At the start of spring training in February, Anderson Comas became the first-ever player in the White Sox organization to come out as gay, and only the third known player to do while while active in affiliated baseball. He broke the news in an Instagram post, and with June marking both Pride Month and the start of the Arizona Complex League season, he spoke to reporters about the process, which was gradual.
He said he first informed Erin Santana, the White Sox's manager of international player development and education, who was a positive sounding board.
“She’s like our mom here, the mom of Latinos here,” Comás said of Santana. “I was really comfortable with her and I told her about that even before the coming out. 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.”
And Comás said other people in the organization have handled it the way one would hope.
‘‘It’s been great,’’ Comas said in a Zoom call with reporters from Arizona. ‘‘Nothing changed here because my teammates, my coaches, some of them knew. . . . They were great about it. They really love me here because I’ve been very respectful with my teammates and coaches.’’
Comás is 23, and tried his hand on the mound last year after hitting a wall as an outfielder. Putting it charitably, the odds are against him, and it wouldn't be surprising if his career path matched that of Felix Mercedes after the year.
Yet even if Comás doesn't make any kind of professional progress, he'll still have made an impact. He said he wanted to inspire people who feel like they lack support, and specific to the team this site covers, should anybody else in the organization find themselves wrestling with the decision to come out, he'll have shown them that White Sox personnel responded with respect.
Nashville 5, Charlotte 3
- Carlos Pérez went 0-for-3 with a walk.
Mississippi 1, Birmingham 0
- Alsander Womack went 2-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases.
- Bryan Ramos was 0-for-2 with a walk.
- Yoelqui Céspedes and Luis Mieses both were 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Tommy Sommer was effectively wild: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 6 BB, 2 K
Winston-Salem 2, Greensboro 0 (5½ innings, rain)
- Terrell Tatum went 1-for-3 with a strikeout and a stolen base.
- Loidel Chapelli was 0-for-3.
- DJ Gladney, 1-for-2 with a strikeout and a stolen base.
- Wilfred Veras, 1-for-2 with a double.
- Wes Kath singled and struck out.
- Andrew Dalquist: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K
