SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – It’s a natural that former major league outfielder Billy Bean would get confused with A’s general manager Billy Beane.
But just imagine Beane and Bean – note the subtle difference in spelling – playing in the same outfield. It happened back in 1988, when they were teammates with Triple-A Toledo while in the Detroit Tigers’ organization.
One day they shared the outfield with Pete Rice.
“So we had a rice and beans outfield,” Bean pointed out with a smile.
Jokes aside, his visit to Hohokam Stadium on Thursday had a serious purpose. Since coming out as gay in 1999, four years after his major league playing career ended, Bean has become a trailblazer for a subject that’s still relatively taboo in professional baseball. In July, Bean was named MLB’s first Ambassador for Inclusion. He’s visiting spring training clubhouses, by invitation of individual teams, to address players on the idea of acceptance in general.
“I’m going to defend everyone’s right to be treated fairly and equitably in baseball, because I think it’s the right thing,” Bean said. “And I think baseball totally gets that responsibility.”
As for his former teammate, Bean remembers Beane, the A’s G.M., as someone whose personality stood out from other players even as a minor leaguer.
“Billy was a great character, even then,” Bean said. “Most guys in the minors are just so scared that they’re never gonna make it. He just had this great confidence about him, and it’s been fun to watch how he’s changed the sport.”
Bean said people mix him up with the A’s executive all the time because of their near identical names.
“Being away from the game, it’s funny, his name kind of kept mine attached to it in a very odd, ironic way I guess,” Bean said. “… It’s a good guy to be mixed up with.”
