The Journey Of An LGBTQ+ Baseball Player

A professional athlete’s journey can take some twists and turns. Especially when they are struggling with coming out as LGBTQ+. They have been few and far between. In the game of baseball, there had been quite a few.

One of them is a player you might not have heard about. His name is Solomon Bates. Lavender Magazine had the honor and pleasure of interviewing Bates about his career and coming out journey.

Bates pitched for the University of Southern California before getting drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the eighth round of the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft. After being surprisingly released in 2022, he started for the Sioux City Explorers in the American Association of Professional Baseball. Later in this article, we will hear reflections from Bates about the unexpected professional transition regarding what he has learned and what his hopes are for the future. When asked about making tough career choices, Bates reminisced about a conversation with his mom where she asked, “Why do you always want to wait to see what other people want you to do? Why not do something for yourself? You can still advance your career while keeping your own interests in mind.”

As far as allowing his public authenticity to expand from being a talented pitcher to being a role model for LGBTQ+ athletes, he began his coming out journey professionally by being open with teammates in the Giants organization prior to the pandemic. He felt significantly more welcome in that environment than when he came out in college. Thankfully, he had college teammates who advocated for his inclusion and helped him address his worries about policing his own behavior. He first came out publicly in a radio interview before he was released, but that did not garner as much attention as an Instagram post where he also came out after his release.

It was then that Bates became nationally recognized as the first openly gay active minor league player since David Denson, recently followed by the coming out of Anderson Comás in 2023. Bates’ goals include being the first ever out player to make it to the major leagues, sustaining career success, and breaking strikeout records. He believes that being out has helped him play better, as he is more open about several aspects of who he is as a player and person. He declared, “I’m no longer hiding or holding back anything. I think that’s the main reason I did it. I’m just gonna be myself and let my style and skill speak for what I do.” Since coming out, he has received some notes from young LGBTQ+ athletes whom he has inspired, which reaffirmed his mission to help fans see queer people for their skill rather than a label.

When asked about perseverance from both personal and athletic standpoints, Bates stated that he likes to reframe any challenge as a small bump in the road, find a way to “keep his eye on the prize”, and come up with plans to address the challenge head on. In addition to being open about his queerness, he also identifies as a person of faith. It is a common misconception that faith and queerness do not align. Bates expressed, “I have faith in God but also it’s about having faith in my skills after not having that for so long. In a way, I feel like my unexpected career change last year was meant to happen because it helped me to take back my power and my confidence in my abilities.”

He also reflected on mental hygiene in sports, “Patience is key: patience for learning the right tools to become the best you can be, patience to learn how to fight through obstacles, and using patience to rise to the challenge instead of expressing anger towards others. Anger is human and lots of men don’t know how to process it in a healthy way because men’s mental health is often neglected. It’s a vital skill.”

Bates summarized his experience in Venezuela well. “Playing baseball in different parts of the world has shown me how people in countries like Venezuela are very generous in their support of all neighbors, even when it comes to watching sports. Becoming a fan favorite was invigorating and an honor. It was eye-opening to play for a team that has so many greats from the major league. Like, I had Eduardo Escobar (of the Los Angeles Angels) on my team last year. It was wild. I think I fangirled for half an hour when I first saw him. I had William Contreras (of the Milwaukee Brewers) as the catcher!”

He enthusiastically learned a lot of tools from the major league players, especially his fellow pitchers. He values playing in front of MLB affiliated coaches and managers again to broaden his professional network and showcase his skills. While he is on the tail end of an elbow injury healing journey, he has remained in contact with managers about hopefully returning to Venezuela when he is back to full strength.

One of his favorite things about playing in Venezuela has been fan engagement. Bates reflected, “All the fans thoroughly enjoyed the games and wholeheartedly love the players who have a clear passion for the game of baseball. They continue to reinforce my drive to do this for the rest of my life. A few big-league clubs have given me looks recently, but I haven’t had any offers from domestic teams, and I have a desire to return to playing in the United States, optimally with the MLB.”

Readers can follow along with Bates’ journey to make history by following him on Instagram @solomonbates to see where to watch him play. Bates would also like to shout out coach Dave Coggin for helping him to sculpt his pitching skill as well as friends and former Giants teammates Blake Sabol and Frankie Tostado.