Monstro has some valid points. I’ve heard that in actuality the ratio of gay professional athletes is higher than in the general population. The thinking goes that if young men know that they are gay, they actually compensate for any perceived effiminism by enagaing in and becoming proficient in atheltics. The same is said about the ratio of gays that join fraternities.
I believe last year the editor of “The Advocate” wrote that his boyfriend was a popular Major League player and that he wished he would come out.
Something cryptic: Keep your eyes on this issue during the next few weeks. It’s possible something may develop.
What is it with this topic? This morning on the radio they were dishing on (popular east-coast ball player) who allegedly did an impromptu post-game news conference to announce that he was straight.
Mike and the “Mad Dog” were discussing this on their New York City radio sports talk show tonight. These two represent the ordinary man – strong NY accent, simplicity and crudeness.
I was stunned when they strongly said that sexual orientation is definitely not an issue – it’s what the player does on the field that matters.
If Mike and the Mad Dog are ready for a gay star, then America is ready.
Sorry if this is not clearly stated. You are so right. Being gay is not a lifestyle choice. But… that is not what I posted. Nor is that what I meant. Everyone chooses their lifestyle. The way you live, the things you do or the things you choose not to do… these are all lifestyle choices. Sexuality…not a choice. Behaviors… these are choices. One could choose to live a lifestyle that might involve visiting popular night spots. One could choose to be a political activist, community servant, or a bar fly. All of these are lifestyle choices. What I wanted my post to infer was that eventually the players teammates would not focus on the sexuality issue or the types of bars frequented, churches attended, books read, companion group or friends associated with. Eventually people and teammates would not focus on these “non issues”.
Didn’t mean to hijack the thread, but the phrase “lifestlye choice” just bugs the heck out of me. Because in current usage, it seems to be always used derogatorily against gays.
Straight people can have sex, get married, sleep around, join hot-monkey-sex clubs, or whatever, and there’s no derogatory word for it. But if a gay person does any of the above, it’s a “lifestyle choice”. Bah and humbug.
I don’t think it could fly in any team sport. All of the athletes who have come out during their careers have been in individual sports- tennis, diving, golf, etc.
Billy Bean, a good baseball players and a great baseball guy, came out two years after he retired. Even so, it’s still affecting him, because now he can’t get a front-office or coaching job in baseball, at any level. He can’t even get called back. And it’s only because he is gay.
It won’t work in baseball. The players won’t be able to do it. Several players have actually said it won’t work. The baseball player who comes out will suddenly be benched, suffering from a nagging injury, and retire soon therafter. He’ll never play again.
Mike Piazza having to call a press conference to say that he ISN’T gay just proves it. Imagine not just the player, but the whole team having to answer constant questions totally unrelated to the sport, every day?
I know there are gay men playing baseball. I think that coming out would destroy their careers, and it wouldn’t be fair to them to out them. It would be horrible.
First, while some baseball players may be becoming more comfortable with the idea of gay people in general, I think the main problem lies in the locker room. It is one thing to socialize and even develop friendships with each other, another to stand naked in front of someone who is attracted to your gender.
My roommate is straight and is probably my best friend in the world. But he would be uncomfortable with me seeing him nude, regardless of whether I had any interest in him or not. I respect that he feels that way and don’t hold it against him. If I was straight though, he probably wouldn’t think twice about it.
Likewise, I could fully understand a teammate feeling apprehensive about being in the showers next to a gay male. Not that they feel they are going to be hit on necessarily but perhaps “checked out”. Should they feel this way? Probably not but I could understand that line of thinking.
The other thing I wanted to mention concerns Mike Piazza, the ball player that was rumored to be gay. While some might have an issue that he held a press conference to proclaim that he is straight, personally, I was quite happy to hear him state emphatically that he would have no problem having a gay teammate. His manager, Bobby Valentine, made similar comments in interviews. This is actually what started the whole thing. After Valentine gave an interview to a magazine, stating that he thought baseball could handle a gay ballplayer, the press speculated that his statement was to prepare people for the possibility of one of players coming out. Someone in the press deduced it was Piazza and here we are.
But I think this is a start. If nothing else, it is a sports figure going on record to say that they don’t have a problem with people being gay. That is an important message that is an extremely rare occurrence. I think Piazza and Valentine should be commended for that.
Yes, I belive that baseball has always been “ready” for an openly gay player. The sport, in and of itself, is fairly objective, and is open to anyone who picks up a bat, tosses a ball, or wears a glove.
