I was born in 1958, and like you, was raised in a less tolerant society than exists today.

How do I feel about this? Well, considering what baseball has always tolerated - whether openly or not - with regards to cancerous steroids, heterosexual wildness on road trips, homerun bashing alcoholics, etc., I just can't see where a fan - like these ballplayers really care about the fans anyways - has anything to complain about.

Sorry for a sober-sounding comment. I guess my favorite team and their stars - the Indians - taught me over the last 7 years what really matters most to them: greed. So I end up getting excited over the young group of guys they are working with, yet have better things to concern myself with in this election year than openly gay ballplayers.

Wow, two sobering comments in one comment. I better stop now.

Dang it all, Dave, we wrote on the same topic today, but you did it much better than I by bringing in the whole "openly gay ballplayer in the future" angle.

Had I known you were going to pick up on this Tadano story I would have dug deeper to find something to talk about.

Man, I hate January.

I'm all for openly gay players in the majors and every where else in society. Gay people are the only group of people in the US that it is legal to discriminate against. How horrendous is that? Pathetic. It's embarrassing to live in a country that allows discrimination against ANYONE.

He's got nothing to apologize for. Unless his peformance in the video was really poor, in which case he should apologize to those who purchased it.

He's got nothing to apologize for. Unless his performance in the video was really poor, in which case he should apologize to those who purchased it.

I wonder if he would have to apologize for appearing in a straight porn video. I would assume yes, in which case I have a lot of respect for the way the Indians and Tadano handled the situation. But I get the feeling there are a lot of baseball people out there who feel differently; that's the real problem.

As far as when we may see an openly gay athlete, I think the city may play a role in that too. A team like the Oakland A's--young, progressive front office, situated in the right kind of city--may be the perfect place for this to finally happen. I think it's completely unfair and a tragedy that gay ballplayers have to live in fear and shame as if they have some kind of disease. Here's hoping that this paves the way to a more tolerant baseball world.

Now would President Bush have included a reference to Tadano in his State of the Union if he knew about this last week?

I can't imagine the fans caring one way or the other--and I can see the marketers thinking it's a dream situation, particularly in San Francisco or Oakland--but I think you'd have a difficult locker room situation. This "I did it for money, I"m sorry, I'm not really gay" is a baby step, but it's far different from, say, having a boyfriend or life-partner and having him on the plane with the wives.

Athletes are all about machismo, and I think they'd consider having an openly gay player in the locker room environment disruptive. I suspect they'd even have issues with an openly gay reporter. Would they suddenly be more self-conscious? Concerned about gayness-by-association? Worried about catching the gay?

Yeah, these all sound stupid to most rational people, but we're talking about athletes. While I can't see the big deal about a gay athlete, I think we're a long way from it actually happening. But I hope I'm wrong. Athletics shouldn't have anything to do with sexuality; it's about the best people performing.

I think Bush would've only mentioned Tadano if there were plans afoot for for the player to try and marry one of his co-stars.

Perhaps some federal money can be spent to restore Tadano's virginity?

"Athletes are all about machismo". Indeed, though it is fair to say there are some gay dudes who are also all about machismo

he shouldn't be ostracized for being gay; the reality is gays are already in every sport. they've always been. someone's athletic ability does not transend to his or her bedroom. hell, you couldn't run the LPGA if you banned lesbians! (o;

THAT said, i think some sort of action should be taken in regards to him appearing in a porn video. porn breeds crime, drugs, etc etc. his linking the indians to porn (not gay porn, but PORN) needs to be addressed in some fashion.

""Athletes are all about machismo". Indeed, though it is fair to say there are some gay dudes who are also all about machismo"

Hah, very true. Of course they're not worried about someone potentially sexually attracted to them slapping their naked butt in the shower.

"THAT said, i think some sort of action should be taken in regards to him appearing in a porn video. porn breeds crime, drugs, etc etc. "

It's legal, and it was done before he was under contract so there's no issue with "morality" clauses, so why should any action be taken?

Besides, using a slippery slope argument, that X breeds Y, could lead to all sorts of arbitrary punishments. Alcohol use can lead to drunkenness, fighting, alcoholism, abuse, etc., so do you penalize someone for having a Budweiser?

I think having to live with people knowing you appeared in a porn video it is plenty penalty.

What was the homosexual act he participated in? He says he's not gay yet he performed a homosexual act in a pornographic film. Me thinks he's not being honest. At least he seems willing to take one for his teammates.

Well, Tadano could be gay. Or bi. Or he could have been experimenting - nothing wrong with that. Or he could have actually really used the money. I feel bad if he really is gay because then his apology would mean that he's apologizing for being gay. And there's nothing wrong with being gay, whether you're a baseball player or not.

A fair number of straight guys have appeared in gay porn, usually on the receiving end of some act as opposed to being the, er, giver.

I would hope he isn't gay as well, because being effectively forced to deny your sexuality is really awful.

Don't I recall that Glenn Burke (formerly an outfielder with the Dodgers and A's, I think) acknowledged he was gay about five or ten years after he got out of the game? And that he felt he had no choice but to remain "in the closet" while playing?

i really don't understand what all the fuss is about with respect to having a gay guy shower with straight guys. there were lesbians on my team and we showered together and i didn't get raped or turned gay. so what are straights so afraid of? 10% of our population is gay and it's time for people to just grow up about it.
i agree that the thing to be concerned with is that the guy appeared in any porn video.

I apologize, I find this hilarious. I think that the social ramifications of this will undo Bush's anti-gay polemic in the State of the Union address. Even if you're an anti-gay bigot, you have to realize that legalizing gay marraige will fill the public coffers because of the US tax code marraige penalty. Canada didn't descend into Gomorrha because of legal homosexual marriages. They're still freakin' Canada. Canada! I'm scared as a Cubs fan because Cleveland got another good pitcher and we might face them in our three-peat in 2007. By the way, the Cubs have enough great arms and I can see why they didn't take a chance on pitchers with arm injuries or Midnight Cowboy backgrounds.

I do think this is all way over analyzed. The gay/straight struggle in pro sports seems ludicrous. It's really a guy thing. When guys think of a all-female sports team showering in a locker room, we really could care less if there are a strong mix of lesbians and straight women. When we think of an all-male locker room, it's as if one gay guy could throw the whole lockerroom into regressive, sexually-deviant behavior.

I don't understand why this is a bigger issue than the massive drug problem in pro sports. I'm not talking just steroids or performance enhancers, but I'm talking cocaine, heroin, etc. etc. The DUI, drug infractions and other issues of ridiculous behavior are why I've stopped watching Basketball, and to some degree Football....why aren't we more harsh on the illegal things athletes do, and less focused on the gossip-ladden, tabloid style sex news?

Who care if he's gay or not, he's a full-time baseball player now. And he was man enough to admit that he maded the mistake because he needed money back in college. If his teammates are willing to accept him, then why can't the fans?

Tadano was ostracized by Japanese baseball because he involved himself in an activity that historically is connected to the Japanese mafia, which makes it a dishonorable or shameful act. That's a big deal in Japan.

Here in the U.S., reporters (or bloggers) are always looking for some kind of spin or sparkle on news stories, so it's no surprise that Tadano is having to explain himself as he ascends the baseball ladder.

He may be a homosexual, or he may not be. It is intolerant to suggest that he "must" be lying if he says he isn't. But either way, since his actions in the video prevented him from ever playing professional ball in his home country--and the story will follow him everywhere he goes--he's just getting a headstart on coming clean with his teammates before the story gets broken mid-season.