Billy Bean (1964–2024), baseball player and LGBTQ+ advocate

Billy Bean was a baseball player for the Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego Padres who became the second Major League Baseball player to come out as gay.

• Died: August 6, 2024 (Who else died on August 6?)
• Details of death: Died at his home after fighting acute myeloid leukemia at the age of 60.
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Billy Bean’s legacy

After winning a state baseball championship while playing for Santa Ana High School, Bean played college baseball at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He was drafted by the New York Yankees after his junior year, but he chose to graduate from LMU before beginning his professional career. That decision ended up giving him the chance to play in the early rounds of the 1986 College World Series with LMU. After his professional career, his No. 44 jersey was retired by the university.

Selected by the Detroit Tigers in the fourth round of the 1986 draft, Bean played several years for the team and in their minor league affiliate before being traded to the Dodgers, then the Padres. As he played major-league baseball, he was keeping his personal life secret: After a brief marriage to a woman, he was living with his same-sex partner. The stress of hiding his relationship took his toll; Bean felt he couldn’t even attend his partner’s 1995 funeral after his death from a ruptured pancreas. That same year, he decided to leave baseball.

Bean relocated to Florida, where he lived with a new partner. In 1999, he revealed his orientation in an interview for the Miami Herald and was pleasantly surprised to find support from his former teammates rather than ostracization. In 2014, Bean was named the first ambassador for inclusion for Major League Baseball, and he later became the league’s senior vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion. In that role, he helped reshape the league’s relationship with the LGBTQ+ community, offering new initiatives to help LGBTQ+ players and fans feel welcome.

Bean on having his LMU jersey retired

“It changed my life. I thought because I was gay that my own school would not want my name on any wall. It was a very emotional moment.” — from a 2016 interview for LMU magazine

Tributes to Billy Bean

Full obituary: The Athletic

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