Glenn Burke
| Glenn Burke | |||
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| Outfielder | |||
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Born: November 16, 1952 Oakland, California |
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Died: May 30, 1995 (aged 42) San Leandro, California |
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| MLB debut | |||
| April 9, 1976, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| June 4, 1979, for the Oakland Athletics | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .237 | ||
| Home runs | 2 | ||
| Runs batted in | 38 | ||
| Teams | |||
Glenn Lawrence Burke (November 16, 1952 – May 30, 1995) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) player for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics from 1976 to 1979.
Burke was the first and only MLB player to come out as gay to teammates and team owners during his professional career and the first to publicly acknowledge it. He died from AIDS-related causes in 1995.
Burke was proud of his accomplishment, stating, "They can't ever say now that a gay man can't play in the majors, because I'm a gay man and I made it."
Burke was an accomplished high school basketball star, leading the Berkeley High School, California, Yellow Jackets to an undefeated season and the 1970 Northern California championships. He was voted onto the all-tournament team at the Tournament of Champions (TOC) and received a Northern California MVP award. Burke was named Northern California's High School Basketball Player of the Year in 1970.
Toward the beginning of his career, an assistant coach described him as the next Willie Mays. Burke was a highly touted star in the Los Angeles Dodgers minor league system before being called up to the major league club.
As a gay man, Burke's association with the Dodgers was a difficult one. According to his 1995 autobiography Out at Home, Dodgers General Manager Al Campanis offered to pay for a lavish honeymoon if Burke agreed to marry. Burke refused to do so, and is said to have responded "to a woman?" He also angered Dodgers' manager Tommy Lasorda by befriending the manager's gay son, Tommy Lasorda, Jr. Lasorda has disputed that but says he does not understand Burke's behavior at the time: "Why wouldn't he come out? Why keep that inside? Glenn had a lot of talent. He could have been an outstanding basketball or baseball player. He sure was good in the clubhouse. What happened? I don't know what happened. He just wasn't happy here?" The Dodgers eventually traded Burke to the Oakland Athletics for Billy North, claiming that they needed an experienced player who could contribute right away. North did have more experience and better statistics, but some would argue he was less talented, and there have been suggestions that homophobia was behind the trade. The trade was unpopular with Dodger players. The day after the trade was announced, teammate Davey Lopes said: "He was the life of the team, on the buses, in the clubhouse, everywhere." In Oakland Burke received little playing time in the 1978 and 1979 seasons. Billy Martin used the word "faggot" in the clubhouse when he became an Athletics's manager in 1980, and some teammates avoided showering with Burke. Burke suffered a knee injury before the 1980 season began, and the Athletics sent him to the minors in Utah and then released him from his contract before the season ended.
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