Erik Braverman, the vice president of marketing and broadcasting for the Los Angeles Dodgers, last week came out gay, making him Major League Baseball's (MLB) fifth out executive.

Braverman came out in an Outsports profile.

“I didn't want anyone to, in any way, not view me for the quality of my work,” Braverman said of his decision to not share his sexuality publicly. “I don't want to be known as the gay executive who happens to run marketing and broadcasting for the Dodgers. I want my accomplishments and my job to be first and foremost and speak for themselves.”

Braverman said that discovering his sexuality at an early age “created a lot of conflict” within himself.

“I struggled with being a baseball player in Texas dealing with who I was,” he said. “So baseball took a back seat when I was dealing with my own internal struggles.”

He said that he decided to come out publicly to help other LGBT people interested in sports.

“What kept me in the closet was the perception that Major League Baseball and pro sports in general aren't open-minded,” he said. “The feeling that, right or wrong, it's not an open and accepting environment.”

“The fact that I'm talking about it publicly today is remarkable,” he added. “If there are kids in junior high and high school and college, and even if they are older, if they see me and realize it's a possibility [to be out and have a successful career in professional sports], then that's a great reason to do this.”

Also out at MLB team front offices are Greg Bader of the Baltimore Orioles, Steve Reed of the Washington Nationals, Laura Ricketts of the Chicago Cubs and Matt Schulte of the Kansas City Royals.