The trials of baseball’s first openly gay player, Glenn Burke, four decades ago

The Dodgers knew that Glenn Burke was good. The young outfielder, star of their minor league system, had the strength and speed of Willie Mays and an irrepressible energy all his own.

But they also knew that Burke was gay, and they were uncomfortable with it. At one point, according to Burke, the team’s vice president offered to pay for his honeymoon if he would only get married (“to a woman,” it went without saying). Eventually, the bright young ballplayer was traded to another team. The Dodgers management, many of Burke’s teammates later claimed, didn’t want a gay man in the clubhouse.