The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 232 - Breaking Glenn Burke

Episode Date: January 9, 2017

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine baseball player Glenn Burke. SOURCES TOUR DATES REDBUBBLE MERCH 

When you're staying at an Airbnb you might be like me wondering could my place be an Airbnb and if it could what could it earn? You could be sitting on an Airbnb and not even know it. That in-law sweet guest house where your parents stay only part-time Airbnb it and make some money the rest of the year whether you could use a little extra money to cover some bills or for something a little more fun. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host. You're listening to the dollop. This is a bi-weekly American History podcast each

week. I, Dave Anthony, read a story from American History to my friend. Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is gonna be about. BAM! What? Great. High energy. Good. Do you want to look who to do? I'll do one bottle. People say this is funny. Not Gary Gareth. Dave, okay. Someone or something is tickling people. Is it for fun? And this is not gonna become a tickly podcast. Okay. You are Queen Fakie of Haight-Up Town. All hail Queen Shit of Liesville! A bunch of religious virgins go to Mingle and do my frame. Hi, Gary. No, I miss you dad, my friend. No, no. November 16th, 1952. Okay. Glenn Burke was born in Oakland, California. Sure. His mom

was a single parent with eight kids. Okay. So, one dad? His dad left when he was 11 months old. Was it one dad? I think so. That's amazing. That dude really was like I'm out. I'm sorry. Yeah, I cannot. Six was tough. I should have worn a condom. Ate a nightmare. So, Glenn was a funny kid growing up. He loved to take the other kids, he loved to make the other kids in his high school class laugh. Okay. Right? Nothing wrong there. Sure. A little class clown, reminiscing of myself. Sure. He attended church six times a week. Just like I did. Two choirs. Two choirs? Choirs. Okay. Served as an usher. Okay. He bathed two or three times a day but never felt clean. Well, uh, huh. That was a fun,

fun little, that's a little twist. Warning. You just say right now, maybe we fit our first flag. He was also the best athlete around. Okay. The game didn't matter. Whatever it was, he was the best at it. He played them all. Except for bathing. Except for bathing. Now he did play bathing. Couldn't win it though. No, couldn't win. The game he never won. Baseball was the sport in Oakland that was the most organized and Glenn joined the Pony League and excelled. Well, when you're playing horses, it's easy. That's what I'm talking about. The time he was 15, he was 5'10 and 180 pounds. Okay. Big, big boy. Yeah. Big boy. Very, very lucky. Have you ever seen Andy Reed at the, uh, like kick, like punt,

throw kick challenge when he's 15? This is just gigantic. So Andy Reed, for anyone who doesn't know, is a coach in the NFL and literally it's for 15 year olds. Yeah. Andy Reed looks like he's 35. He looks like a completely, like he looks like he, it looks like the kids are in where the wild things are. And Andy Reed is just, it's like if all the kids ran into each other and formed one 15 year old player, it would be Andy Reed. And he just dominates. Yeah, of course. Like he's like throwing it like 50 yards, like every other kid's like 15 yards. Thanks, mister. And he's like, I'm gonna actually throw a field goal. Hey, my name's Andy and I'm 15. Okay. With a mustache? Yeah. Alrighty. Got that one.

I was nine. Okay, dope. Um, so, uh, Glenn was pretty much just all muscle. He's a born athlete. When he's 15, he hit a ball 500 feet. Wow. I mean, most, most out of the park donors now baseball 98% of baseball players never hit a ball 500 feet. Yeah. That would be in a regular park now that would be. Oh, I mean, I'll crazy. Yeah. Crazy. And his arm was like a cannon. Okay. He had three nicknames. Mr. Monkey. Can we when do we do we want to talk about him at the end or when you say the gorilla? Okay, sure. And just gorilla. Okay. Interesting tweak. Network notes came after the second one. Because he's a big person. Yeah. He's a black guy. Oh, God. Uh, Jesus Christ. Yeah. You really led me down that one, huh? Really

just Glenn said, quote, I looked like a fucking monkey in those days. Okay. Well, interesting. Okay. Okay. Now I'm not sure where we stand. You're on board. His dad would show up occasionally, but he was very hard on Glenn, always picking on him. His dad wanted him to be quote hard. But Glenn wasn't like that. Glenn was a sensitive kid. Okay. He joined the high school baseball and basketball teams. It was named high school basketball player of the year for Northern California in 1970. Okay. His team went on to win the state championship. He got scholarship offers to play at the University of Denver and the University of Nevada. Okay. He accepted Denver's offer but left after a couple of months because he didn't like the weather.

Okay. That's quite a luxury. When you are like, where do I want to go free? Huh? Well, it's cold. Kind of think I might go to Hawaii for a semester. Oh, God, it's so cold. I hate free education. So I went back to New York. Sounds like Bernie's a mayor. I'll stop when I go back to Oakland and I went to a community college. Okay. So shit's taken off. Is it? Nope. Okay. Going up in the Bay Area, he was a fan of the San Francisco Giants. Dave. Wow. Great baseball team. Best ever. Uh-huh. That many hated the Los Angeles Dodgers. Okay. That's how it works. Yeah. He assumed if he was going to be playing baseball, it would be for his hometown team. He assumed that. Yeah. So he'd never really explored

the process of how one ends up on a team. But I think back then you were much more likely to be drafted by a local organization. What is the point of a draft? We're going to take that kid near here. The one from over there. All right, cool. See him throw the ball right now. And with the 18th pick, the LA Dodgers take the kid from just down the road. Awesome. Yeah, I knew it. One day he was playing basketball when his sisters came down and told them there was a Dodger Scout at the house. Glenn said, quote, I don't want to play for the Dodgers. Give me a loan. Wow. And now he's an American hero. He was really good. They insisted but he just yelled, I don't care. I ain't playing with no Dodgers. I don't like the Dodgers.

Look, we'll do anything. They went home. We're crazy about you. And came back with Glenn's mom. With what is happening? They went back to their house. The sisters went back to their house. Oh, the sisters. I thought you meant the people from the Dodgers. No. Glenn, we have your mom. And they came back with his mom. And then he agreed to sign with the Dodgers. What sign? His mom was like, you're fucking playing for the Dodgers. Okay, sorry, mom. Sorry, Dodgers. So he signed with the Dodgers with the $5,000 signing. By the way, if you're really like dodging a meeting that much, you're kind of a Dodger. Well, yeah, thank you. A little long, long hike. You get a brownie point or whatever. I don't want one. The scout

who signed him died the next day after he had a heart attack while driving and ran into a telephone pole. Oh, God. So that story had a weird good, good omen. I mean, you're there two days later, you're like, where's Chad? Oh, you didn't hear Chad's car blew up. He had a telephone line. This is your locker. Glenn had never been in a relationship. He always felt different. He didn't date men or women or anyone. He didn't have sex with anyone. Quote, it just wasn't important to me. He put all of his energy into playing baseball. Sure. At this point, Glenn was about 220 pounds. Okay. And it's all fucking muscle. He's just like this physical special monster. Yeah. His nickname was now King Kong. Oh,

