When Baker approaches home plate, on-deck hitter Glenn Burke is waiting for him. Instead of offering his hand for a handshake, or holding it out to slap Baker on the back or the rear end (both common post-homer gestures), he holds it high over his head. Baker reaches up and slaps Burke's hand with his own. "It seemed like the thing to do," Baker said. And so, the high five is born. Burke then hits his 1st major league home run. The game is meaningless as far as the standings were concerned, and the Astros won it, 6-3.
Burke was the 1st MLB player known to be gay. He said, "By 1978, I think everybody knew," and he was "sure his teammates didn't care." Dodger 2nd baseman and Captain Davey Lopes said, "No one cared about his lifestyle." But Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda did care: He was an old-school Catholic, and was militantly anti-gay, even refusing to accept that his son Tommy Jr. was gay. He traded Burke early in 1978, to the Oakland Athletics, allegedly because Tommy Jr. frequently visited the clubhouse, and Tommy Sr. wanted to keep Burke away from him.
Despite the fact that Oakland was across San Francisco Bay from San Francisco, the American city best known for gay culture, his new teammates did not accept him as well as the Dodgers did. When Billy Martin became A's manager in 1980, he was every bit as homophobic as Lasorda, and treated Burke badly in Spring Training. Something had to give, and what gave was Burke's knee. The injury gave Martin the chance to send him down to the minor leagues, and he never played another major league game. He was through at 28, and he fell victim to cocaine addiction.
In 1991, Tommy Lasorda Jr. died of AIDS. Glenn Burke also died of AIDS, in 1995. To the day he died at age 93 in 2021, Tommy Sr. insisted that Tommy Jr. was straight and died of pneumonia. In pregame ceremonies before the 2014 All-Star Game in Minneapolis, Major League Baseball honored Burke. On June 17, 2015, the A's honored Burke as part of Athletics Pride Night. Starting in 2021, they have named the annual event Glenn Burke Pride Night.
By that point, every MLB team had held a Pride Night and established it as an annual event. The New York Yankees were among the last teams to do so, starting in 2019, but once they went in, they did what they usually do and went all in, dedicating a Plaque in Monument Park to honor the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising in New York. It includes the words, "Acceptance forms the bedrock of our community, and let it be known that Yankee Stadium welcomes everyone as a gathering place for all."
*
October 2, 1977 was a Sunday. These other MLB games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 8-7 at the old Yankee Stadium. They had score 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th to do it, including 2 on a double by Dell Alston. Earlier, they got a home run from Mickey Klutts. Alston and Klutts were both hot prospects who never made it.
Having clinched the American League Eastern Division the day before, while sitting in a rain delay of a game they would lose while Baltimore's defeat of Boston eliminated the Red Sox, they avoid accusations of "backing in" and win their 100th game, a milestone the club reaches for the 1st time in 14 years.
Having clinched the American League Eastern Division the day before, while sitting in a rain delay of a game they would lose while Baltimore's defeat of Boston eliminated the Red Sox, they avoid accusations of "backing in" and win their 100th game, a milestone the club reaches for the 1st time in 14 years.
* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. A rough year for the Mets, which included the trading of Tom Seaver, ends with one of the players obtained for Seaver, Pat Zachry, as the winning pitcher. Joel Youngblood went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Keith Hernandez, not yet a Met, went 0-for-3 with a walk. Lou Brock went 1-for-2 before leaving the game.
* The Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles got rained out at Fenway Park in Boston. Since they'd already been eliminated by the Yankees, the game is never made up. They both finished 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Montreal Expos, 5-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt got the day off.
* A doubleheader was split at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. The Toronto Blue Jays won the opener, 2-1. The Cleveland Indians won the nightcap, 5-4. The Jays finish their expansion season with 107 losses.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates swept a doubleheader from the Chicago Cubs at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, 5-1 and 3-2.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 1-for-3, and Johnny Bench went 0-for-3.
* The Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The Mariners finished their expansion season 64-98, much better than the Jays.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Rod Carew went 3-for-4 with an RBI, to finish his best season with a .388 batting average, 14 home runs and an even 100 RBIs.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the California Angels, 2-0 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Dennis Leonard pitched a 6-hit shutout, and George Brett hit a home run.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-7 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. The A's truly did collapse, finishing 63-98, finishing half a game behind the Mariners for last in the American League West.
* And the San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-1 at Candlestick Park. Dave Winfield went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.
These NFL games were played:
* The New York Giants lost to the Atlanta Falcons, 17-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
* The New York Jets beat the New England Patriots, 30-27 at Shea Stadium.
* The Baltimore Colts beat the Buffalo Bills, 17-14 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
* The Washington Redskins beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 24-14 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.
* The Miami Dolphins beat the Houston Oilers, 27-7 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 23-7 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat their arch-rivals, the Cleveland Browns, 28-14 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Detroit Lions beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 17-13 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac,
Michigan.
* The New Orleans Saints beat the Chicago Bears, 42-24 at Soldier Field in Chicago.
* The Minnesota Vikings beat their arch-rivals, the Green Bay Packers, 19-7 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of
Bloomington, Minnesota.
* The San Diego Chargers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 24-3 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium).
* The Los Angeles Rams beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, 34-14 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* The Denver Broncos beat the Seattle Seahawks, 24-13 at the Kingdome in Seattle.
* And on ABC Monday Night Football, the Oakland Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 37-28 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
No comments:
Post a Comment