Solomon Bates stepped up to the mound as an out baseball player and won
This profile is part of Queerty’s 2022 Out For Good series, recognizing public figures who’ve had the courage to come out and make a difference in the past year, in celebration of National Coming Out Day on October 11.Name: Solomon Bates, 25Bio: Solomon Bates grew up in Victorville, California, where he excelled on the baseball field.
He played through college for the University of Southern California until 2018, when he became the eighth-round pick for the Giants at age 25.
A post shared by Solomon Bates (@solomonbates)Little did we know, the following year, in 2019, Bates came out as gay to his teammates—the Giants’ minor league Richmond Flying Squirrels—and never let the ball drop.His posts during the time period show his clear love for the game: A post shared by Solomon Bates (@solomonbates) A post shared by Solomon Bates (@solomonbates)Coming out: The right-handed pitcher was released from the Giants organization this year, but Bates still had cause for celebration—becoming the second minor league baseball player to publicly come out as gay, after David Denson in 2015.“Being gay in this sport you don’t know what comes at you!” he said, alongside images of his 2022 stats and photos of him in action.“I thank the Giants for giving me the opportunity to be myself and go out there and play the game that I love the most.
I’m still in shock on what just happened. But I’m not giving up on what I want to do. I’m still going to open up doors for gay athletes like me.
