Documentary takes deep look into Bay Area athlete’s troubled life

By John D. Nuño Jr.
Contributing Writer

“Out. The Glenn Burke Story,” an hour-long documentary produced by Comcast SportsNet premiered Nov. 10 at the Castro Theatre.

With the recent Giants’ World Series victory, the beauty and drama of baseball has once again been revealed to San Franciscans and baseball fans in general. But to truly appreciate history, one accepts that, just like life, there are glorious highs and shameful lows.

This documentary does it with this rare and refreshing honesty.

“Out.” is about one of baseball’s great tragedies. It examines the life of Glenn Burke, a young talented player, and Bay Area native, whose career was prematurely extinguished after publicly admitting he was gay.

Watching Burke’s friends, family, former teammates and baseball associates tell his story, is what makes “Out.” exceptional.

Davey Lopes, Reggie Smith, Billy Beane and Dusty Baker are just a few of the professional baseball players who speak freely about this almost taboo subject in sports.

While some of their apprehensions about being gay seem embarrassingly dated—a few still refer to homosexuality as a lifestyle choice—their admiration and appreciation is genuine. Their stories bring Burke’s heartache, as well as his humor, to life for the viewer.

Burke, born in 1952, was a gifted and natural athlete who exceeded at basketball and baseball. He career began as basketball star for Berkeley High School, but he later decided that baseball promised a better future and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

His extraordinary athletic ability was matched only by his notable charisma. At the beginning of the movie, Tommy Hawkins, former vice-president of communications for the Dodgers describes Burke as a glistening mirror in a disco.

“When the light hits it and all of these different reflections and colors flash all over the room, that was Glenn Burke,” Hawkins said.

Burke’s larger-than-life personality, however, made him a handful for management. He made little attempt to conceal his sexuality, much to the chagrin of Coach Tommy Lasorda, whose vocal anti-homosexual slurs were considered excessive even for that time.

To reign in the spreading rumors, the Dodgers’ offered Burke a cash bonus to pay for a sham marriage. Burke refused to live a lie and declined. The animosity reached the boiling point, when he openly dated Lasorda’s gay son.

Despite being part of the team that took the Dodgers to the 1977 World Series, Burke was traded to the Oakland A’s—at that time a second-rate team.

Things only became worse with coach Billy Martin in Oakland. Burke decided that he had to retire.

But he soon found it impossible to be anything other than a professional athlete, and submerged himself in the escape of sex and drugs, eventually becoming homeless.

Burke contracted HIV and died of AIDS in 1995.

Times have changed, but even today there are very few openly gay athletes actively participating in professional team sports. One doesn’t get the impression that Burke was trying to change baseball or the world, he was merely being himself without much concern about the consequences.

Though “Out.” is about baseball history, its appeal is not just limited to fans of the sport. The story is universal—human drama is played where there are no parades or trophies to be won, only acceptance.