God. Yeah, you just can't get away from it. Just it's just and what's amazing too, is that they're like, it probably like not probably it wasn't crazy. Like people were like, it's just accurate, sir. Like, you're like, no, dude, no, no, no, no. He started playing in the minors in Ogden, Utah. In the minors? You were like, this dude, no, he's ready for majors. Just got to learn how to play. He's okay. 220. Ogden's not known for its huge black population. Good. When he got there, he went to a local restaurant and sat for an hour not being waited on. When he finally confronted the waitress about it, she apologized and said she didn't realize he was one of the ball players and then served him. So that's

nice. Yeah, you are like, thank, thank you. No. Screw off or fuck yourself. He left her a 13 cent tip. Okay. Then he went back the next week and left her a 13 cent tip. Okay. Another time when he was walking on the street with a couple of friends, there was a Mormon preaching and trying to sell some Mormon booklet or something. Get your magic underwear. Get your Mormon ideas. Yeah. And he told him he wasn't interested. And the Mormon responded by saying, quote, well, you blacks are the cause of all the problems in the world. And Glenn quickly moved to kick the Mormons ass, but his two teammates held them back because Glenn didn't take a lot of shit. Good. Glenn kept moving up through the mile. Also, that's

such like a dick. Like that's set like, want to be part of this club? No. Well, who needs it dumbass? You're like, well, you just wanted my membership to your what? Yeah, it's that's like a guy. It looks like this stereotypical like dude at a bar like, Hey, so he said, no, I was just thinking, wouldn't you like a drink? No, I'm fine. Thank you. Well, who would want to buy when you're probably, you know, he's probably an asshole anyway. See you later, you stupid C word. Stupid C word. So he keeps moving up the miners playing in Pittsburgh and Spokane. Marvin Webb was a friend he played high school ball with and he was also signed by the Dodgers as teammates. They moved through the system together and

they became close friends. Marvin was also a flashy player who could back it up. While Glenn was nicknamed King Kong, Marvin had several. I'm excited. Is he is Marvin Black as well? Uh huh. Okay. He was known as marvelous Marvin. Wait, he's winning. Yeah, the marvelous Dr. M. Okay, great. Short dog. Interesting. And the hammer. This is great. Those are good nicknames. Short dogs not good. No, short dogs. Don't help with the nicknames anymore. Barry, Barry, Barry, Barry. We have one. Hey, who's a pub? Barry, Barry, Barry. Who's a chihuahua? He's not a chihuahua. Hey, little dog. No, marvelous Marvin is what we're going with. Little doggy. He's not a doggy. Short dog. He's not a short dog. A Marvin was a

ladies man. Okay. When they were playing in Daytona Beach, Marvin would bring women home to try to get Glenn laid, but Glenn would never go for it. One night, Marvin was in bed with two women and he yelled for Glenn to come in and join them. Okay. Glenn responded quote, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, and left. Was he doing the... That's what he said. He said. But he might have been singing like nah, nah, nah, nah. That's true. Nah, nah, nah, nah. That's true. Hey, hey, hey, and then he left. Goodbye. Yeah. That might have been it. Yeah. After a while, if Glenn knew Marvin was bringing a girl back to the apartment for him, he would make sure he wasn't there. Okay. But Marvin was relentless. He assumed Glenn was just

very picky. Then when they were playing in Arizona, Marvin brought back one of the most gorgeous women that Glenn had ever seen. They were all sitting at a table talking when Glenn just stood up and said he had to leave. Oh, wow. I mean, you know that she was like, I've never wanted a man more. Yeah. Oh, totally. He was like, no, no, no, 100%. Marvin started to realize Glenn and women was just not happening. Sure. As far as baseball players, the two teammates hit the shit out of the ball and were the two best players on the team. Glenn was the power hitter with speed, exactly what they want in the Major League Baseball players. Glenn also started to not take a lot of shit. Okay. He didn't like how the organization

was treating him. They would often withhold the player's paychecks. He confronted them about it very aggressively. And one day he stole a base when the coach didn't want him to. And when he came back to the dugout, the coach said, if Glenn did it again, he'd take Glenn out of the game. And Glenn said, yeah, and if you do, I'll kick your ass. Oh, wow. And the coach just walked away. Right. Well, interesting. He had 220 pounds. I'm going to come back off. Fair enough. You steal all you want. I'll still kick your ass. Okay. I'm going to manage the other team. Good. Glenn also got into a fight during a game with an opposing player. The bench is emptied and everyone was involved. The player Glenn

first fought ended up having a broken jaw and everyone assumed Glenn had done it, but it wasn't him. So now he had a reputation as an enforcer from that fight. That's great. Not a big part of that was how big he was. Right. People just assumed. Yeah. He was also a huge fan of standup comedians Richard Pryor and Eddie McElroy. Okay. That's awesome. He memorized their albums and would do their routines. And then people gave him the nickname Eddie. Now Eddie McElroy was known as a ladies man. And with that and his size, Glenn said, quote, no one questioned by manhood. Okay. So he would you said he doesn't like met a boys or girls, but he just right now he's like totally asexual. Okay. Right. Okay. He's

like nothing. Shut down. Yeah. Shut down. Well, look, when you're memorizing standup acts, yeah, it's not a lot of time for you. I know for you. Finally, in 1974, as he excelled in the minors, he was given a major league contract. Okay. So he's put on the 40 man roster, which means he's not on the team because it's 25 years on the team, but they put their best players on a major league contract. Right. And I mean, you're in the mix like you're potentially like starting now. They're like you're one of our guys. Right. That didn't mean he wasn't playing the majors, right? Just the volume enough and they paid more. So feeling more secure, he started looking at other parts of his life. In 1975, he went

back to Oakland to find an old teacher of his from when he was 14. The guy was now a junior high school teacher. He taught glee club drama and work studies. Okay. When Glenn was younger, he used to walk the teacher's dog and they would have long conversations. Is that where small dog came from? Was it the teacher's name? Was it Dave? No. Oh. So Glenn met up with the teacher and had his first sexual experience. Okay. Right. Afterwards, he cried for four hours. Well, we've all been there. Good Lord. You hear my first time. I think you'll feel I think you'll have a little weep quote. They weren't tears from guilt. They were tears from relief. He was relieved because for the first time, he knew

who he was a gay man. Glenn would continue to see his old teacher now and then, but they were never in a relationship. So that's nice. Well, this is before Facebook to you. Didn't have to be that explicit. I know it was complicated. I kind of love I love that thing. Go back and fuck your teacher. I don't care. It's a guy or girl. Yeah. No, there is something. So I mean, that's got to be out of body. Oh, like you're like, what just what is happening? Yeah, the best. Am I banging my glee teacher right now? Did that just happen? You probably like it like it's probably weird to like call him by his first name. So thank you, Mr. Sorry, Mr. Mendelsohn. Sorry, Mr. Mendelsohn. Oh shit, Mr. Mendelsohn. I'm

