Hold the Back Page: Crushing bigotry one step at a time
Before there was Michael Sam or Jason Collins or Gareth Thomas or even Dónal óg Cusack, there was Glenn Burke. In 1977, Burke played in the World Series for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the New York Yankees. Aged 24, he was one of baseball's brightest prospects. Dodgers coach Junior Gillam believed Burke could be as good as all-time great Willie Mays.
There was only one problem. Glenn Burke was gay. And when the Dodgers organisation found out, he was called in and told by vice-president Al Campanis that if he got married the club would give him extra money. "Al, I don't think I'll be getting married no time soon," said the young Californian and more or less sealed his own fate. Soon afterwards, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda traded Burke to the Oakland As, to the amazement of team-mates such as Davey Lopes who said, "He was the life of the team, on the bases, in the clubhouse, everywhere. All of us will miss him."
