MLB

Girardi: MLB ready for openly gay player

If and when an openly gay player enters Major League Baseball, as Michael Sam intends to enter the National Football League, Joe Girardi believes his sport will be ready.

“I think so,” the Yankees manager said Tuesday, as the team introduced Masahiro Tanaka at a Yankee Stadium news conference. “I think our world has adjusted to that. Players want players who are going to help them win championships. And you see that there’s a lot of different cultures that come together. Different ethnic, there’s different financial backgrounds. I think players just want to win.”

Sam, the Missouri defensive end, announced on Sunday he is gay. He is expected to be drafted by an NFL team in May.

When NBA veteran Jason Collins announced his homosexuality last year, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia was among those who praised Collins for his honesty and expressed hope baseball teams will deal well with such a change.