inside you. Mr. Mendelsohn. Mr. Mendelsohn, may I finish? But he was a baseball player and he knew he'd have to stay in the closet. He knew it would be the end of his career if he came out. Three other players on the team kept pushing him to move in with them, but Glenn kept putting them off. He told them he was going to stay at the YMCA. Okay, sure. They're like, but we're talking about like having, dude, we're talking about a bank pad. I can't. I'm going to stay at the YMCA. Okay. YMCA. Okay. Just I like it there. Sure. Why I got to go. So he is, but this is so you want to know what they thought because it's really weird thing for a guy who's got a con. So let me because

the contract because I think what you're what is sort of happening is that like it's nobody suspects that he could be gay, right? Like it's everything but that. So I'm going to guess that they thought he was really religious. Nope, it's worse. Oh boy. They just all figured it was because he loved to play basketball and always wanted to be near a game going on. Oh my God. Just dynamite. Like in a way, I love the denial of people who are like, you can't be gay. Well, no, but it's like basketball. It's like what the idea that like, you know, when Columbus like was coming to America, Native Americans couldn't see him because they couldn't like fathom that sort of imagery. Like they're unable to fathom

like there's no way you could be gay. He just wants to sleep with basketballs. I think Glenn likes to sleep with basketball. And the MCA was a disgusting place to live. Quote, there was dirt and blood all over the wall. I think he loves pubes. That's not a wife. Yeah, that's a fucking horror. Is that an abattoir? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Blood. Yeah, blood and dirt all over the walls. Maybe a better YMCA. You know what, guys, I might want to move in. One week in the teacher came to visit Glenn and Marvin just stopped by. Okay. He looked around the room and saw just one little cot and was confused. Okay, right. And he asked, where's where's Mendler going to sleep? At that point, Marvin figured it out. Okay. A few days

later, he told Glenn, quote, I don't care what you are or what you did with Mendler, you're still my friend. Nice. Huh? Yeah. And Marvin was true to his word. Nothing changed. They were now playing together in waterberry. They went out together and partied. They played basketball and Marvin even still asked Glenn to live with him. He didn't care. Even knowing Glenn was gay. And this made Glenn his life that much more comfortable. So now, you know, he's one guy, at least that knows, right? One night as Glenn was leaving, it also probably like women were further like, listen, I'm in love with you. He was like, I'm banging my teacher, please leave me be one night as Glenn was leaving a local gay bar, one of the managers from the team saw him.

They looked at each other but didn't say a word. Glamis Glenn assumed that the manager would tell everyone he was freaked at first, but then he just thought to himself, I'm going to be such a good player that no one will be able to say shit to me. But the coach never said a word. There is something like, uh, yeah, I don't they're like, there's there's something as horrid as this sort of thing. It like the idea that your life is a series of moments that you hope aren't exploited because of what you're doing is considered wrong is a terrible state to live in. However, there must be the like this must feel minorly validating to be like, oh, shit. I mean, these dudes aren't. Well, it turned out the manager was there because he was headed into the bar. Oh, great.

Oh, that's amazing. Well, I don't know. I'm cheating on my teacher with my manager. So I'm going to I'm going to Jerry Glenn liked Waterbury quote. It was actually a pretty good place to be a homosexual. You don't hear that a lot. That's what they put on the sign right when you drive in. Welcome to Waterbury. This is a great place to be a homosexual. Alrighty. What should we put on the sign? I was thinking Apple Town. Come come here for the apples. Stay for the pie. No, let's just say it's a great town to be gay in. All right, next. What happened? I'm the mayor. Glenn fell in love for the first time with the professor from Yale. So he liked the scholastic. Yeah, that's right. He take a bus to see him every day when Glenn was called up

to the next minor league team, you know, because so people don't understand, there's like a bunch of teams, you have to work your way up, right up, up to the next team, next team, the next team until you finally get to the major. So he take a bus to see him every day and then, you know, he gets called up to the next team. The two cried because they knew Glenn would never be back. And Marvin also did not move on. So Marvin stayed at Waterbury. Okay. He stayed in Waterbury even though he was much better than the guy ahead of him in the same position. So if you're in this system, you have to be better than the second baseman who's on the team ahead of you. Right. You have to knock him down. Or if he moves up. But he was better than him.

Marvin's better, but much better than the other guy. So the issue is was white. There we go. Figured. Cool people. Yeah. Having had a boyfriend sell Glenn even more and he became an even better player. He led the league in stolen bases and hit 12 home runs. One night he was in one of his teammates rooms playing poker and they were all smoking pot when a coach knocked on the door. Okay. The coach said the head of the minor leagues wanted to see Glenn and Glenn was worried because he thought he was going to get in trouble for the pot. But he quickly learned he was headed to the majors. His first big league game was in San Francisco. That'd be great to be like so high for that news. Oh my God. Like your heart is just like racing. And then the guy's like,

yeah, you're going to be your dreams coming true. You're like, oh my God, I'm so high. I'm so baked right now. I'll say you're so weird. No. It's like double weird. I just smoked so much fun. All right. All right. Glenn, your mouth. Yeah, it's moving. You're going to the majors. Yeah, it is. It's so pot is so powerful. Okay. Okay. Let's stay off record with this. This is a big opportunity. Do you want to talk about baseball? Yes, I have been like, what is it? No, not that part. Get out. So his first big league game was in San Francisco, the home of it. So it's he's he goes back. Oh wait. Oh, amazing. Back to his hometown to play his first amazing. Yeah. In his first at bat, he hit into an out to end the game.

After the game, one of the coaches told the press quote, frankly, we think he's going to be another Willie Mays. Wow. Now Willie Mays was and still might be considered the best player to ever play the game baseball. Glenn was built exactly like Willie Mays and he had the talent. He quickly became friends with the guys on the team. Two players, Dusty Baker and David Lopes really took a liking to Glenn. They started calling him the life of the team. To Glenn, they felt like big brothers. He liked almost everyone except outfielder outfielder Reggie Smith. Quote, Reggie Smith was an asshole. Okay, good. Yeah, he was just a fucking dick. All right, you know, this is on record. Reggie Smith would eventually a few years later be

suspended a couple a couple years later for going into the stands and attacking a fan. Okay. So being a rookie, Glenn, the rule law. Yeah. Being a rookie, Glenn had to wait his turn to play. He was the fourth outfielder and so he spent most of his time on the bench. So he's waiting for one of the other guys to get hurt or can't play or whatever or just need a rest. That year's the Dodgers broke a record. Okay. They were the first team to have four players hit 30 home runs in a season. Wow. Dusty was the last guy to do it in his last at bat of the season. And when he did, Glenn was so excited that he ran out and put his hand way above his head and Dusty didn't know what to do. So he slapped it. Are you seriously telling me about the invention of the high five?

