11 replies to this topic

[jose melendez]

I was listening to an episode of Radiolab yesterday called "Patient Zero" and they had a story about who invented the high five. One of the contenders was a guy named Glenn Burke who had been a centerfielder for the Dodgers.

Apparently, Burke was gay, and the Dodgers offered him $75,000 to get married. When he refused, they traded him to the A's where his manager, the always classy Billy Martin, would introduce him to people as "Glenn Burke the faggot."
Versus has a piece on it.

For those who were old enough to understand then, was there any awareness of this in the baseball community?

I was stunned that I'd never heard this story before. That said the claims that he was billed as the "next Willie Mays" seem a bit much given his terrible numbers. Also, the story's claim that he was traded for nothing (Bill North had a better OPS+ than Burke) also don't hold up.

Also, to hell with Billy Martin.

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

I've heard of this before. "I ain't playing no faggots" or something similar was the quote I read from Billy.

[DrewDawg]

Sad story. There were plenty of baseball reasons not to play Burke (.270 lifetime OBP, SLG below .300) but, as you said, Martin was a classy guy...one wonders how his treatment by others in the game held him back.

[Average Reds]

Sad story. There were plenty of baseball reasons not to play Burke (.270 lifetime OBP, SLG below .300) but, as you said, Martin was a classy guy...one wonders how his treatment by others in the game held him back.

I think that's really the relevent issue. It could be that his career numbers were an accurate reflection of his talent, but we'll never know.

I wish I knew where Billy Martin was buried so I could piss on his grave.

[RingoOSU]

Burial:
Gate of Heaven Cemetery
Hawthorne
Westchester County
New York, USA
Plot: Section 25, Plot 21, Grave 3, in the same section as Babe Ruth
http://www.findagrav...ge=gr&GRid=1439

[Average Reds]

Burial:
Gate of Heaven Cemetery
Hawthorne
Westchester County
New York, USA
Plot: Section 25, Plot 21, Grave 3, in the same section as Babe Ruth
http://www.findagrav...ge=gr&GRid=1439

Awesome. A two-fer.

And I actually know exactly where that is. Wonder if you can sneak in at night?

[AlNipper49]

It will be a long time before Sgt. Wendell Baker calls someone 'Private Homo' again

[CJM]

Another crazy detail from that episode was that the Dodgers offered him $75,000 to get married. Apparently he responded, "You mean to a woman?"

Although not as extroverted with his prejuidice as Billy Martin, Tommy Lasorda didn't cover himself with glory in handling Burke's homosexuality either. There's a very good essay called "Tangled up in Blue" by Peter Richmond about Tommy Lasorda Jr., who was openly gay. It's a tragic story, and Tommy Sr. doesn't come across as the model of tolerance.

<sidenote: Radiolab's great. Their recent episode on the evil that men do, The Bad Show, was excellent.>

[Brickowski]

Awesome. A two-fer.

And I actually know exactly where that is. Wonder if you can sneak in at night?

Can't you piss in daylight?

[Average Reds]

Can't you piss in daylight?

Stage fright.

[Rough Carrigan]

Well, he wasn't going to be Willie Mays but I suppose he had a shot at being Lou Brock.
In 1976, the first season in which he played in the majors, he batted .300/.321/.424 in the Pacific Coast League in AAA, a hitter's league. He also stole 63 bases and was only caught 13 times.

In less than a half season in AAA the next year, he hit .309/.372/.505 with 20 steals and 5 times caught. He might've been a dynamic leadoff guy, maybe a double dose of speed along with Davey Lopes. But he never got it going at the major league level.

[MuzzyField]

He also played for Waterbury in the Eastern League in 1975. He was the best player on the team at least as far as this then 8-year-old could tell (he only hit .270). I also failed to recognize the future managerial "talents" of Terry Collins and Jim Riggleman on that team. I remember reading a magazine article about him when I was in high school, not sure whether it was in SI, Inside Sports, Sport or The Sporting News. It was cetainly an eye opening read at the time.