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Out former pro umpire Tyler
Garrison
By
Ross Forman
Outsports.com
To make it in professional
baseball, Tyler Garrison went back in the closet. Being
openly-gay was not an option, even as an umpire. Or,
particularly because he was an umpire.
Garrison
came out to his family and friends in 2002, shortly after
graduating from Lewis-Clark State College. But when he went
to umpire school, run by former major league umpire Jim
Evans, in January 2004, Garrison went straight, so to speak;
Even though his boyfriend, Frank Caruso, was at home in the
Washington D.C. area.
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Tyler (right) with his boyfriend Frank
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“When I
went to umpire school, Frank was really supportive and I
knew it was going to be tough,” Garrison said. “I knew being
out wasn’t really an option. If you want to make it, it’s
just not possible because of the macho environment and the
competitiveness.”
Garrison
was among the elite umpire students in 2004; one of about
400 from the nationally-credited baseball umpire schools
that send umpires into the minor leagues.
“Being out
would be more than just a strike against you. Maybe I’m
pessimistic, but I can’t even imagine being gay and making
it,” he said. “As competitive as it is, you don’t really
want anything to affect you.”
Garrison
landed in the Northwest League for the summer of 2004. It
was a Boise-based, eight-team, 76-game Short Season Class-A
league with teams in Eugene, Ore., Yakima, Wash., and
Vancouver, B.C., among other places.
The job was
“awesome” for Garrison. Originally from Mt. Vernon, Ore., he
had family and friends attend almost every game.
His
umpiring partner was Neil Turner, “who was a really cool guy
and we got along really well.” But Garrison never told
Turner that he was gay. “I didn’t feel comfortable coming
out to him, as cool as he was.”
Garrison
retired after the ’04 season, opting not to return for the
2005 season, though he had an offer to return to the field.
Umpiring
professionally, he said, “is not a life I now want. I don’t
want to jump from hotel room to hotel room, not being home.”
But if he
was going to return to the game, Garrison would do one thing
different for sure: “If I had it to do all over again, I
would do a season or two completely out, just to do it and
maybe make a point,” he said. “I contemplated returning in
2005 and being out. I wish I had had the balls to do it.”
GETTING
TO KNOW … Tyler Garrison
Age: 28
Birthday: November 22, 1978
High School: Grant Union (Mt.
Vernon, Ore., Class of 1997)
College: Lewis Clark State
College, Class of 2002.
Lives in: Washington D.C.
Status: Boyfriend, Frank Caruso,
28, is an economist.
Hobbies: Working out, softball,
volleyball and snow skiing.
Favorite stadium: Camden Yards in
Baltimore.
Favorite TV Show: Baseball Tonight
Favorite movie: Field of Dreams.
Could a minor league umpire be openly-gay:
“Yes, though I don’t know how far they’d go (up the ranks).
Being out and trying to make it (to the majors), I’d like to
think that it’d be possible, but I have my doubts.”
Umpiring
in 2007:
He still umpires adult leagues and occasional college games.
July 24,
2007 |
