Billy Bean throws out the ceremonial first pitch to Seattle Mariners’ Felix Hernandez before a baseball game between the Mariners and Milwaukee Brewers Aug. 19, 2016, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
Billy Bean, the former MLB player who came out as gay in 1999 then went on to become the league’s senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, died Tuesday, Aug. 6, following a year-long battle with acute myeloid leukemia. He was 60 years old.
He was the second pro baseball player to come out, after Glenn Burke who came out in 1982 after he had retired.
MLB Commissioner Ron Manfred issued a statement saying, “Our hearts are broken today as we mourn our dear friend and colleague, Billy Bean, one of the kindest and most respected individuals I have ever known. Billy was a friend to countless people across our game, and he made a difference through his constant dedication to others.”
Bean made his MLB debut in 1987 with the Detroit Tigers “in a four-hit performance that tied a record for a player in his first game,” according to NPR. He also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres before retiring in 1995. He wrote a book about his life and his career, Going the Other Way: Lessons from a Life in and out of Major-League Baseball, published in 2003. Former MLB Commissioner Bud Selig hired him as the league’s first ambassador for inclusion, and Bean spent more than 10 years working for the league, ending as a senior vice president.
— Tammye Nash