[ Note: The original text has been taken down and has been rewritten. ]
There are gay umpires in every level of professional baseball, says Tyler Hoffman, a gay former minor-league umpire who has had a face-to-face conversation with one Big Leaguer and has exchanged emails with several minor league umpires. None of them are out, nor is expected to come out anytime soon.
Hoffman has spoken with the veteran umpire. 'His whole thing is, I've been around for a while; the league respects me; other umpires respect me; [ and ] guys pretty much have it figured out by now, so there is no need for me to actually come out and say 'I'm gay.' He doesn't feel like he actually needs to publicize it.
'That's his point of view, though I think it would be really beneficial to the community and sports in general if he did come out, but that's my perspective.'
Hoffman said he has only chatted online with the younger minor league umpires, and they all claim there is 'absolutely, no way in hell' they will ever come out while active because they don't trust anyone at that level.
IN THE GAME
Hoffman—now 36 and living in Vancouver, attended Qualicum Secondary School on Vancouver Island, and then graduated from Vancouver Island University in 1995. He attended the Jim Evans Umpiring Academy in 1996 … and so started Hoffman's run to the majors.
Hoffman worked Class-A and Double-A baseball, umpiring in the Arizona, Northwest, Midwest, California and Southern leagues.
Hoffman now lives in his native British Columbia, where he is a financial advisory for Desjardins Financial, doing wealth management for executives and professionals. He has not umpired in two years.
'The first three years that I was out of baseball, yeah, I really missed it and I really second-guessed myself [ about retiring ] ,' he said. 'But it's been almost ten years now, so those thoughts don't enter my mind as much as they used to.
'It's bizarre … baseball was such a big thing in my life, but now it's just kind of off to the side. I'll watch ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, but that's about it.'
Hoffman came out to his parents at 18 or 19, just before going to umpire school. 'I think they thought I was bluffing,' he said. Five years later, after baseball, he came out to most of his friends.
'I tried to keep [ my sexuality ] as quiet as possible for those five years, just to make sure that the chance of advancement wasn't going to get tossed away [ because of my sexuality ] ,' Hoffman said. 'There was absolutely no way I would have been out [ while umpiring ] . I was completely frickin' terrified [ about being discovered to be gay ] .
'For me, umpire school was a planned event. It wasn't some spontaneous thing I did. I knew when I was 5 that I wanted to be a major league umpire, and everything I did in my life, from 12 through 19, was geared for that career. Everything. So, to [ potentially ] have that stripped away because of my sexuality, there's no way I could have had anyone know about it.'
Thus, he often was forced into an uncomfortable environment, including regularly second-guessing himself and taking trips to straight bars. Spring training was the worst, he said, when he basically had to go out with about 20 other umpires, 'and the whole reason we'd go out was to pick up chicks,' he said.
Hoffman played along, and admits he brought girls back to the hotel. 'Whether or not anything happened, it was just [ for ] that game that had to be played,' he said.
Hoffman decided to leave the game in 2000 because there was not much opportunity for advancement and he just re-assessed his life.
'I literally walked on the field one night and said to myself, 'OK, Tyler, is everything you're sacrificing in your life worth the three hours of magic on the field, being on the road 200 days a year [ and ] living out of a suitcase, knowing that nothing was really going to change?' And the answer was no.'
However, Hoffman contemplated a ground-breaking season a few years ago. 'When I went back in 2000, I was going to do the full season and be completely out, just to prove a point. But then I thought, 'Is it really worth it?'' Hoffman said. 'The reason I could have done that was I had nothing to lose.'
Any regrets?
Absolutely none, he said. 'The last seven years have been absolutely fantastic. It's allowed me to have a relationship, be involved in a community, really set myself up for the rest of my life,' Hoffman said. 'The last thing I wanted was to be 30 or 31 and told that major league baseball doesn't want you, and all I have behind me is 10 years of [ minor league ] baseball. Then what?
'I believe I got out at the right time.'
And none of the umpires who entered the minors the same year as Hoffman made it to the majors full-time.
Hoffman spent his four minor league seasons traveling from city to city with one other umpire. No one knew he was gay. 'They may have suspected, but never asked me anything. I was pretty good at masking it up,' he said.
Hoffman truly expressed his sexual orientation only twice during his minor league career. Once, he met some gays during spring training in Arizona. Then, he ventured to West Hollywood during a weekend in 1999 while his normal umpiring partner returned to New York to be with his sick mother.
'I felt liberated,' Hoffman said of his WeHo adventure. 'I just went to hang out.'
GETTING TO KNOW … Tyler Hoffman
Birthday: Dec. 14, 1975
Business bits: Gets about 95 percent of his clients from referrals
Personality: Deliberate Coach
It's a fact: He was on the board of directors for the Canada-based Gay & Lesbian Professional Athletes Association, though he retired from the post earlier this year.
Award-winning: He was nominated for the Gay & Lesbian Business Association's Young Entrepreneur of the year for 2006, for the entire province of British Columbia. 'That was kind of cool, coming from your peers. The nomination certainly was appreciated. The good thing was, even though I didn't win, the winner was my client. So that felt good.'
On Vancouver: 'It is a really diverse community, and that's one thing I really like about it. Everyone really gets along. [ The local gay scene ] is really well-integrated into mainstream life up here. The gay thing is not really an issue up here in B.C., and I think that's the case province-wide.
