Billy Bean - Definition and Overview

For the article on the current general manager of the Oakland Athletics, see: Billy Beane.

William Daro "Billy" Bean (born May 11, 1964 in Santa Ana, California) is a former Major League Baseball player who made news in 1999 when he acknowledged that he is gay.

Bean was a marginal outfielder who had only 487 at bats with a .226 batting average in a career that lasted from 1987 through 1995: Detroit Tigers 1987-89, Los Angeles Dodgers 1989, San Diego Padres 1993-95. After acknowledging that he is gay, Bean went on to write a book, "Going the Other Way: Lessons from a life in and out of Major League Baseball". Bean is the second former major league player to admit his homosexuality; former Dodger Glenn Burke, who died of AIDS in 1995, is the only other ex-player to have acknowledged his homosexuality.

External links

• Billy Bean.com (http://billybean.com/)
• Baseball-Reference.com (http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/beanbi01.shtml) - career statistics and analysis
• Baseball Library page (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/B/Bean_Billy.stm)