|
|
Is
There a Gay N.Y. Met?
By Jim Buzinski
Outsports.com Is a major league
baseball player ready to come out of the closet?
That's the question being asked in response to comments by New York
Mets manager Bobby Valentine that baseball is "probably ready for an
openly gay player." Valentine made his remarks in the June/July
issue of Details magazine and they have become a hot topic
after
reports Monday in the New York Post.
"The players are a diverse enough group now that I think they could
handle (a gay teammate)," the Post's Neil Travis quotes Valentine as
saying. Travis writes for the popular Post gossip column ``Page
Six.''
The speculation by Travis and some in the media is that
Valentine is setting the stage for a Met to come out, though
Valentine and general manager Steve Phillips denied this. Names have
been bandied about privately within media circles and by several New
York readers who contacted Outsports claiming to know the player.
Travis laid out this scenario:
``More to the point, some may think that Valentine is getting in
first, before one of his big guns is outed. There is a persistent
rumor around town that one Mets star who spends a lot of time with
pretty models in clubs is actually gay and has started to think
about declaring his sexual orientation.
``The rumor even goes so far as to say that the player and a
still-closeted local TV personality recently purchased a house
together in a ritzy New York suburb. (I've made a cursory check of
the real estate rolls in that suburb and can't find any
documentation of the rumor. But even if it's all nonsense, the story
is out there and gaining momentum by the day.)''
On Tuesday, Mike Piazza, the Mets' All-Star catcher, took the
unusual step to publicly announce he was heterosexual. ``I'm
not gay. I'm heterosexual,'' Piazza said in an account in the New
York Times. "I can't control what people think. That's obvious. And
I can't convince people what to think. I can only say what I know
and what the truth is and that's I'm heterosexual and I date women.
That's it. End of story."
Piazza agreed with his manager that an openly
gay baseball player would be accepted. ``In this day and age, it's
irrelevant,'' he said. ``I don't think it would be a problem at
all.'' Valentine accused the Post of sensationalizing and told
the New York Times his comments to Details were in direct response
to a question about whether baseball could handle an openly gay
player.
I have no idea as to whether a Met or a Jet or a Net is ready to become the
first active athlete to publicly come out from one of the big four
North American team sports (NFL, NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball).
At Outsports we hear rumors all the time and our reaction is always
the same: We'll believe it when we see it.
Rumors Not New
We've had false starts before. In 1984, rumors flew around the
Summer Olympics in Los Angeles that two prominent U.S. gold
medalists were going to come out. Pressure from sponsors allegedly
kept them quiet. One of them, diver Greg Louganis, had a very public
coming out a few years later, but the second athlete has still not
made a public declaration. We've also heard from time to time more
recently about jocks thinking about making the big plunge but
getting cold feet. No one wants to be a pioneer.
There is no doubt the landscape would be more hospitable to a jock
declaring he's gay. Public attitudes toward homosexuality are more
tolerant, popular entertainment is awash in portrayals of gays
(mostly positive) and even the often-brutish sports media has given
the subject a sympathetic airing.
While being interviewed about Valentine's comments by
Max Howell and
Perry Laurentino from 680 Sports Radio in Atlanta, I was struck by
their sympathetic, perceptive and non-hostile questions. I was
expecting Don Imus and got Charlie Rose instead. It's hard to
imagine many in the mainstream media treating an athlete's coming
out as a reason to gay-bait. For example, the in-your-face
Jim Rome
gets high marks for his non-homophobic attitudes.
Still, there remain perceived
big hurdles for any pro athlete
willing to come out, especially in team sports. How would teammates
react? How would management react? How would the fans react? How
would the sponsors react? These questions are all relevant to an
athlete's calculation. Add in religious beliefs, societal views on
sexuality (especially male sexuality), pressure to not upset team
chemistry and still-strong stereotypes about gays and it's easy to
see why staying in the closet seems the prudent choice. Philadelphia
Phillies manager Larry Bowa probably spoke for many in baseball when
he told the AP:
``If it was me, I'd probably wait until my career was over. I'm sure
it would depend on who the player was. If he hits .340, it probably
would be easier than if he hits .220.''
Despite these obstacles it's still possible to envision an athlete
coming out. No longer do people speculate if there are gay jocks but
rather who and how many. If Valentine's remarks are foreshadowing,
this tells us that many of the Mets players, coaches and management
already know; their support would be an invaluable safety net in the
ensuing public feeding frenzy.
It would be great if gays had their version of Jackie Robinson. This
player
would be an instant role model for young gay athletes, conflicted
about how their sexual orientation can mesh with their love of
sports. We wait and we hope.
May 21, 2002
|
