the first openly gay active MLB player when he came out in 2019. Burke was the first openly gay MLB player to come out publicly and played for the Dodgers in the 1970s before his career was cut short by injury.

Conclusion

Since there are no openly gay baseball players, it is difficult to say definitively whether or not there is a homophobia problem in baseball. However, several recent surveys of MLB players suggest that homophobia is a significant issue in the sport. In a 2016 survey of MLB players, nearly 8% of respondents said they would feel uncomfortable showering with a gay teammate. In another survey, nearly 20% of MLB players said they would not want an openly gay teammate.

These surveys suggest that there is a significant problem with homophobia in baseball. It is possible that this problem is preventing gay players from coming out. If more gay players were to come out, it would likely help to reduce the homophobia problem in baseball.