Quick Hit: MLB & Their First Openly Gay Player

Major League Baseball to any and all gay members of the league; “No rush to come out but no worries if you do.”

Major League Baseball insists they are not trying to push anyone or rush anyone but the league feels like it’s prepared and ready for their first openly gay player. MLB already has had players admit to being gay, Billy Bean and Glenn Burke the most notable, but neither of them admitted it until after their playing careers were over while minor league outfielder David Denson came out last year revealing his sexual preference. While Denson was the first he has yet to pass Class A-Ball with the Brewers and may never reach the Major Leagues.

Bean kind of broke the barrier for gay people in 1999 when he came out openly as a member of the front office in Oakland. Bean would later tell stories of how his partner of three years passes away as a player but he did not tell a soul because he was worried about how he would be perceived by his teammates in the clubhouse. Bean retired prematurely because he was miserable with his life and his playing career because of the fear that his lifestyle choices would make him different and hopes that no other player “is as miserable” as he was.

This is not going to be Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier and it’s not going to be Hank Aaron passing Babe Ruth on the all-time home runs list but it’s going to be historical for Major League Baseball when the first gay ballplayer comes out openly. It will be a milestone and MLB is ready for it, are you?