Born in 1952, Glenn Burke quickly demonstrated that he was a natural-born athlete. Amazing at basketball, Glenn excelled at other sports as well. Growing up with a single mother and many sisters, Glenn was always the life of the party, ribbing other people and joking around. He could also be deadly serious, especially while playing a game of hoops. Glenn loved basketball and could not get enough. But when he was offered a $5,000 sign-on bonus by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Glenn could not pass up the opportunity, and he joined the team.
And that is how Glenn Burke found himself on the field on October 2, 1977. His teammate, Dusty Baker, hit a home run in the last regular game of the season, reaching 30 home runs in a year and joining three other teammates who all had 30 or more, eclipsing a league record. Without thinking, Glenn rushed the field and congratulated Dusty with what became known as the first high five.
As a ball player, Glenn was better than average, but not a standout player. His statistics were fine, but he ran into trouble for his life off the field. Unlike most players, Glenn was gay, and was not hiding it well. His whole team knew, and many sports reporters knew as well. The Dodgers' management wanted to project a wholesome image, and having a gay player in the league in the 1970s was considered a huge risk, as homosexuality was still perceived to be a mental disease.
Glenn was eventually driven out of baseball in 1979, but then he came out publicly about being gay, noting that from now on no one could ever say that there had never been anyone gay in baseball. The place sports played in his life meant that Glenn was not prepared for other types of work, and he drifted from one job to the next. A costly drug addiction depleted his savings, and he eventually ended up on the streets of San Francisco. With the emergence of the deadly AIDS virus, the homosexual community was devastated, and Glenn became infected.
By the early 1990s, Glenn had run out of luck and time. He moved back in with his sister, who took care of him as the disease slowly progressed. Glenn died in 1995, at the age of 43, having lived through a hard life, but leaving behind a lasting legacy for gay rights and the cultural phenomena of the high five.
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