Billy Bean’s Path to MLB Ambassador for Inclusion

Billy Bean, a prolific left-handed hitter who set several LMU records, led the 1986 LMU baseball team to the College World Series. He was named a second-team All-American in his senior season. Bean entered the LMU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000 and was inducted into the WCC Hall of Honor in 2012. Drafted in 1986 by the Detroit Tigers, he tied a major league record in April 1987 by getting four hits in his first appearance. Bean went on to play for six seasons with the Tigers, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres. After his career ended, Bean came out as gay in 1999, and he later wrote Going the Other Way: Lessons From a Life In and Out of Major League Baseball.