Entertainment - MLB Icon Billy Bean Dies Aged 60 After Leukemia Battle | Revry

Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Senior Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Billy Bean has passed away, aged 60. Bean, who became only the second MLB player ever to publicly come out as gay, had been battling acute myeloid leukemia for the past year. “Our hearts are broken today as we mourn our dear friend and colleague, Billy Bean, one of the kindest and most respected individuals I have ever known. We are forever grateful for the enduring impact that Billy made on the game he loved," said Rob Manfred, MLB Commissioner. Bean was selected out of LMU by the Detroit Tigers in the fourth round of the 1986 MLB draft before making it to the big leagues a year later. The California native was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1989 before spending a year in Japan with the Kintetsu Buffaloes in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. Bean was able to reignite his baseball career in Asia and returned to the US and played with the San Diego Padres from 1993 to 1995.