Openly gay Denson says he’s relieved by support
Stepping into the batter’s box at Marlins Park in Miami three years ago, David Denson, 17, looked as if he might have a future in the big leagues, mashing a 515-foot home run off the scoreboard to break the distance record by 12 feet at a home run competition.
The slugger whose record he wiped away — Bryce Harper, the Washington Nationals’ superstar — has done pretty well for himself.
Denson, now 20, is playing for the Milwaukee Brewers’ rookie club in Helena, Montana, and analysts said he could face long odds to reach the majors. But now, many more people will be watching his attempt to ascend.
In an interview with The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Saturday, Denson became the first active player affiliated with Major League Baseball to publicly reveal that he was gay. He said his teammates were supportive when he told them, and the Brewers organization has backed him.
“Talking with my teammates, they gave me the confidence I needed, coming out to them,” Denson told The Journal Sentinel. “They said: ‘You’re still our teammate. You’re still our brother. We kind of had an idea, but your sexuality has nothing to do with your ability. You’re still a ballplayer at the end of the day. We don’t treat you any different. We’ve got your back.’
“That was a giant relief for me. I never wanted to feel like I was forcing it on them. It just happened. The outcome was amazing. It was nice to know my teammates see me for who I am, not my sexuality.”
Major League Baseball has never had an active player who was openly gay. Two former players, Billy Bean and Glenn Burke, came out after retiring. Dale Scott, an umpire, came out in December.
Most of the major U.S. team sports have started to welcome their first publicly gay athletes. Jason Collins, after coming out in a Sports Illustrated story, played for the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets in 2014. Robbie Rogers came out in 2013 and now plays for Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy.
If Denson does make it to the majors, which remains a long shot, some of his future teammates said they would welcome him in the clubhouse. Scooter Gennett, a Brewers second baseman who played with Denson on a rehab assignment, said he thought Denson would now be able to focus more on baseball.
“Would he be accepted here? Absolutely,” he told The Journal Sentinel. “Why wouldn’t he be? He’s a baseball player and a great guy. Anybody that goes out and plays hard every day is going to be accepted.”