For a while Tuesday, Dale Scott was trending on Twitter, showing the power of the story of the first openly gay Major League Baseball umpire.

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Umpire Dale Scott comes out quietly

Jim Buzinski

Must Reads

Umpire Dale Scott comes out quietly

The reactions to Scott's story, which included him having a husband, were overwhelmingly positive. Scott said his email box had overflowed and there was only one negative comment. And one former player told the New York Daily News that some "players have and will likely continue to snicker behind his back here and there" knowing he is gay.

That's their problem and those were the exceptions.

"To his friends and colleagues throughout the game, Dale is universally regarded as a class act," Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. "All of us at Major League Baseball are very proud of him, just as we have always been."
"He's an excellent crew chief and umpire," MLB umpire Dan Iassogna, who just finished his eighth season working with Scott, told the Associated Press. "But above all, he's been a true friend to my family and me. I've always been proud to walk with him, but never more proud than today."
One Outsports reader had a very thoughtful reaction:
"Extra kudos, too, to Mr. Scott for being a class act — for not making his personal life a distasteful public platform for a larger agenda. One wins the hearts and minds of better people by standing with authentic, understated integrity and dignity in one’s life and work, not by shouting out a sense of ‘special privilege’, and shoving it down people’s throats. In a civilized society, if a person truly accepts who one is, then so will many others who get to know you. As for the bigots, they seal their own fate and misery."

Here are some reactions on Twitter I found heartfelt and in some cases humorous:

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