Gay St. Louis Cardinals Prospect Quit Baseball After Overhearing TERRIBLE Homophobic Slurs From His Teammates

How does your sexual orientation effect how good you are at a sport? Oh, that’s right, it doesn’t.

The above story is truly terrible in every sense of the word. A young man, with enough promise to actually get drafted to a Major League Baseball club, walked away from the game because he overheard his coaches and teammates talking about killing gay people. That’s hugely offensive regardless of which fence you swing for, obviously. But when St. Louis Cardinals prospect Tyler Dunnington overheard members of his very own clubhouse spitting that kind of vitriol, it destroyed his entire world.

Dunnington, having walked away from baseball a little more than a year ago, is now trying to have his story heard with the hopes of raising awareness so that no other athlete will ever have to suffer the internal emotional distress he felt in keeping his sexual preference shrouded from his teammates.

In an incredibly touching open letter to OutSports, Dunnington recounted the hatred that drove him away from the game. It’s powerful, and it’s very worthy of your time to read, baseball fan or not.

My name’s Tyler Dunnington, and I was a 28th-round pick by the St Louis Cardinals in the 2014 MLB Draft. I was one of the not-so-many players to be given a chance to pursue my dream of being a Major League Baseball player.

I was also one of the unfortunate closeted gay athletes who experienced years of homophobia in the sport I loved. I was able to take most of it with a grain of salt but towards the end of my career I could tell it was affecting my relationships with people, my performance, and my overall happiness.

I experienced both coaches and players make remarks on killing gay people during my time in baseball, and each comment felt like a knife to my heart. I was miserable in a sport that used to give me life, and ultimately I decided I needed to hang up my cleats for my own sanity.

After a little over a year of being gone from the game I’ve come to realize I thought I was choosing happiness over being miserable. That is not necessarily the case. My passion still lies in baseball, and removing myself from the game didn’t change that. Most of the greatest memories I have are with this sport. After gaining acceptance from my friends and family I realized I didn’t have to quit baseball to find happiness.

I not only wanted to share my story but also apologize for not using the stage I had to help change the game. Quitting isn’t the way to handle adversity, and I admire the other athletes acting as trailblazers.

Heartbreaking stuff. But in that heartbreak, Dunnington also displays so much courage with his decision to forge ahead in holding others accountable for their revolting words and seeking a better place in any game for fellow members of the LGBT community.

Progress begins with bros like Tyler Dunnington. It goes without saying, but the MLB is investigating the matter.

[via OutSports]