This was the first recorded high five in sports history. High five was, these are the gems of us. They truly are. These the first time a guy gave a thumb up the first high five catchphrases being invented. These are the moments that I'll miss. And it was just from pure jubilation. He put his hand up. What the hell was that? I don't know. You put your hand out so I hit it with my five fingers. We'll call it the extended hand clap. Why are you making a fist? Oh, sorry. I forgot how we do this. Glenn was up next and he hit a home run the first of his career. When he came back, he and Dusty pulled off the second recorded high five. Well, look, I mean, now it's all the hat. Oh, the high fives invention. Isn't that crazy? Dynamite. The high

five became the Dodgers symbols for the next year. Well, the society took it. Now the Dodgers, the Dodgers manager was a bit different. He taught me. You said he went to San Francisco though. He just played in his first game. Oh, OK. Oh, right. Right. Sorry. OK. Tommy Lassorta was the Dodgers manager and he loved attention. Lassorta loved to be in front of the camera. And whenever a player hit a home run, he'd give the player a big hug when the player came back to the dugout. Yeah. Well, his nickname was the shouting meatball. Glenn quote. He practically mauls the guy. Lassorta clearly does it just to get on camera. He's perfect for L.A. Yeah. Yeah. Now Glenn was getting a reputation as the team jokester. So after a player would hit a home run, he started running

down to the end of the dugout and blocking Lassorta from hugging the box in about and then he dug the player. That's great mimicking Lassorta. That's great. All the other players loved it. Lassorta thought it was amusing at first. Oh, gosh. Glenn also started doing imitations of Lassorta that the players loved. Oh, God. This was all fine as long as the team was winning. Right. It helped that Glenn was doing well and making waves. When he got the chance, he'd get hits. The fans noticed and they started calling for Glenn to replace Rick Monday. But Lassorta never seemed to give Glenn a chance. Glenn would hit and then he'd be back on the bench. And later in the year, Lassorta flipped out on Glenn. Glenn was joking around

and Lassorta yelled that if they were the same age, he would take Glenn quote into the bathroom and kick your ass by the bathroom. I don't know. What? Because that's when men fight. That's like one of those things like that one got away from him a little bit. It's like on record. Like he didn't mean go to the bathroom and fight, but he was sort of like he accidentally said in the bathroom for some reason. Men my age. If I was as young as you, I'd be in a bathroom with you fighting in front of a toilet. We'd go to the bathroom to fight. Hey, buddy, bathroom now. We're fighting. No, don't. Should we go outside? That's in case I have a boo boo. Yeah. Well, we're going to want to clean up right after. A lot of times when I fight, I have to poo. So I like to keep it pretty

close. I am here at a bowel syndrome. So if I'm fighting, I'm doing it again. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to take the stall divider dad. We're both going to sit on the toilet and fight like men. First guy to remove his ass from the toilet loses. Lassorta also started doing things that were just insulting to a major league player. He would put Glenn Glenn in as a defensive replacement in the outfield with just one out to go in a game. That is brutal. I've never seen that. That is so messed up. He was doing it all the time to this kid just because he took his hugs. It made Glenn feel stupid coming back into the dugout after the game between that and always getting hits but never then being given a chance after getting a hit. Glenn was starting to get

furious. And one day on the dugout, he glared at Lassorta and Lassorta grabbed him and pulled him into the locker room and just started screaming at Glenn like no one had ever screamed at him before. Every swear word in the book flew out of his mouth. To Glenn, it felt like it was something deeper than just the baseball thing. Tommy Lassorta was from a Philadelphia town an hour north of Pennsylvania. Say no more. His dad was a truck driver who emigrated from Italy. Lassorta became a. That's quite a long truck drive. Yeah. That's you know, you gotta have a nice truck. Yeah. Lassorta became a professional baseball player and then he moved on to coaching becoming a Dodgers coach in 1973. He moved to a conservative suburb outside of LA and he became

the team manager in 1976. And they went to the the World Series his first two years. So good. That's pretty good. Yeah. That's also kind of lucky though, right? You know, you gotta have a good team. I mean, it's yeah, there's a lot of luck involved. But you gotta have there always is. But like your first year of coaching and first year of anything, it's you know, if you get really far, it's like but baseball is much more than other sports is much more about managing. Right. Right. You gotta be a good manager. He had a son. Okay. Tommy Lassorta, Jr. Where they was at a family name. In high school, Tommy, Jr. hung out with a group that was all girls. Okay. A classmate, quote, it was very obvious he was feminine. I was enamored of him because he wasn't

at all uncomfortable with who he was. Wait, let's keep going. In his judgmental narrow minded. In this judgmental narrow minded high school, Tommy, Jr. strutted his stuff. So, okay, I see where we're going. So, okay. After high school, Tommy, Jr. moved to West Hollywood. He had his father's gravelly voice, but was so attractive men often assumed he was a woman. Wow. A Tommy Lassorta voice on an attractive woman is quite a combo. Yeah. And he doesn't look anything like Tommy Lassorta. Like he's that's probably for his benefit. Tommy, Jr. wore his hair long. Some of his close friends compared him to Linda Blair and the ex-persist because of the voice. Oh, wow. Good Lord. This is like, this is real. Is this

kind of about horrid nicknames? Tommy, Jr. hung out at the Rose Tattoo, a gay club with male strippers. One night, he came in wearing a cape, a ponytail, flashing a cigarette holder. Okay. He had bleached his hair. He studied portraits of Greta Garbo to see how her makeup was done. He had a closet full of beautiful designer clothes. A female friend said, quote, he was astoundingly beautiful, more than most women. Well, when you come out of a closet like that, you have a lot of room for clothes. I mean, you've really emptied it out. He's not out of the closet. So, Tommy Lassorta, this is, this is like, 79, 80? Maybe a little bit before that. Okay, but still a very close-minded time as far as like, not the height of close-mindedness,

but still not being gay was still considered socially unacceptable. In the same city as Tommy Lassorta is the coach of the Dodgers, his son is in West Hollywood going into Rose's tattoo with like a cape and that sounds like his dad. Yeah. Okay, so his dad has taken notice of this behavior because his son is not ashamed at all. And Tommy Lassorta resents that. And now he's either got gaydar or he knows something and he's just being a prick. But take me there. Every Sunday, Tommy Jr. would have dinner with his dad, the Dodgers manager at a nearby restaurant. He talked affectionately about his father and said they had a good relationship. And Tommy Jr. hung around the stadium, sometimes going on the road with the team. Glenn and Tommy

