1964-05-11

Baseball player BILLY BEAN was born on this date. Born William Daro Bean, the former Major League Baseball player made news in 1999 when he made his homosexuality public. Bean was an outfielder, 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 also played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes in Japan in 1992. 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; the late Los Angeles Dodger and Oakland Athletic Glenn Burke is the only other ex-player to have acknowledged his homosexuality. 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.