Dodgers will honor Glenn Burke & Billy Bean on Pride Night June 5
Jun 16, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; The Los Angeles Dodgers logo in rainbow colors on the the outfield wall during LGBTQ+ Pride Night at Dodger Stadium at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers on Tuesday announced the details of their annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night, which will be held on Friday, June 5 for the opener of a weekend series against the Angels. Among the highlights is the unveiling a permanent display in the center field plaza at Dodger Stadium for Glenn Burke and Billy Bean, both of whom played for the team.
From the Dodgers: This year, the Dodgers will be installing a tribute to LGBTQ+ trailblazers Billy Bean and Glenn Burke, who both played for L. A. and were among the first professional athletes to identify as gay.
The permanent display will be housed in the Centerfield plaza and feature pictures and memorabilia from their careers and text explaining the duo’s contributions to Major League Baseball and professional sports. Bean played in six major league seasons from 1987-95, including part of 1989 with the Dodgers, playing all three outfield spots. Bean worked for Major League Baseball from 2014 until his death in 2024 of acute myeloid leukemia at age 60, working as senior vice president for diversity, equity & inclusion and special assistant to the commissioner.
Since 2025, MLB no longer includes the word “diversity” on its careers or inclusion pages . Burke played the first two-plus seasons of his four-year career with the Dodgers and among other things, Burke is widely credited with inventing the high-five in 1977 with teammate Dusty Baker. The Dodgers traded Burke to the A’s in his hometown of Oakland in 1978 after learning he was gay, described by Andrew Maraniss, author of ‘Singled Out: The True Story of Glenn Burke, ’ in an interview with Steve Dittmore of True Blue LA in 2022 : During the offseason after the 1977 World Series, Al Campanis paid a visit to Glenn in the Bay Area.
Glenn thought it was to talk about his role on the team in ‘78. Instead, Campanis offered Glenn a bribe to get married. Glenn asked, “To a woman?