Jr. became good friends. Oh, whoa, okay. Tommy Jr.'s nickname was Spunky. Okay. Glenn, quote. Everything had to have a nickname? I think so. Every person, every moment, every year you got a new nickname in this dollop. Glenn, quote, he had a tremendous sense of humor. He was a transvestite some of the time but not all the time and extremely flamboyant. Glenn said he and Spunky bonded because of Lassorta's homophobia. They would go out bar hopping together in West Hollywood. The Dodgers became suspicious that the two had a sexual relationship. Okay. It's a question Glenn would never answer. But then one day, Tommy Jr. just cut off all contact. Glenn was shocked. Glenn said the Dodgers paid Spunky to stay away from him. It's hard to be taken totally seriously when you say

something like that emotionally. Is it Spunky? They paid Spunky to stop seeing me. Call him Tommy in this circumstance. It's not as dramatic. It doesn't help because, okay, wait. The Dodger, Glenn said the Dodgers paid Tommy Jr. to stay away from him. Yeah. See, that's, and then you're like, okay, you have a case. Glenn said the Dodgers paid the Spunk. Mike stood and get away from him. Spunky. At this point, Glenn was established as the energy spark of the team. Dusty Baker, quote, he was the life of the party. He was always making us laugh. But as the end of the season approach, Glenn was pretty sure most of the team was aware that he was gay. He didn't admit it. He didn't admit it and he wasn't asked about it. He met Dave Cope, a former NFL player who had just

written a book about being gay. So he was a guy who played and then came out after he retired. They talked and compared their lives. Cope said he compensated... Still pretty much the playbook that athletes have to follow today, by the way. Exactly. They talked and compared their lives. Cope said he compensated for being gay by becoming a super aggressive player. But that's not something that worked in baseball where you have to be relaxed. He told Glenn to follow his instincts. But there was something dark about Glenn. Everyone on the team wanted to keep him laughing because when he wasn't, they said his eyes clouded and you could sense the violence underneath. Glenn, quote, I was like Lou Ferrigno who kept wanting to get bigger and

better than everybody because he had his speech impediment. Oh, wow. That's a little harder. Wow. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. Well, also Lou Ferrigno didn't have a speech impediment. He was deaf. Oh, that's right. He was deaf. Yeah. So he like... So that's a little off. Yeah. It's like, okay, sure. But there's a reason. I forgot he was deaf. Yeah. Which made it really hard for him to get mad is the Hulk. Oh, God, dude. Yeah. You'd have to like draw a picture. Do you see? I'm saying this about you. Glenn had 17-inch biceps. Oh my God. So I had 17-inch biceps and I made sure everyone knew I wasn't afraid to use them. I want to establish that if you found out I was gay, you might not want to start hassling me because I would kick your ass. Seriously,

best gay guy ever. Yeah. That is, I mean, if anything, that's kind of sounds like Marvel's gay man. It's like, I will anyone who stands in my face with hate. That's great. And the team was realizing it that he was gay. Someone told Second Basement, Davey Lopes, when they were at a restaurant, quote, my fork dropped out of my mouth. He was one of the last guys he would have thought was gay, but it didn't bother Davey Lopes. He believed a man had the right to any life he wanted as long as he wasn't bothering others. OK, so this is where you get into the part where you're like, because a lot of the things that you hear about gay guys in sports is that a lot of the players know. Oh, that their teammates gay. Yeah. And they're not freaked out by it because

they're so used to it. Everyone is scared how the fans will react. Well, and in a way, too, I think that like, you know, obviously this is like if you what is so upsetting about the way people view anyone for any sort of intricacy that they shouldn't be judged on, like the problem is that if people were to just get to know people as people and then learn something like then you don't like in this time, then you don't care. Like we're getting there further and further. But even today in sports, like there are athletes who are like, you know, are gay, but they can't come out because of I mean, in this country, especially your team would be protested. Like you'll have the Westboro Baptist Church showing up like all this bullshit. Yeah, totally.

And according to Dusty Baker, everyone knew he was gay. Quote. Oh, yeah, everyone knew him. Everyone knew it wasn't any secret. No one was going to say anything to him. No one was going to ask him any questions or anything. Good guy. But he break your jaw in a minute. Wow. But some of the players were uncomfortable and they started wearing towels when they came back and forth from the shower and Glenn noticed the guys from California and New York seem to be fine with it. The players from Saul Towns were not behind his back. They made jokes about not dropping the soap in the shower. Wow. OK, that first classic joke. Well, that joke is always very funny. Very funny. The joke has always been very, very funny. But Glenn wasn't interested in other players.

Sure. He thought some of them were cute, but he didn't mix business and pleasure. And besides, quote, I always preferred more mature men, which is truly what I think was like the was the thinking for so long was like, yeah, but I just don't want him to turn me gay. It's like gay people aren't vampires. Like there's not you're not going to like get like the the idea that he would be unable to be around. There was even something a few years ago in the NFL with this player, Michael Sam, who was the first openly gay player, gay player drafted. Yeah. So he was with, I think, the Cowboys and literally an ESPN reporter was like, teammates say that he showers just like all the other teammates. And it was like, what are you doing? What is happening right now?

He got a jerk off in the shower. Yeah. I mean, and it was like, oh, you mean he's able to control. Wow. It's just amazing. This is a story. So now the Dodgers were in the playoffs. And for the first time, Glenn was really in the limelight. This made his living a double life more difficult. Suddenly, baseball groupies were seeking him out, calling the hotel waiting for him after games. And he was a big handsome guy with a great sense of humor. They went on to the World Series that year. Oh, wow. And they were playing New York. So the media attention was incredible. Glenn both wanted success and completely feared it. The Dodgers went on to lose and Glenn's secret was not uncovered. But he still lived his life with one eye on the door when he went to a gay bar.

He started thinking people from the Dodgers front office were following him and became worried that people were whispering about him. He was always worried that he was going to be blackmailed. So that's the life. That's the life you're living. That's a fucking sweet one. Yeah. Yeah. Really enjoy that success. Yeah. When he went back to the Castro for the World Series, he went into a gay bar and there was a party celebrating his World Series appearance. He walked out. They weren't his friends, just people celebrating a gay baseball player. He was for the first time considering leaving the game. That's so crazy. Right. And the next season, Dodgers vice president, Al Campanus, called... Is that his name? Is that right? Al Campanus? Yeah. That's like an annoying name.