Now, as to whether baseball players and the general public are actually mature enough to handle a gay player, I have my doubts.
As people have already mentioned, the press will make the locker room of the gay athlete’s team out to be Sodom and Gomorrah. Shower time would be scandelous.
Also, I think that there would be a lot of underhanded economic repercussions to an baseball player coming out. I’m not sure who owns each and every baseball fanchinse, but I’d be willing to bet that at least a handfull of them (individuals or corporations) are old school, and would be serioualy uncomfortable with the thought of actually employing a gay athelte.
The team would more than likely lose at least a few advertisers and endorsements, for the same reason.
I think the fans honestly wouldn’t care. I think that there would be a few psychos out there, who would sent the player death threats, and the like. But average Joe and Jill Cubs Fan sitting in the bleachers wouldn’t care at all after their second Budweiser.
While listening to talk radio yesterday discuss this topic, I had the “privilege” of hearing the following comments from callers to the show…
“I would never in a million years let my child own a baseball card of a gay player or let them even watch a game that had a gay player in it”
“What should happen is all gay people should be rounded up and killed”
This stuff really warms the heart :rolleyes: It does serve as a reminder though that while some people might be ready for this, others are still completely disgusted by the idea of a gay person being visible in any respect. We have a long way to go (sigh)
I wonder why baseball has been singled out and picked on for this discussion. To my knowledge - and I’m certainly not omnipotent so please correct me if I’m wrong - there has not been an openly homosexual athlete in any big league North American spectator sport, save for tennis’ Martina Navratilova and Bill Tilden. That is, there have been no admitted homosexuals in major league baseball, pro or college football, pro or college basketball, hockey, auto racing, golf, track, bowling or the Olympics. (I’ll leave horse racing out of the discussion.) Are there any admitted lesbians in the LPGA or the WNBA? If so, perhaps that person’s prior experience would be illustrative, just as Astorian correctly cited Navratilova as a brave person who came out and who paid for her courage with lost product endorsements. (Though Martina cashed a lot of winners’ checks from tournaments so she’s presumably doing all right financially.)
Getting back to my original point, assuming there have been no openly gay athletes in any major pro sport, is there any reason to think it would be better or worse for such a person in baseball than in say, hockey or golf?
I wonder why baseball has been singled out and picked on for this discussion. To my knowledge - and I’m certainly not omnipotent so please correct me if I’m wrong - there has not been an openly homosexual athlete in any big league North American spectator sport, save for tennis’ Martina Navratilova and Bill Tilden. That is, there have been no admitted homosexuals in major league baseball, pro or college football, pro or college basketball, hockey, auto racing, golf, track, bowling or the Olympics. (I’ll leave horse racing out of the discussion.) Are there any admitted lesbians in the LPGA or the WNBA? If so, perhaps that person’s prior experience would be illustrative, just as Astorian correctly cited Navratilova as a brave person who came out and who paid for her courage with lost product endorsements. (Though Martina cashed a lot of winners’ checks from tournaments so she’s presumably doing all right financially.)
Getting back to my original point, assuming there have been no openly gay athletes in any major pro sport, is there any reason to think it would be better or worse for such a person in baseball than in say, hockey or golf? Is Dennis Rodman gay, or bi, or crazy or just putting on a show? If the NBA could put up with Rodman - and it could so long as he was playing well - then I don’t think the other pro sports would have any trouble putting up with an openly gay athlete. That qualifier " as long as he is playing well" is very important though. As Jim Bouton noted in Ball Four a long time ago, an athlete who’s doing well on the field is given a lot more latitude off of it.
Here are some reasons gay baseball players won’t come out.
Advertisers: Those who advertise their products in baseball games will pull ads, if they know the team has a gay player. In addition, an open gay star doesn’t help their bottom line.
Distractions: MLB teams don’t want any distractions to ruin their team chemistry.
America isn’t ready to embrace a gay ball player.
I’m not saying it won’t happen, but let’s not hold our breathe on this!
There is a very big difference between a gay player coming out and a Jackie Robinson: A gay player will be with his team and teammates ( I assume in this case) before he ever comes out. This could help in the sense that they would know the guy before they were using their prejudices to completely judge the guy. Jacke Robinson never had that opportunity. He was black from day one and had to fight people’s prejudice’s with nothing to offset it. That is why I think both fans and players would accept a gay player more readily, because they would already know him, at least what kind of player he is.