Glenn Burke ~ Gay Pride And High Fives By: Jennifer Kate
Well I'm back again blog number three that I have written in the last few days. Anyways i should probably tell you guys what i am going to be talking about in this blog, and that is Glenn Burke and telling his coming out story and if you aren’t familiar with him then you will learn about him today. But again just a small quick introduction. I'm Jennifer Kate, a producer for Fruity Serial here on the Empty The Bench Podcast Network.
Let’s get right into talking about Glenn Burke. Quick overview of Who Glenn Burke is and why his story is so significant to major league sports. Glenn Burke was a major league baseball player who played for multiple teams such as Los Angeles Dodgers and the Oakland Athletics from 1976 to 1979. He came out as gay in 1982 after retiring from major league baseball. Not only did he come out after he was retired but he was the first MLB player to come out as gay which I mentioned in my last blog when i told Billy Beans story. If you guys didn’t read that story he was another MLB player to come out as gay.
Now I gave a quick overview of his story. Let's get into a little bit more detail about his life and his story. At the Beginning of his major league career an assistant coach described him as the next “Willie Mays”. Burke was a highly scouted star in the Los Angeles Dodgers minor league
system. As someone who was gay Burke’s association with the Dodgers was very difficult. According to his 1995 autobiography Out At Home Dodgers general manager Al Campanis offered to pay for a lavish honeymoon If Burke agreed to marry, Burke refused. Burke also
angered Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda by befriending Lasorda’s gay son Tommy Lasorda Jr. Quick fun fact about Glenn Burke that many people may not know is that he and Dusty Baker are nightly credited with creating the high five, which I personally think is pretty cool. But anyway let me get back on topic before I go on a tangent. Burke kept active in sports after retiring from baseball. He competed in the Gay Olympics in 1982 and in 1986 in which he won medals in 100 and 200 meters sprints. He also went back to baseball in a different capacity as he played for the San Francisco gay softball league where he played 3rd base for Uncle Bert’s Bombers.
Burke unfortunately passed away from aids related causes in 1995. In August 2013, Burke was among the first class of inductees into the national gay and lesbian sports hall of fame. He was also inducted into the baseball reliquary’s shrine of the eternals in 2015. His jersey number at Berkeley high school was retired in his honor. There is a slight downside to Burke which in my opinion is extremely sad but with the positives comes the negatives so with that being said let’s get into it. Burke turned to drugs to fill the void in his life when his career ended. His addiction to cocaine destroyed him physically and financially. His leg and foot were crushed when he got hit by a car in San Francisco. After that accident his life went into physical and financial decline. Burke was arrested for drugs and lived on the streets for a number of years.
Well i think that about sums up this blog, i hope you guys learned something new and enjoyed reading this blog. That’s all from me for now but I'm sure I'll be back soon with more blogs.