Called Glenn into his office. It's like if a compass fell in an anus. I'm Campanus. How does that happen? Well, you know, hiking can be crazy. Okay. You ever been lost in the Catskills? Not that much. Well, you want to find the North Star, but you can't see it. Pop the old compass inside you. Wait, what? Huh? You do it on purpose? Oh, no. Nope. No, no, no. Where are you from? So Glenn liked Al. They always had a good relationship. Al told Glenn they wanted him to get married. He said the Dodgers always helped out players when they got married and they would help pay for his honeymoon. They offered Glenn five. You mean his nightmare vacation? How much? $5,000 to get married. Oh my God. It's like a Fox show. Glenn told Al he wouldn't be

getting married anytime soon. It's not so they know he has huge star potential. Right. And the one drawback that they see is that if people find out he's gay, they're not going to want him on the team. So instead of taking the brave Jackie Robinson who played for the Dodgers model, they do this. Yeah. They're like, get married so we can pretend you're straight and then you'll be able to make tons of money. Yeah. Right. That's got, oh, what a great, you got to be like, oh, cool. You guys really do support me. You guys for the guys who are Jackie Robinson? Okay. Well, look, to be fair, at first, we suggested Jackie do whiteface. So Jackie said no. On May 16th, 1978, Dodgers announcer Vince Scully told the fans Glenn had been traded right as the team made the final

out in a game. Wow. He's being traded for an older player who was in a downslide and had no upside at all. Yeah. But what a wife. What a wife. What a wife and kid. He's so fucking married. This guy's nuclear Nikki. You can't believe how married he is. Oh, this guy. His nickname's married guy. And he loves to bang his wife. Holy shit, wife banger. Anyway, our season's going to take. Can't hit the ball at all. Nikki's terrible with the ball. Holy shit, can he fuck a lady? Only got one arm, but it's the left one and there's a ring on the finger. Boom. After the game, Lesorta told Glenn, quote, we're tired of you walking back and forth in the dugout like a mad tiger in a cage. We're sending you to Oakland. Yeah. Well, I mean, coaches should hate competitive

instinct. Makes sense. The locker room was dead quiet. Some of the players were crying. They were trading away their spark plug, the life of the team for an old guy. And that was not the Dodgers way. They were not a team that traded young talent. I wonder what was different. And so this is like this is that classic thing where people always act like it's going to affect the team. But here's the team and the team devastated the gay kids getting. Well, look, even from like a pure business standpoint, if you get rid of a good player for a lesser player, that's a dumb decision. Yeah. And and they and baseball players want to win. I don't think they care what that guy is. Dude, I a guy's sexuality is they don't give a shit. I certainly now. And

the truth that's totally true. Even a closed minded player, if after the fact, he would probably be like, you know, winning was more important. Yeah, I'd rather have the ring. Yeah. Baseball players pretty much keep issues out of the press. Like so when there's a generally in baseball, when there's a team issue, you're not to talk to the press at all. Right. That's just an unwritten rule. But the Dodgers are not having it on this occasion. Davey Lopes told the L.A. Herald, quote, I knew something was missing when I came in today. It will probably remain like this until somebody comes along with a personality like Glenn's. And that's not going to happen. Wow. He was the life of the team on the bases in the clubhouse everywhere. All of us will miss him.

One player stormed up to the front office furious and screamed demanding an answer. Dusty Bacer Dusty Baker asked the team trainer why the team traded a top prospect. The trainer said, quote, they don't want any gay guys on the team. In Oakland and then management was like, can we actually talk to you over here real quick? We just wanted to when we said that that was closed doors that was behind closed doors. So he gets traded to Oakland. Now, if you don't know where Oakland is, Oakland is across the bay from San Francisco, San Francisco at this point is the gay capital of America. Okay. So Glenn, I'm curious what his reaction will be to this. I mean, there's different ideas of whether or not it was good or bad from him.

Bad from I think bad. What did he think? He was bummed. He was. Okay. Glenn got three hits in his first night at Oakland, but the A's were not the Dodgers. The Dodgers were a first class organization. The A's were a team being gutted. So the A's had come off winning three World Series in a row and now the owner was just fucking selling everybody on the team and cutting expenses and destroying the team. Good. Fun to walk into. The team were being gutted by an owner looking to cut costs everywhere. Just 3000 fans would show up for games. And now he and like Dodger Stadium is packed every night and here's 3000. And now he was closer to the Castro and was spending more time there. Have I talked about the Castro? No. Okay. So the Castro is an area in San Francisco.

I lived there for a few years. You may have actually on a previous one. At this point, it's like the best place to be gay in America. It's you besides the cops they had to deal with. But they're pretty fucking free to be themselves and not. I mean, there's definitely gay bashing that happened. Right. Would come in. But for the most part, they look out for each other. They built a community. Right. For the most part, they feel safe there. So so he's spending more and more time there. And he's a bit of a celebrity there. You know, okay, they know who he is and that he's a baseball player. Well, and like you said, too, I mean, he's like attractive and like foot like so he's like just like generally

probably like a catch. But then you are also like, he's a I mean, I think at this time, because I was reading some stuff. I'm fairly attracted to what I'm here. The gay community love the idea of a big tough guy. Yeah, representing them. And that was ideal. Totally. So but the more he was there, the more there was a chance the word would get out. Yeah. So he's that's why it's a double edged sword because he's moved closer to a community that accepts him. But at the same time, that community is open because that's one of their benefits. And yet for him that isn't but it really anxiety wise, I don't think it's good. Yeah, well, that that's the thing, right? Is like that is what like the, you know, the total torture of that situation,

the reason why it's like, you know, good that we've at least like with all the nonsense that's going on at least, it seems like the majority of people accept this concept of like, if your life is completely compromised by something that's natural to you, you should be allowed to openly feel it and do it. Well, I hope most people come around. Well, you think. But then again, I mean, we're like, you know, I don't even know where my barometer is for what America thinks anymore. Obviously, you know, I know, like, Oh, God, this is why we can't have nice podcasts. Your fault. Do you have your fault? You just yanked that over. Dave knocked the thing over. I don't even know what the hell it's called. It's a recorder. Okay, it's a recording device.

Thanks. So one night, he was playing in Chicago when a fan called him a faggot. So he's in the outfield, the guy yells faggot at him. Okay. Between innings, he won on the dugout, got a felt tip pen and wrote screw you on a piece of paper, and then he stuck it in his back pocket. Wow. Justin is back. Okay. It was all getting to him. Wait, did he do anything with it? He just put in his back pocket and went out there so the guy could see it. Oh, okay. Right. In my head, he just he didn't just put it in his pocket. I was like, that's kind of weird here. Yeah. Only I know. He thought that if that guy knew, then maybe everyone knew he never considered that maybe it was just a fan in Chicago who

yelled faggot at everybody, which is exactly like if like if he did, if he had honestly like told his teammates like emotionally, they'd be like, Oh, yeah, the guy in the red hat. Yeah, he called me that all the time. But Glenn didn't hit well that season. But maybe he was right. A local reporter asked a teammate if Glenn was a bisexual. Oh, God, the player told the reporter it was none of his business. The reporter said the word was out and that Glenn probably would be gone next season. The players on the A's had never bothered Glenn about it, partially because they were all scared of him. Right. A gay friend kept pushing Glenn to come out. He tried to get Glenn to meet with a well known San Francisco columnist, but Glenn wouldn't. The

