MLB executive Billy Bean, who was the MLB's Senior Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, died at age 60 after a battle with leukemia, the league announced Tuesday. Bean, one of the first openly gay baseball players in MLB, was diagnosed with leukemia last December.
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.
— MLB (@MLB) August 6, 2024
Over the last 10 years,… pic.twitter.com/dCfFM6hQlE
In a statement, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred called Bean "one of the kindest and most respected individuals I have ever known."
"He made Baseball a better institution, both on and off the field, by the power of his example, his empathy, his communication skills, his deep relationships inside and outside our sport, and his commitment to doing the right thing," Manfred wrote.
Commisioner Rob Manfred on the passing of Billy Bean, MLB’s Senior Vice President for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Special Assistant to the Commissioner: pic.twitter.com/OPAGgpxRab
— Jessica Kleinschmidt (@KleinschmidtJD) August 6, 2024
A former outfield, Bean played for three MLB teams across eight years, finishing with the San Diego Padres from 1993 to 1995. Bean came out publicly as gay in 1999, becoming the second player to do so.
