Former Major League Baseball player and executive Billy Bean has died at age 60.
MLB released a statement confirming his death, indicating he died at home on Tuesday after a yearlong fight with acute myeloid leukemia.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of our friend and colleague Billy Bean, MLB’s Senior VP for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and Special Assistant to the Commissioner,” MLB wrote on X. “Over the last 10 years, Billy worked passionately and tirelessly with MLB and all 30 Clubs, focusing on player education, LGBTQ inclusion, and social justice initiatives to advance equality in the game for all.”
We are deeply saddened by the passing of our friend and colleague Billy Bean, MLB’s Senior VP for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and Special Assistant to the Commissioner. Billy, who fought a heroic year-long battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, was 60.
Over the last 10 years,… pic.twitter.com/dCfFM6hQlE
— MLB (@MLB) August 6, 2024
“Commissioner Rob Manfred called Billy ‘one of the kindest and most respected individuals I have ever known’ and someone who ‘made Baseball a better institution, both on and off the field,’” the post concluded.
The former baseball player — whose teams included the Detroit Tigers, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the San Diego Padres — was the second former MLB player to come out as gay in 1999 before becoming the sport’s senior vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
In 1999, The New York Times noted he was the “first major league baseball player to publicly discuss his homosexuality to this extent” when he came out as a member of the LGBTQ community.
