The baseball player Sean Conroy, who plays for the Sonoma Stompers in the United States, revealed last week that he is gay. And he was surprised to learn that he is the first professional athlete in the sport to come out of the closet.
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"I'm definitely surprised that no one has come out of the closet yet (during their career)," said the 23-year-old.
It is noteworthy that Glenn Burke (Oakland Athletics and LA Dodgers) and Billy Bean (Detroit Tigers, LA Dodgers and San Diego Padres) also publicly came out as homosexual, but after retiring.
According to Sean, the intention of revealing his sexual orientation was to be as honest with himself and the public as possible. First, he revealed his sexual orientation to the team – who supported him and even wore rainbow socks and headbands. Afterwards, he decided to speak to the press.
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The team manager Theo Fightmaster declared that the revelation "was very casual and comfortable", as he understood that the player was just wanting people to know who he is.
"He stated that he has experienced some episodes of prejudice against high school teams and I am happy to say that this issue is not an issue here."
