“OUT. THE GLENN BURKE STORY,” ABOUT FIRST OPENLY GAY MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER

“Out. The Glenn Burke Story,” which documents Burke’s legacy as the first openly gay Major League Baseball player, will have its national premiere on VERSUS on Tuesday, August 9, at 10 p.m. ET.  Nominated for a Northern California Area Emmy Award and a nominee for Outstanding Documentary at the 22nd Annual GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Awards, “Out. The Glenn Burke Story” originally premiered on and was produced by Comcast SportsNet Bay Area last November.

VERSUS will provide encore presentations of the documentary on Saturday, August 13, at 11 p.m. ET and Wednesday, August 17, at 11 p.m. ET

Glenn Burke, the first openly gay Major League Baseball player, ended his journey through baseball where it began, in Oakland, California.  His sports career had many stops along the way, starting as a multi-sport star at Berkeley High School, followed by a stint at the University of Nevada, Reno as a prized basketball recruit, and then into professional baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he was hailed by one coach as “the next Willie Mays.”  Early in his career, Burke felt he had to hide his true self from his teammates.  Later, when he began to reveal glimpses into his sexuality, the baseball establishment began to shut him out.

“Out. The Glenn Burke Story” tells the dramatic tale of Burke’s Major League career as an outfielder for the Dodgers and as a starter in Game One of the 1977 World Series, to being traded to the Oakland Athletics the following season, and then walking away in 1980 from the game that he deeply loved.  Many of Burke’s teammates were aware of his homosexuality during his playing career, as were members of management.  Many of those teammates believe that Burke's sexuality led to the premature derailment of his baseball career.

View the trailer below: