Former Dodgers outfielder Billy Bean, who made historical past in retirement as Main League Baseball’s first Senior VP for Range, Fairness & Inclusion, has died, the league introduced. He was 60.
MLB mentioned in an announcement Tuesday that Bean fought “a heroic year-long battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.”
Bean performed for 3 groups over elements of six main league seasons (1987-95), together with the Dodgers for 51 video games in 1989. He got here out as homosexual after retiring as a participant, and have become a vocal advocate for athletes within the LGBTQ+ group.
Primarily an outfielder in his profession with the Dodgers, Detroit Tigers (1987-89), and San Diego Padres (1993-95), Beane hit .226 with 5 dwelling runs and 53 RBIs in 272 video games.
With the Dodgers, he hit .197/.250/.254 whereas seeing time in any respect three outfield positions after ending the 1989 season in Los Angeles. The Dodgers acquired Bean from the Tigers in a commerce for 2 minor league gamers, Steve Inexperienced and Domingo Michel, neither of whom reached the key leagues.
“Our hearts are damaged at the moment as we mourn our expensive pal and colleague, Billy Bean, one of many kindest and most revered people I’ve ever identified,” commissioner Rob Manfred mentioned in an announcement. “Billy was a pal to numerous individuals throughout our sport, and he made a distinction by way of his fixed dedication to others. He made Baseball a greater establishment, each on and off the sector, by the ability of his instance, his empathy, his communication abilities, his deep relationships inside and outdoors our sport, and his dedication to doing the fitting factor. We’re without end grateful for the enduring impression that Billy made on the sport he beloved, and we are going to always remember him.
“On behalf of Main League Baseball, I prolong my deepest condolences to Billy’s husband, Greg Baker, and their total household.”
Bean was a daily presence at Dodger Stadium and different main league parks on the event of Delight Evening, spreading a message of inclusivity on the league’s behalf.
In an interview with the Miami Herald in 1999, Bean grew to become the second MLB participant ever to return out as homosexual.
“I went to Hooters, laughed on the jokes, lied about dates as a result of I beloved baseball,” Bean informed the Related Press in a 1999 interview. “I nonetheless do. I’d return in a minute. I solely want that I hadn’t felt so alone, that I might have informed somebody, and that I hadn’t at all times felt God was going to strike me lifeless.”
In a 2015 interview, he mentioned the game had change into a extra inclusive place since his retirement.
“The gamers for the primary time are seeing a special ideology then once I was taking part in,” Bean informed the Los Angeles Every day Information. “Once I was taking part in, the opposite gamers talked about gays and lesbians, it wasn’t one thing you’d put in public press.”
In 2000, for instance, Dodger Stadium safety guards requested a lesbian couple to depart the park in response to a fan’s criticism that the 2 had kissed after a house run. The workforce issued a public apology to the couple and donated 5,000 tickets to homosexual and lesbian organizations.
At present, 29 of the 30 MLB groups rejoice some model of a “Delight Evening” to welcome the LGBTQ+ group to the ballpark.
Bean joined MLB’s entrance workplace July 14, 2014, first as then-Commissioner Bud Selig’s Ambassador for Inclusion. As a senior advisor to Commissioner Manfred, Bean’s position targeted on participant training, LGBTQ inclusion, and social justice initiatives, based on MLB’s launch.
Earlier than he was drafted by the New York Yankees in 1985, and the Tigers in 1986, Bean was a two-time All-American outfielder at Loyola Marymount College. In keeping with MLB, he graduated from LMU with a level in Enterprise Administration, and the valedictorian of his graduating class at Santa Ana Excessive Faculty.
Picture Credit score: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports activities
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