columnist wrote that a gay baseball player was hanging out on Castro Street anyway. Glenn had a problem with his neck that a couple weeks later in the A's wanted him to get a courtesan shot, but he refused to. And putting it all together, Glenn decided to retire before the season was over. But the next year, they hired a new manager, Billy Martin. Billy Martin was a drunk, a famous spark bug ex player, someone who wasn't afraid to get into fight and a great and creative manager. We've talked about Billy Martin on one before. Yeah. Is it 10 cent beer night? Yeah, he was okay. He was in 10 cent beer. Right. Okay. Yeah. Glenn decided the A's were actually trying again because they hired Billy and this could be fun. So he went back to the

team. But was Billy Billy Martin? OK, I'm sure we'll Billy Martin was all about stealing bases and making the game exciting. Right. So for a guy who steal bases, right? I like Glenn, it's the perfect match. But are we? But Billy Martin, does he care about this sort of thing? Is that you're about to get into that? OK, let's say because my gut is that he's not cool. A's team out Claudel Washington recalled how Martin introduced the new teammates that year. Quote, he got to Glenn and said, Oh, by the way, this is Glenn Burke. He's a faggot. Oh, kid. OK. So Glenn is like, Oh, great. My anxiety level is the highest. Billy Martin was a super complicated dude. But he always said how he felt and he was not afraid to fight. He would fight Glenn,

but he was tiny. Right. But Billy Martin was a fighter. So he's one of the only managers alive who would say this. Right. But then Glenn injured his knee before the season and he was kept him out for a month. And Billy Martin was saying he wouldn't have a faggot playing on the team. So the A sent Glenn to the minors and Glenn rented an apartment 57 miles away from the minor league stadium so he could live in a city. It was on one of those long drives that he realized how far he was taking things to hide who he was and he quit baseball for good. Quote, my life as a baseball player was over because I was a homosexual and no team was ever going to give me a real chance to play the game. I love once he was done with baseball. Well, and that's why he

wouldn't come out like he didn't even come out and think of all the repercussions for like just being who he is. Right. Like if he came out, he he would have been a professionally bad move. Yeah, he would. No one would have him on his team. Right. And yet he was living a life where he wasn't as hiding it as much as other like he was hanging out on gay bars. He was living that life where he wanted to. Right. So once he was done with baseball, Glenn came out of the closet. His friend, Michael Smith, wrote a story about him for Inside Baseball Magazine in it. He stated the Dodgers had traded him because he was gay. Tommy Lasorda and the others denied it. They claimed they didn't know he was gay. But you sure was that knowing what we know now about

the Lasorda thing. Sure. Right. Yeah. Oh, yeah. There's a reason I put that in. Oh, yeah. But second baseman, Davey Lopes said everyone knew and the players didn't care when Al Campanus was pressed by a reporter about how much the Dodgers knew. He said, quote, we didn't know. We never saw him with a girl. What? We didn't know we never saw him with the girls. Your next one. Yeah, are you didn't know? We didn't know we never saw him with a girl on negative arguments. We didn't know we never saw him with a girl. We knew he was gay. What's media training? Those are my that's my statement. We didn't know we never saw him with a girl. And when we call this home number a man usually answered. What is he? This guy is this guy is defending the idea that they did not

know he was gay. He's not good. He's not good at the idea. Anything we didn't know anything. All they gave him was one sentence. The first one. You ready? I'm gonna read from the start. Oh, God. We didn't know we never saw him with a girl. And when he when we called his home number a man usually answered the man said he was a carpenter. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait. What is he what? So he's basically like he had to live in carpenters is the fence. No, we didn't know we never saw him with a girl. He lived with a guy carpenter probably. Okay, that is a professional legitimate statement on him. No one is good at lying in this story. All right. We didn't know he was gay. There was a carpenter there always. It was a guy. He had a

carpenter fellow with him. All right. He's we we knew he wasn't gay when he lived with a carpenter. We knew he wasn't gay. He was begging a carpenter. What? He's not gay. We didn't know if he is because he always slept with a carpenter. Continue the quote but what there's more. Yeah, yummy. But you hear a lot of rumors about players and just because you see things that doesn't mean the guy's a fairy. Oh my god. So can I put it all together? Oh god. We didn't know we never saw him with a girl and when we call this home number a man usually answered the man said he was a carpenter but you hear a lot of rumors about players and just because you see things that doesn't mean the guy's a fairy. He literally official statement Los Angeles Dodgers. He literally

he couldn't he couldn't say that they knew he was gay more and then he uses a derogatory term as the end point. Yeah. Like you probably get to the end of that and you're like you know it's crazy is I missed the first sentence which is insane. Oh my god. What a ride. Fuck. When asked about offering money to Glenn to get married. We didn't offer him money. We gave him a bunch of money. Right. Campana said it was an old Dodger tradition when a reporter asked why they hadn't given money to Pedro Guerrero who had just gotten married. Campana said that's a completely different situation. He had an agent. Oh my god. Like that's two questions. Like the reporter was like I'd literally no more questions. The defense rests. When asked about Glenn Tom LaSorta said quote

he's admitting it. I have no comment. Good. Well again. Short but also pretty. There's a lot in there. Yeah. Well he can't really comment on it. Can he. No he can't. Yeah. Because it was a skit. Yeah. I mean if he goes into that story. Yeah. Now living as an out man not hiding who he was. Glenn moved to the Castro in San Francisco and was a bit of a celebrity. It was a thriving open gay culture really like nowhere else in the United States. And fortunately for Glenn there was an incredibly popular gay softball league. Oh. I mean you should see. Did he start. Like it's the videos like just packed packed stands and everyone's fucking it's Larry's. I mean that's like you got to admit though like if you are walking away from baseball you're like I mean they just will never

accept me and then you're like do you want to be the star in the gay softball league. Like yes this is yeah this is the other version that I never thought was possible. I'll slide right into that. And he. So he's incredibly popular you know softball player obviously and he helped the team of gay players beat the San Francisco Police Department team which was kind of huge because the gay community in cops were not on good terms. That is so great. The cops to be like never play them again. My God. Yeah. You're under arrest for winning your gays. He also competed in the gay games in 1982 and won medals in sprinting and in 1986 in basketball. His celebrity in the community just sounds like he should have probably won medals in literally

everything. And everyone in the neighborhood knew Glenn Burke had invented the high five. Glenn would often sit on the hood of a car outside of a gay popular gay bar on the Castro and high five people walking by with a big smile on his boy. I mean that's amazing. Can you imagine high five in the guy. Well you also got to think. Yeah. I mean that I mean that is like crazy. I mean that yeah that's like I mean honestly like you know think of the first time like someone made it rain with dollars. You're like what is this gentleman doing. But also to think that like you know you live so much of your life in this like you know prison. Yeah. As far as like what you can actually tell people and then to be like oh yeah I'm the hot guy out front of the Castro giving out high

fives to all the gay fellas. Yeah. Things are pretty much better. But baseball had been taken away from Glenn unjustly. He slowly turned to drugs and developed a cocaine habit. Oh boy. In 1987 April Al Campanas went on ABC News show Nightline. On the show they talked about Blacks and management in baseball. Oh boy. Quote. Blacks may not have some of the necessities to be a field manager or general manager in baseball. Boy this guy really gave good statements. The host tried to give him the chance to correct himself. But he wasn't done. Oh no. Quote. I have never said Blacks aren't intelligent. Many of them are highly intelligent but they may not have the desire to be in the front office. So. And quote. Why aren't Blacks good swimmers because they don't have buoyancy.

