Glenn Burke – Photo: Public Domain, Billy Bean – Photo: Arturo Pardavila III from Hoboken, NJ, USA, CC BY 2.0
The Los Angeles Dodgers will unveil a permanent display honoring two gay MLB trailblazers during pregame ceremonies at the team’s 13th annual LGBTQ Pride Night on Friday, June 5, before taking on the Los Angeles Angels.
The tribute, located in Centerfield Plaza at Dodger Stadium, will feature photos and memorabilia from the careers of Billy Bean and Glenn Burke, both former Dodgers players.
Burke, who played in parts of four MLB seasons, including three with the Dodgers from 1976 to 1978, became the first Major League Baseball player to come out as gay when he announced his retirement in 1982. He also played for the Oakland Athletics and is widely credited with inventing the high-five after celebrating a 1977 home run by then-Dodgers teammate Dusty Baker.
Burke died of AIDS-related complications in 1995 at age 42. In 2022, the Dodgers invited his family to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the team’s Pride Night celebration.
Bean, whose major league career spanned six seasons, briefly played for the Dodgers in 1989 and also spent time with the Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres. He came out in 1999, becoming the second former MLB player to do so after Burke.
Bean later served Major League Baseball as a special adviser to the commissioner and as senior vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion. He died in 2024 at age 60 following a battle with cancer.
“Billy was a friend to countless people across our game, and he made a difference through his constant dedication to others,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement following Bean’s death, praising his efforts to promote inclusion within baseball. “He made baseball a better institution, both on and off the field, by the power of his example, his empathy, his communication skills, his deep relationships inside and outside our sport, and his commitment to doing the right thing.”
Burke and Bean are two of only three former MLB players to come out as gay. The third, pitcher TJ House, who played for the Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians) and Toronto Blue Jays, came out in 2022.
Prior to Friday’s first pitch, the Dodgers will host a Pride Night Party in collaboration with the nonprofit Christopher Street West Association. The event will feature musical performances by Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles, the world’s first LGBTQ mariachi band, and DJ Brizzle.
Singer-songwriter UMI will perform the national anthem, and 99-year-old Maybelle Blair will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. An Inglewood native and Compton Junior College alum, Blair pitched in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1940s and is featured in a display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. She came out as a lesbian in 2022.
Minnesota Aurora FC has signed its first transgender player, adding former Cal State Fullerton standout goalkeeper Isaac Ranson to the community-owned USL W League, a pre-professional women's soccer division.
Ranson played for the Cal State Fullerton Titans women's soccer team, where he twice earned Big West Goalkeeper of the Year honors. He finished with school records for saves (347), shutouts (31), and minutes played (6,934), according to Cal State Fullerton's website.
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