Buckley: MIT ballplayer gets big hit in coming out

For those who think it’s overdone when gay people tell you their coming-out stories, consider what’s been going on with Sean Karson.

Karson, who grew up outside Orlando, Fla., is a junior on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology baseball team. He’s the Engineers’ starting third baseman, and he’s pretty good, too: He compiled a .350 batting average as a sophomore, including a seven-game hitting streak during which he hit .540. He’s a co-captain on this year’s team.

...A couple of days ago, during an indoor practice at MIT, Karson asked coach Andy Barlow if he could say a few words to his teammates.

“I had no idea what he had in mind,” Barlow said. “He had just returned from a conference in California, so I assumed he was going to talk about his company.”

Instead, Karson took a deep breath, and told his coaches and teammates that he’s gay.

“They came up and gave me high fives and said they’d have my back and everything,” he said. “It was so supportive, it was ridiculous.”

Thanks to Chet.