Out at Home
The True Story of Glenn Burke, Baseball's First Openly Gay Player
Before Jason Collins, before Michael Sam, there was Glenn Burke. By becoming the first—and only—openly gay player in Major League Baseball, Glenn would become a pioneer in his own way, nearly thirty years after another black Dodger rookie, Jackie Robinson, broke the league’s color barrier. This is Glenn’s story, in his own words . . .
Touted by scouts and coaches alike as “the next Willie Mays,” Burke, a charismatic outfielder, kept his sexuality off the radar for a good two seasons, which included a World Series appearance. He was even credited with inventing the high five with teammate Dusty Baker.
But when the Dodgers’ front office got wind of Burke’s sexuality, the damage control started, including efforts by upper management to…
Erik Sherman is the coauthor of two highly acclaimed baseball biographies, Out at Home: The Glenn Burke Story and Steve Blass: A Pirate for Life. His work has appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Bergen Record, as well as in other newspapers. He has appeared in documentaries produced by Comcast SportsNet and Root Sports, and his speaking engagements have taken him from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, to the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center on the campus of Montclair State University. He is a graduate of Emerson College and blogs regularly at ErikShermanBaseball.com.
Kings of Queens
Erik Sherman
Out at Home
Glenn Burke, Erik Sherman
Mookie
Mookie Wilson, Erik ShermanGlenn Burke, a former center fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics over a span of five seasons, appeared in the 1977 World Series. Burke made history by becoming the first Major League Baseball player to announce his homosexuality. He died of AIDS in 1995.