Billy Bean
Encyclopedia
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 made his homosexuality
public.
, and left-handed hitter, with 487 at bats with a .226 batting average
in a career that lasted from 1987 through 1995: Detroit Tigers
1987-1989, Los Angeles Dodgers
1989, San Diego Padres
1993-1995. He played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes
in Japan in . Bean tied a major league record with four hits in his first major league game.
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 only the second former major league player to reveal his homosexuality. Los Angeles Dodger and Oakland Athletic
Glenn Burke
is the only other ex-player to have acknowledged his homosexuality.
's I've Got A Secret
revival in 2006, and is a board member of the Gay and Lesbian Athletics Foundation
.
In the summer of 2007, it was announced that he had been hired as a consultant by Scout Productions, the team of David Collins and Michael Williams, who produced Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, for their next project with Showtime entitled The Beard. The project is a romantic comedy about a gay professional baseball player who enters into a relationship with a woman in order to survive in the sports world.
Bean starred in a MTV
episode of Made
, he was an actor in an episode of the sitcom Frasier
and appeared as himself on the HBO series Arli$$ in the 2002 episode "Playing it Safe".
. For 13 years, Bean was the partner of Efrain Viega, the founder of Yuca restaurant in Miami. They broke up in July 2008.
Bean lives in Miami, Florida
and sells real estate. He appeared in a 2009 episode of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
, showing Griffin several homes.
Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana is the county seat and second most populous city in Orange County, California, and with a population of 324,528 at the 2010 census, Santa Ana is the 57th-most populous city in the United States....
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
) is a former Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
player who made news in 1999 when he made his homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
public.
Career
Bean was an outfielderOutfielder
Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...
, and left-handed hitter, with 487 at bats with a .226 batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
in a career that lasted from 1987 through 1995: Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
1987-1989, Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
1989, San Diego Padres
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times...
1993-1995. He played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes
Kintetsu Buffaloes
The was a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Osaka, Japan, which were in the Pacific League. The team was owned by Kinki Nippon Railway Co. and later sold to the Orix Group, the owner of the Orix BlueWave baseball team, in 2004...
in Japan in . Bean tied a major league record with four hits in his first major league game.
After acknowledging that he is gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, Bean went on to write a book, Going the Other Way: Lessons from a Life in and out of Major League Baseball.
Bean is only the second former major league player to reveal his homosexuality. Los Angeles Dodger and Oakland Athletic
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
Glenn Burke
Glenn Burke
Glenn Lawrence Burke was a Major League Baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics from 1976 to 1979....
is the only other ex-player to have acknowledged his homosexuality.
Appearances
He was a panelist on GSNGame Show Network
The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
's I've Got A Secret
I've Got a Secret
I've Got a Secret is a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?...
revival in 2006, and is a board member of the Gay and Lesbian Athletics Foundation
Gay and Lesbian Athletics Foundation
The Gay and Lesbian Athletics Foundation or GLAF is a non-profit organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its purpose is to increase acceptance and visibility of LGBT athletes in the professional, amateur, and recreational athletics communities....
.
In the summer of 2007, it was announced that he had been hired as a consultant by Scout Productions, the team of David Collins and Michael Williams, who produced Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, for their next project with Showtime entitled The Beard. The project is a romantic comedy about a gay professional baseball player who enters into a relationship with a woman in order to survive in the sports world.
Bean starred in a MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
episode of Made
Made (TV series)
MTV's MADE is a self-improvement reality television series broadcast on MTV. The series follows teens who have a goal and want to be "made" into things like singers, athletes, dancers, skateboarders, etc. The teens are joined by a "Made Coach", an expert in their chosen field, who tries to help...
, he was an actor in an episode of the sitcom Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
and appeared as himself on the HBO series Arli$$ in the 2002 episode "Playing it Safe".
Personal life
He attended Santa Ana High SchoolSanta Ana High School
Santa Ana High School is the oldest and largest high school in Orange County, California, United States. The school was established in 1889.-Notable alumni:*Beverly Bivens, singer with the 1960s band We Five*Gerald P...
. For 13 years, Bean was the partner of Efrain Viega, the founder of Yuca restaurant in Miami. They broke up in July 2008.
Bean lives in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
and sells real estate. He appeared in a 2009 episode of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List is a reality show starring Kathy Griffin. The series aired on Bravo. It debuted in August 2005, and was cancelled in November 2010....
, showing Griffin several homes.