The Milwaukee Brewers organization was involved with one of the biggest moments in baseball history last weekend. This had absolutely nothing to do with what they did on the field and this event happened far away from the bright lights and big crowds of the major leagues.
Last weekend, Brewers prospect David Denson revealed that he is gay in an article published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. This makes him the first active player affiliated with a major league team to be openly gay. Today, we will be discussing David Denson’s Historic Announcement.
In the world of baseball, this is a watershed moment. While there have been players who announced they were gay after their career was over, Denson made this announcement while still active and at the very beginning of his career.
While it appeared that Major League Baseball was already on the right track in this area with the addition of their “Ambassador for Inclusion” role and appointing this role to Bill Bean, up until last weekend there was no direct evidence on how players & management would react to a player coming out of the closet.
For the most part, the reaction has been very encouraging. While the statement from Doug Melvin could have done a better job of addressing the significance of this moment and the amount of courage needed to be the first active player to be openly gay, one thing that is encouraging is that Brewers manager Craig Counsell has a strong understanding of the impact that Denson is making within the history of baseball and has understands how courageous Denson is and gives reassurance that Denson will be supported throughout his career in the Brewers organization.
The comments made by Denson himself in the article indicate that his teammates are very supportive of having a gay teammate. Bottom line is that this was a very significant weekend in the history of baseball. If the Brewers organization and Denson’s teammates in Helena are being extremely supportive, it is very likely that just about every other major league organization from top management down to the lowest level of the minor leagues will give the same level of support for players who announce that they are gay in the future.
No matter how many players announce that they are gay in or how successful the careers of said players are, Denson has already made a larger impact on the history of baseball than anyone else by being the first to be openly gay. It is also safe to say that Denson has already had an enormous impact on the game of baseball even though he has yet to play in the major leagues.
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