First Active Openly Gay Pro Baseball Player Makes Debut
By Ken Reed
Sean Conroy made baseball history Thursday night when he pitched the Sonoma Stompers to a 7-0 victory during his first start with the independent Pacific Association of Baseball Clubs team.
The Stompers did not make a special announcement about the milestone so Conroy could focus on his pitching, General Manager Theo Fightmaster said. However, Conroy got the loudest cheer from the small crowd when the lineups were announced.
Conroy and Fightmaster were thrilled to be part of history.
“His goal has always been to be the first openly gay baseball player, so he was very much in favor of telling the story, of carrying that torch,” said Fightmaster.
Conroy is viewed as a marginal Major League Baseball prospect. It’s unlikely he’ll ever pitch a game in a big league park. But that doesn’t lessen the importance of what he did Thursday night.
“It doesn’t matter if he pitches in the big leagues or not, he’s going to become a leader in many ways,” said Billy Bean, MLB’s ambassador of inclusion. Bean came out as gay after he retired from Major League Baseball.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
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"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
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Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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