Out at ‘The Q’
The Padres’ Ryan Klesko talks
about the prospect of an openly gay ballplayer
By Travis D. Bone
Gay and Lesbian Times
Reprinted by permission to Outsports
There are three "S’s"
that baseball players and management are reluctant to talk about these
days: steroids, the strike and sexual orientation. The Gay and Lesbian
Times joined the Padres during batting practice at Qualcomm Stadium
(The Q) before their game against the Colorado Rockies on Monday, July
15, to discuss the topic of gays in professional sports and how the
team might handle a player coming out.
Ever since Mets
manager Bobby Valentine did an interview for Details magazine where he
said that he thought baseball was “ready for an openly gay
player,” players and coaches alike have been on guard and careful
about what they say on the subject of gays in sports.
For example, the
Times approached several Padres’ players July 15 on the subject,
including Bubba Trammell and Brett Tomko, who both declined to
comment. Team Manager Bruce Bochy deferred questions to Padres General
Manager Kevin Towers.
The recent fear stems
partly from a column in the New York Post where Neal Travis took the
Details’ story and ran with it, saying that Valentine was trying to
open the doors up for a prospective Mets player to come out of the
closet. Rumors were rampant about the sexuality of a particular Mets
catcher, Mike Piazza, which prompted him to hold an impromptu press
conference to come out as a heterosexual.
With 1,200 players
making up the 40-man rosters of the 30 major league baseball teams in
this country, Kinsey statistics suggest that some 120 of them would be
gay — making for approximately four gay players per team. Yet with
odds like that, there still isn’t a single openly gay baseball
player in the league today.
“I think the most
difficult thing is there is this ‘macho’ type of persona these
guys have to uphold and there’s fear that if they come out, they are
not going to be looked at the same way,” Towers, the general
manager, said. “I
would like to think we’re all mature enough in professional sports
to realize that sometimes they don’t have a choice and we
shouldn’t hold that against them.”
It’s one thing to
have the support of the management, but it’s an entirely different
story when it comes to the reality of dealing with teammates who may
have different feelings about having a gay player sharing their locker
room with them.
“It’s one of
those things; no matter what, you’re going to have your guys that
aren’t going to be happy about it,” Padres first baseman Ryan
Klesko told the Times. “Obviously you shower together and do a lot
of stuff together. For a lot of guys, they would be somewhat tentative
about it.”
Klesko, a California
native, has been with the club for three years and previously spent
four years in the big leagues with the Atlanta Braves (including two
seasons with noted homophobic pitcher John Rocker). Now a team
spokesperson for the Padres who has been awarded the community
relations department’s Chairman’s Award for the past two years,
Klesko knows the realities of what goes on in the locker room and on
the field.
“In general
you’re gonna have your guys that aren’t really gonna care. It’s
just like anything; some guys are prejudiced and some aren’t,”
said Klesko. “On an overall team basis it’s going to be a tough
thing, and over time you’re going to have your small problems, but
you never know.”
Beyond the dugout
there is also a fear of how fans will respond to a player coming out,
which could place lucrative sponsorships in jeopardy. But Klesko said
he feels that the responses would be varied.
“In general, each
city is different,” Klesko explained. “If you go to a place like
New York or Philadelphia, the guy is gonna get hammered pretty good.
You’re going to get your guys who drink too many beers and heckle,
but you get heckled in this game whether you’re gay or not anyway.
You have to learn to deal with it. It really depends on the player.”
The Padres are unique
among Major League Baseball teams in that they have had a gay on their
team who has since come out of the closet. Three years ago, former
Padre Billy Bean turned the baseball world on its ear when he came out
of the closet four years after retiring from the game. The idea that
there could be gay professional ballplayers has since since taken
center stage on sports pages and in news reports across the country.
“Billy Bean was one
who was a former Padre who came out,” Towers recalled of the Padres
alum. “Hopefully this game will turn around to where guys will feel
like they have the freedom to come out and express if they are
heterosexual or homosexual and it really shouldn’t matter. What they
do on the field is what matters.”
During his days with
the Padres, Bean was in a relationship, and in various interviews he
has talked about the difficulty of hiding his gay relationship from
teammates and how the lack of focus drove his batting average down
from .350 in the minors to a career average of .228 in the majors.
“When you come to
the park you’ve got a job [to do],” said Klesko. “Whether Billy
had problems hiding it or not, a lot of guys have problems with their
wives and family issues. That’s personal stuff that guy is going to
have to learn to deal with on a personal basis.… when you jump in
this ballpark you’re ultimately here to win.”
Towers said he sees
the issue as a gradual evolution, noting that people’s opinions
about gays and lesbians are changing daily.
“I think that if
you have more than just one individual and it becomes accepted that
players can come out and be open about [their sexual orientation],”
Towers said, “then it won’t be held against them by fans or the
management and the industry and they will be able to feel comfortable
and approach the game from a business standpoint and not be afraid of
how they will be perceived.” •
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