Queer Reading: Gay former MLB umpire pens memoir
ebar.comThis year the headlines in Major League Baseball were about the lockout by the owners; rule changes to restore the public interest, which has been flagging the past few generations; and the long anticipated/feared acceptance of designated hitters in the National League.
The lockout eventually ended, the jury is still out on how the rule changes will affect the game, and the NL finally caved and accepted the less intriguing world of pitchers whose only task in life is to throw the ball and sit around watching teammates actually play the game so long peddled by the American League.The question MLB should have been asking is why is it still the one major American men's professional team sport that still has not had an active openly gay player?"Football, hockey, basketball, soccer — they've all had an active player who came out," former American League umpire Dale Scott said during a recent phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter. "Baseball still has the distinction of not having an active player come out."In 2013, Robbie Rogers of the Los Angeles Galaxy became the first out gay athlete to play in Major League Soccer or any men's top level professional team in the United States.That same year Jason Collins came out in the offseason as a free agent; he signed with the Brooklyn Nets during the 2014 season to become the first active out player in the NBA before retiring later that year.In 2021, Carl Nassib of the Las Vegas Raiders revealed he was gay, becoming the first active NFL player to do so, though the Raiders released him on March 17, reportedly because of his big salary, per a story on NBC News.Also in 2021, NHL prospect Luke Prokop came out while under contract with the Nashville Predators.
