Marc Gofstein 
Special to Outsports

Two years ago, for the 2001 Gay World Series in San Francisco, I wrote the following feature on a former Major League Baseball player who I consider to be one of my heroes.  It a story about Glenn Burke, a former member of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland A’s who was considered by many to be the next Willie Mays; who was essentially openly gay during his brief career (he never denied it when questioned); and who paid the price for that openness by being ousted from the game at a young age. 

In this day of speculation about possible gay ballplayers, and with the 2003 Gay Softball World Series just a week away, I thought it was more than appropriate to rerun this story here on Outsports.  While in this day and age, we tend to make heroes out of players who came out after their careers have ended, we sometimes forget that there were some who were out (even on a small scale), and because of it, made the ultimate career sacrifice. 

Now, before anyone assumes I’m diminishing players like Billy Bean and Esera Tualo, who have recently come out, I’m not.  The gay community definitely needs more people like these two, who have come out and told their stories, and are now wonderful examples that gays can, indeed, play sports on the highest of levels. 

However, Glenn Burke played the game at a time when gays and lesbians did not have the acceptance we enjoy today (more in society at-large than in the sports world); when AIDS wasn’t even a thought; when sportscasters never uttered the words gay or lesbian in a positive tone.  Yet, Burke started to do what was then inconceivable: He played Major League Baseball as a gay man.  Unfortunately, homophobia ultimately killed his career. 

The year was 1977.  The place:  Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, late in the season.  I was only 11 at the time, but I remember the day quite vividly. 

The hometown Dodgers were playing the Houston Astros and were close to clinching the National League Western Division Championship.  However, what made that special wasn’t what the team was accomplishing, but rather what one Dodger player did in particular, that changed the sports world forever.  For, at that game, two Dodger players hit back-to-back home runs, the first hit by Dusty Baker (who currently manages the Chicago Cubs), and the second by a guy named Glenn Burke.  Now, the home runs were not the story.  No, the real story took place immediately following Burke’s.

As soon as Burke finished rounding the bases, with 56,000 fans cheering wildly and his teammates roaring their approval, he ran towards the dugout, held his right hand up in the air, and performed the very first “high five” hand slap. 

OK, so maybe it wasn’t the most earth-shattering event to happen, but it did spark a cultural phenomenon that immediately swept the nation and continues, even to this day.  What is even more significant is that a gay man did it.  Yes, Glenn Burke was gay. 

I remember hearing that, following the 1977 season, Burke had been traded to the Oakland A’s for veteran outfielder Bill North, but never knew why.  Dodger broadcasters echoed my curiosity, commenting that they couldn’t figure out why a player who was being compared to a young Willie Mays was suddenly traded for an over-the-hill player who was way past his prime.  At 11 years of age, I couldn’t comprehend it, either.  But, several years later, in 1988, while reading an article in Sports Illustrated about Glenn Burke’s coming out, the pieces finally fit together:  Glenn Burke was traded, and subsequently run out of baseball, because he was gay. 

I was horrified to read in the article that, while still with the Dodgers, then General Manager Al Campanis openly urged Burke to get married.  Campanis even went so far as to suggest that the Dodgers would pay for all the expenses, just so Burke could show the sports world that he was straight.  After all, the Dodgers were a “family” organization and anything or, more specifically, anyone disturbing that concept couldn’t be kept in the family. 

Playing straight would have been easy enough for Burke.  After all, his teammates were constantly introducing him to beautiful women.  Surely one of them would want to marry a future superstar.  However, acting straight was the one game Burke refused to play.  And, that was the beginning of the end for Glenn Burke’s baseball career. 

Over the past few years, I’ve spoken with many people who knew Burke and played softball with him.  They say he was easily the greatest softball player in the history of the San Francisco Gay Softball League.  Not only that, but they add that he was an incredible athlete overall, as well.  He excelled at basketball, and had the ability to dunk the ball, simply by jumping in place and slamming it through the basket.  Oh, by the way, he was only 6’1”, making the feat truly amazing. 

Glenn Burke passed away in 1995 from AIDS-related complications.  He left many friends and family behind, one of whom was NAGAAA Hall of Fame member Jack McGowan, who played against Burke for many seasons in San Francisco.  In a 1994 interview, which appeared in USA TODAY: Baseball Weekly, McGowan commented on how Burke was revered in San Francisco’s Castro District.  “He was a hero to us.  He came out to us when he was still a Major League athlete; in his prime…He was the gay celebrity in town.  When Glenn was with the Dodgers, he treated us like he was one of us.  He didn’t treat us like dirt.  That was so thrilling to us in the gay community.” 

I’ve heard many stories about Glenn Burke, some heartwarming, and some that would tear your heart out.  There are plenty of other venues to read about his downfall after baseball; how drugs took over his life; how he fought through homelessness and depression.  I, personally, have chosen not to dwell on the negative ones.  Rather, I’ve chosen to focus on the man who created the “high five,” the gay professional baseball player who was regarded as a hero throughout San Francisco and, because he refused to lead a double life, paid the ultimate professional price.  My only regret is that I never had the chance to meet him.  But, he will always be a hero to me. 

So, from now on, whenever you “high five” a teammate or friend, remember that it was a gay man who started it all. 

Glenn Burke – he was a Major Leaguer.

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