No one in Scott's family knew about their three-year relationship when Scott was killed by a drunk driver in 1982. In 1988, however, Pallone was forced to come out from behind his mask in a much bigger way. The National League dismissed him for allegedly having sex with a minor, even though the charges against him had already been found groundless and the District Attorney in charge of the case had dropped the investigation. Pallone believes that the real issue was his sexual orientation. In his work today, Pallone confronts the anti-gay prejudice that kept him in the closet and which eventually cost him his job.
People have to understand that.
Coming Out Pallone says that one of the questions he is asked most often today is what advice he would give to young athletes about coming out. For a young person, I think the most important thing is that they have to be true to themselves. They have to wake up every morning and look themselves in the mirror. I mean, it's hard enough to live the one life we get, but it's very difficult to live two, and that's what you end up doing. When you're in the closet, you end up living two lives.