Torre: 'No Problem' With Gay Player

I know this is a hot button type issue, and I did not want to start a major debate on this, but I did want to point out Joe’s comments.

From the LA Times:

Ventura, Calif., Viewer: Billy Bean, after he retired, he announced he was gay. Do you foresee a time in the future when an active player can safely announce he’s gay and if he did, what effect would that have on Major League Baseball?

Joe Torre: Well that’s a great question, I don’t know. But I just hope that an active player, if that’s the case, can feel free to do that. That’s all I can say. But I don’t know. Obviously, you have 25 players in the clubhouse, and, you know, it’s going to be tough for everybody to feel as maybe I do. But I’d like to believe our country is turning in that direction.

Larry King: You’d have no problem?

Torre: I’d have no problem.

This is a noble statement by Torre, albeit an empty one being that no such issue is on the horizon. However, as Joe notes, this is an issue that transcends the manager and plays upon people’s personal prejudices. Although being gay has become the “new cool” in some circles, I doubt those circles include major league clubhouses, where the bravado of “men being men” is so ingrained in the culture. Hopefully, we can reach a time where a player could come out without any sort of recriminations. However, if it happened today, the player would likely face a lot of resistance and discrimination from his current teammates, while creating a massive media firestorm.

10 bucks that A-Rod does it.

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