Gay broadcaster Eric Bach hopes to see more LGBTQ announcers in the baseball booth

Bach publicly came out as gay in an essay he wrote for Outsports while a student at Michigan State. Like so many other young broadcasters, he’s worked his way up the ladder by moving across the country wherever the jobs present themselves. After stints doing play-by-play for the Morehead City Marlins, Lenoir-Rhyne University, and Great Lakes Loons, he took on the role of Fredericksburg Nationals broadcasting and media relations manager, which includes TV and radio play-by-play for all 132 games this season.

Bach relayed the story of his coming out to Nats manager Jake Lowery, which was brief but seemingly positive. However, he remains unclear on how many players are aware and that leads to him feeling self-conscious about how real he can be behind the scenes, something he admits is somewhat “self-inflicted.”

“My filter of what I can say and where I am is turned up to 11 all the time when I’m at work,” Bach said. “I feel like that’s the burden a lot of gay people live with — trying to be perfect for straight people.”

Pretty surreal and humbling to see your name in the New York Times.

Thanks to the great @ZHBuchanan for doing an amazing job, and to everyone else that’s supported me – especially you @MichStsportsJRN.

Just grateful to have a great job with the @FXBGNats.

I’m a lucky guy. https://t.co/egeYTJlMgA

— Eric Bach (@eric_bach7) July 15, 2023

In terms of how inclusive Major League Baseball has been, Bach sees a mixed bag. While there have been some good things, including the mostly positive response around Anderson Comás, a Chicago White Sox minor leaguer who came out last year, the bloated drama surrounding the Dodgers’ plan to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and other controversies around Pride Nights showed there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

“I don’t think some silly Rob Manfred initiative is going to help anything,” Bach said, referring to MLB’s diversity fellowship. “People on the ground just being visible and existing and thriving in the baseball space is the way it gets better.”

Ultimately, Bach has two goals in mind for where his career goes from here. He obviously wants the opportunity to call Major League Baseball games, though he wants to do so based on merit, not “as some charity case.” he said. The second goal is that he wants to provide hope to others like him that there’s plenty of room in the booth.

“Those of us that are in this very small minority in sports have to keep on having these conversations, keep on working really frickin’ hard to earn your spot in this space,” said Bach.

[New York Times]