(Reuters) – A first baseman for the minor league Helena Brewers, a
rookie affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, has come out publicly as gay,
a first for an active player connected with Major League Baseball,
according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper.
David
Denson, 20, came out publicly to the newspaper with the help of former
major leaguer Billy Bean, who last year was named MLB’s first
“Ambassador for Inclusion,” the Sentinel reported on Sunday.
Only
two major league players have ever come out publicly as gay – Bean and
Glenn Burke – and both had already left the game, the paper reported.
Denson
is not considered an elite prospect for the Brewers, but he is known as
a power hitter who is batting .253 for the Helena, Montana, team, the
paper said.
Other professional athletes who have disclosed their
homosexuality in recent years include football player Michael Sam, who
was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in 2014 but didn’t make the roster.
Sam
announced on Friday that he was stepping away from football and leaving
the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes for mental health
reasons.
National Basketball Association player Jason Collins
because the first active player in a major professional team sport to
come out publicly as gay in 2013. He has since retired.
A representative for Major League Baseball was not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski, editing by Larry King)
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