Half Of Major Leaguers Own Guns; Only Five Percent Know A Gay Player

Per an ESPN magazine survey. It’s the demographic the Republicans have been looking for!

Luke Scott of the Tampa Bay Rays is a highly outspoken gun-rights advocate.

ESPN The Magazine’s baseball preview arrives this week, and one of its features is an “MLB Confidential” survey of 110 anonymous players. Two of the questions had a political slant:

— Asked “do you know of any gay players?” only 5% (six players) said yes. “Yes, but that’s as far as I want to go, even if this is anonymous,” said one National Leaguer.

— 46% said they own a firearm — and these 51 players have a total of 258 guns. “Let me ask you something,” says one pitcher. “If you were rich and famous and your salary was in the newspaper every week, would you worry about your wife and kids? That’s why I have guns.”

In other news, we found a guy to replace Bud Selig as MLB commissioner when he retires in two years.

It’s Ted Nugent. Because of the guns and the barely-repressed homosexuality. Image by David Livingston / Getty Images

The issue goes on stands Friday — check it out for further interesting factoids (the Blue Jays are the players’ World Series pick; they collectively estimate that only 10% of their peers are taking PEDs) as well as some comical cattiness about Ryan Braun. (“‘Nobody likes Braun,’ says an AL slugger.” Sluggers be hatin’!)