Oh my god. He's oh god. Keep digging. The next day the owner of the Dodgers was asked if he would fire Campanas over the comments. He said absolutely not. Yeah. Of course not. Why would you fire a guy over those comments with the Black guys on your team. Well look. He's right. Look like he said Black people aren't good in managerial positions and can't swim. And they sink because they sink. They're sinkers. All right. But the firestorm was enormous. I bet. And Al was fired the day after that with the Dodgers owner now saying how wrong the comments were. Now in retrospect now that everybody was seriously pissed. That was wrong. Yeah. Now that I've heard people saying how mad they are then I think that I think the comments are bad. You know now that I've seen the downside

that might impact me I say what everyone wants me to say. Right. Financially this can. All right. We good. We good. I don't. We good. Time of the Sorta said Al Campanas should have been given another chance. Quote. It's a shame. A crime. I think of all the people he's worked for and helped. He made one mistake. No. No. Honestly he it seems like any to every sentence was a mistake. That same year in 1987 the gay player tossed out by one mistake Campanas and the Dodgers was on hard times. And then in 1987 he was hit by a car as he crossed the street and his leg and foot were crushed. Now his athletic ability was gone. He pretty much completely fell apart at that point. He ended up living on the streets and was arrested and jailed for drugs. Glenn. Yeah. Jesus. Who

lived on the streets in the Castro where he'd once been a celebrity. Billy Martin the A's manager who said a faggot would not play on his team died in a single car accident while drinking and driving in 1989. Tommy Jr. moved to Santa Monica in the late 80s and would come with a woman to Dodger games. The Sorta would introduce her as his son's fiance. Okay. And people would pretend that that was real. But Tommy Jr. died on June 3rd 1991 in his apartment with his parents and his sister by his side. A reporter asked the Sorta if it was difficult having a gay son. Quote. My son wasn't gay. No way. No way. I read that in a paper. I also read in that paper that a lady gave birth to a fucking monkey too. And that's not the fucking truth. That's not the

truth. When asked about his son dying of AIDS the Sorta said quote that's not true. He died of pneumonia which is true. Right. That's what that both can be true. That's what the death certificate said. Pneumonia and dehydration caused by acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Yeah. Exactly. That yeah. That is I mean you technically nobody dies of AIDS. You die of whatever you know actually kills you that takes your immune system. Glenn was also affected with HIV around 1992. He had become a panhandler and street thug thief. He owed money to all his friends and was now unwelcome in almost every night spot in the Castro but he could still be found out front badgering people into giving him money. A Castro restaurant manager quote I could give you a list of people

he's ripped off. He has burned more bridges than anybody I know around here. In 1994 the LA Times tracked him down and tried to do an interview. Glenn said he would do it for ten dollars. The reporter said it was against policy to pay people they were interviewing and offered to buy him food instead. He was in bad shape. His teeth were chipped. He was gaunt and weighed 155 pounds. Blood vessels ran up and down his arms bulging. He had several skin cancer lesions. He would stop talking and take gulps of air. He told the reporter he was in pain 24 hours a day. He moved in with his sister and died of AIDS complications on May 30th 1995. He was 42 years old. His mother quote that was his life baseball. I think that after he couldn't play any more

baseball he felt that was the end of his life. After things happened the way they did I don't think he cared after that. When he was a kid Glenn Burke slept in his baseball uniform. On August 2nd 2013 Burke was inducted into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame. In 2014 MLB said it would honor him at the 2014 All Star Game as part of a pregame press conference. He was not mentioned during the Fox broadcast of the game. Rick Monday the guy who Glenn competed with for a position on the Dodgers said this after his death. To speak of his sexual preference diminishes the spirit of Glenn Burke. He was actively always trying to be a great teammate and he had a great sense of humor. We all have different mechanisms to deal with life. Baseball

quite frankly has a lot of deniability. You have a lot of denying when you're not seeing the ball. You deny that even if you hit 300 you're not getting a hit two of every three of bats. You're denying the fact that you've played 142 games and you're physically and mentally tired and you have 20 games to go. Yet Glenn had a levity that compensated for that. Also a player a San Diego Padres player died of AIDS and the only guy who went to his funeral from the team was Steve Garvey who played with Glenn Burke. In February 2013 American soccer player Robbie Rogers announced he was retiring from playing soccer in England at 25 years old because he was gay. He retired to avoid the pressure and scrutiny but things had changed. On May 24th 2013 he came to terms with

the Los Angeles Galaxy and has been playing for the team ever since. He and his partner have a son and just got engaged on New Year's Eve. NBA player Jason Collins came out in 2013 near the end of his career and played two more seasons out of the closet. Michael Sam was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams and came out in training camp. He was waived but now plays professionally in Canada and in 2015 David Denson a player in the Burrers minor league system came out. So they killed him. Well I mean that is what is like that. I mean it's very dense but the idea that yeah it's just like how do you like even like how do you root for suffering in any circumstance for someone who's decent. To me it's because I have a kid who loves baseball. The idea of a kid

who slept in his baseball because he loved it so much and then got to this play the sport and couldn't play the sport because he was gay and then they broke him as a human being. Yeah but you like you know I mean that's the thing like I just you can't mentally bridge that gap of you know like honestly it was like some of the players attitudes on his team is like if someone doesn't affect you right how does it matter. It doesn't matter. How does it how does it bother you. Why. No it's crazy. And anything that leads you to think that that is the right way to think that judgment on that level and to like that impact on somebody is okay. Like you just you can't. I mean when you like yeah you have to let people feel what they feel.

Yeah let them be who they are. Yeah and I mean and it all comes from such a weird place too. It's the same with like you know when like you know like when people try to tell like like when people legislate for when men legislate for vaginas. Oh that's the worst. And when God and when when straight men are telling you what's wrong with a gay lifestyle it's like yeah of course you can say that because it's not you. Yeah like it's easy you know I mean it's just easy to say like oh literally what they're doing is wrong because I'm the guy who doesn't do that. It's like that's not the point. The point you should never like feel that it's sort of control over somebody's personal shit. Oh it's crazy. And yet like look at every email I have government. All right fine what the

actual fuck. All right I'm sorry I'm getting spiced up. I'm spiced up over here. All right. All right. We sign. No we don't sign anything. We sign dicks. Oh gosh.