Former Giants minor league pitcher Solomon Bates comes out as gay
Minor league pitcher Solomon Bates made two significant announcements via social media on Tuesday.
Per Maria Guardado of the MLB website, Bates confirmed he had been released by the San Francisco Giants. The 25-year-old also came out publicly as gay.
"Being gay in this sport you don’t know what comes at you!" Bates wrote in his post. "I thank the [G]iants for giving me the opportunity to be myself and go out there and play the game that I love the most. I'm still in shock on what just happened. But I'm not giving up on what I want to do. I'm still going to open up doors for gay athletes like me. Still will strive to be one of the greatest to do it."
Bates is the second active minor league player to ever come out as gay following David Denson, a prospect in the Milwaukee Brewers' system who did so in 2015. No active MLB player has ever publicly come out.
For a piece published Tuesday by Cyd Zeigler of Outsports, Bates said he first came out to teammates in 2019.
"I haven’t been out as my complete self because I’ve been hiding myself," Bates told Outsports. "I’m a masculine man who loves the sport of baseball, and now I want to open up doors for gay athletes like me."
Bates logged a 4-1 record and held a 4.02 ERA over 23 relief appearances with the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels this season until his release. He insisted in his Instagram post he wasn't finished pursuing a career in the big leagues.
"Baseball I'm not done with you. I'm leaving on my terms and my terms only," reads part of his caption. "Gay men can play a manly sport if you give us a chance to. Thank you [G]iants, you guys made a new fan. But gave me a chip to keep going. I love all the new friends that I've made. I'm not going to cry. I'm going to keep pushing."
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