Baseball gay player

An outfielder for the L. Purely as a baseball player, Burke was considered an impressive athlete who never quite put it all together to become truly great. However, Burke is the rare professional athlete who lived a life that was about much more than his on-field performance in sports.

For one thing, Burke was the first Major League Baseball MLB player ever to be out as gay with his teammates, managers and team executives.

Bryan Ruby: Proud to be in baseball

But when Glenn Burke and Dusty Baker rose up for an impromptu, improvised high five after Baker crushed his 30th home run of the season in October of at Dodger Stadium, it set the high five in stone forever. The climate has shifted; public opinion has shifted.

And yet we still have so much farther to go. Burke had been an incredible athlete as a youngster — as a basketball player, he was the Northern California Baseball gay player Player of the Year, leading his Berkeley High School squad to a perfect record and a state championship in his senior year.

The Dodgers drafted him inand he played in their minor league system until he got called up to the major league club in Once he was with the Dodgers, he did not specifically try to keep his sexuality a secret. He was out to the people closest to him, and spoke openly with teammates, executives and even sportswriters about it.

Burke claimed that general manager Al Campanis offered him a sizable bribe to participate in a sham marriage. Burke also befriended Tommy Lasorda Jr. Burke had retired from MLB byand in he officially came out in an article for Inside Sports. He soon appeared on the Today Show with Bryant Gumble as well.

Before he left baseball, Burke had baseball gay player to leave his mark — not for his batting average, home runs, or spectacular plays in the outfield, but for his celebrations. Part of that was being the first up to congratulate his teammates after a big moment. In the 6th inning, downDusty Baker came up to the plate.

He blasted a home run out to center field for his 30th home run of the season. Burke, who was pinch hitting and happened to be waiting on deck, met Baker at the plate with his hand stretched high over his head. It seemed like the thing to do. Amazingly, immediately after this, Burke stepped up to the plate and hit a home run himself.

It was the first home run of his major league career, and one of only two he hit before he retired. And so it was that the high five was cemented in baseball lore, and has been passed down through the generations to the present day. While many of his teammates loved him, having to endure listening to slurs and battling preconceived notions about gay athletes was eventually too much.

But what he was really known for was the high five. In he broke his leg when a car hit him crossing the street. In he was diagnosed with HIV; he passed away just two years later. The high five is the piece of Burke that manages to live on, and captures something of the joy that characterized the good times of his life.

Copy Link. The famous high five between Glenn Burke left and Dusty Baker.