This is fitting — Matthew Schulte, a marketing executive with the Kansas City Royals, was inspired to come out openly as gay after the Royals great run that saw them one win short of a World Series title. Wednesday, Schulte received his own American League Championship Series ring, which he posted on Facebook.
In his coming out story last November, Schulte talked about how the Royals amazing run from wild card team to near-World Series champs gave him confidence:
"I had family at all of the home games. I got to spend time with them. It was an awesome experience. We've all been Royals fans all of our lives. To go through the connections with the team, the city and my family, it made me realize it's time to take a step forward myself and put myself out there. I had been in a rut, with the Royals and all of their difficult seasons and what I was struggling with inside.
"The Royals' success just made me decide to be proud and just own it, to just be who I am."
We wish Schulte and the Royals great success this season and maybe next year at this time he'll be sporting a World Series ring.
