Billy Bean, MLB’s DEI Executive, Dies at 60

(LibertySociety.com) – Former major-league ballplayer Billy Bean, who was the MLB’s second openly gay former player, passed away last week following a yearlong battle with leukemia at the age of 60.

Bean came out as gay in 1999, four years after retiring from baseball. He later returned to the MLB where he worked in the Commissioner’s Office before later becoming Major League Baseball’s senior vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Born in California, Bean made his major league debut in 1987 after being drafted by the Detroit Tigers out of Loyola Marymount University in 1986. He spent three seasons with the Tigers before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1989. Bean capped off his major league career playing for the San Diego Padres.

Bean retired in 1995 after 272 games as a .226 career hitter.

Four years later, Bean indirectly revealed that he was gay in a Miami Herald interview about the restaurant he and his partner at the time were opening.

The revelation made national headlines, prompting Bean to tell the New York Times that he did not reveal that he was gay when he was playing because he didn’t want to “embarrass” Major League Baseball or his family.

Bean was hired by former MLB Commissioner Bud Selig in 2014 to become the league’s first Inclusion Ambassador, for which he was responsible for helping the MLB confront homophobia in its baseball clubs.

After spending a decade working in the Commissioner’s Office, Bean was promoted to senior vice president in charge of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

In an August 6 statement, Commissioner Rob Manfred said the league was heartbroken over the death of Bean, whom he described as “one of the kindest and most respected individuals” he has known.

Manfred said Bean helped to make the MLB a “better institution” both off and on the field with his “empathy,” “communication skills,” and “commitment to doing the right thing.

Bean, who later became a public speaker, wrote a book about his experience in the 2003 memoir titled “Going the Other Way.”

Bean is survived by his husband Greg Baker.