Chicago White Sox minor leaguer Anderson Comas made a big announcement before he reported to Spring Training this year: he’s gay!
Now, as Comas celebrates his first Pride Month as an out gay man, he’s reflecting on his journey. In a recent Zoom call with reporters, the left-handed pitcher says he feels better than ever.
“I just felt like now is the right time. Now is when I feel good with myself. Now I accept myself,” he told reporters, including The Athletic’s James Fegan. “I love myself enough to tell people and feel great about it. At first I was afraid to say it, for people to know about me. Now I feel strong enough to say it to people without caring what they say about me.”
When Comas came out in February, he wrote on Instagram that he wants to prove gay people belong in baseball.
“Disclaimer: if you’re homophobic this post is may not for you or [maybe] yes so you can see we all matters and we all are the same,” he wrote. “This may be my most personal thing I ever share and it’s that I’m proudly and happily part of the LGTBQ+ community 🏳️🌈 I’m also a human with a great soul, I’m respectful, I’m a lover, I love my family and friends and that’s what really matters, I enjoy my work a lot, being a professional baseball player is the best thing that happened to me so I just wanna say something to those people that says that gay people can not be someone in this life, well look at me I’m Gay and I’m a professional athlete so that didn’t stopped me to make my dreams come true.”
Comas’ line about being “human with a great soul” resonates. Closeted people, and especially male athletes, often worry that coming out will define them.
But that’s not the case, and Comas is proof. He’s still pursuing his dream of playing in the major leagues, and taking on a new position to boot. Originally signed as an outfielder, he converted to pitcher last season.
Comas is currently pitching in extended spring training, and is expected to join the White Sox’ Arizona Complex League affiliate this summer (the Complex League is a rookie-level league).
When he spoke with reporters, he was wearing a t-shirt that read “HUMAN” in LGBTQ+ Pride colors. Comas, 23, says his teammates have supported him from the start.
“They really love me here because I’ve been very respectful with my teammates and all my coaches,” he said. “My teammates and coaches that knew about me. They never changed themselves just because I was gay. They treated me the same. That made me feel comfortable about it.”
Comas mentioned a couple of figures in particular, White Sox assistant general manager Chris Getz and performance coach Daniel Cobian, as being especially helpful. He says the team’s manager of international player development and education, Erin Santana, was the first person in the organization to know.
Comas describes Santana as being the “mom” of the young Latino players in Chicago’s system.
“I was really comfortable with her and I told her about that even before the coming out,” he said. “I told her, ‘I know I’m going to do this. What do you think?’ And she loved it. So, I shared my story with her first because I was really comfortable with her and then I did the coming out.”
Comas is the second player to publicly come out as gay while being affiliated with an MLB franchise. Outfielder David Denson, who played in the Milwaukee Brewers’ minor league system, was the first.
Last summer, professional pitcher Solomon Bates, publicly came out as gay, too. He signed with a new team just two days after his big announcement.
Comas told reporters he received “thousands” of Instagram messages in the days following his coming-out post. Some of the DMs came from closeted LGBTQ+ baseball players.
“It’s still a little bit hard for us to be out there visible in the public area because of people’s judgment,” he said. “I wanted to help people out there. Those people who don’t feel like they have the support, even their family. I wanted to open that door for those people that are fighting for their dreams.”
There is support for Comas within the White Sox organization. Star closer Liam Hendriks, who led the league in saves two years ago, is one of the most staunch LGBTQ+ allies in the game. Last year, he revealed that the White Sox’ Pride Night and support of LGBTQ+ people was one of the prevailing reasons why he signed.
“It wasn’t a demand. It was a simple question of, ‘Do you guys have a Pride Night?,” he said. “And if you don’t, that will be something that we need to look into that working out, making sure that we can handle it, because I don’t want to go necessarily to a team that doesn’t do it.”
This year, the White Sox will hold their Pride Night June 21–just days before Chicago’s Pride Weekend. It should be a great night for gay White Sox fans, and Comas as well. His world didn’t collapse when he came out. Instead, it opened up.
Scroll down for more pics of Comas basking in his glory…
abfab
Related: The Toronto Star full disclosure…..HUGE kd lang fan, the other two are new to me.
Emily Hampshire, kd Lang, Vivek Shraya and more offer advice to their younger selves.
Touching personal stories and hard-won wisdom: prominent LGBTQ Canadians reflect on coming out.
MF
By Melissa Fejtek
Toronto Star
“Have confidence in knowing that you are exactly who you’re supposed to be in the universe. We may not always drive the vehicle in the most sensible manner, but we’re in the vehicle we’re supposed to be in. The unfolding and the mystery of it is the exciting part. Know yourself, be sure you know who you are, and have compassion for others. Your journey may feel separate, but it’s a journey for a lot of people, like your friends and family, and your community too. Be gentle on yourself, be sure of yourself, and be proud.”
-kd lang
Kangol2
I’m so glad he and Solomon Bates are out and happy and I hope their careers continue to take off!
Fahd
Comas is really an admirable guy… and when you think of creeps like that Matt Dermody being called up to the majors, you wonder …. somebody needs to be making some better decisions in Major League Baseball.