NEW YORK (AP) — Billy Bean, who grew to become the second former Main League Baseball participant to return out as homosexual in 1999 earlier than turning into the game’s senior vice chairman for range, fairness and inclusion, has died. He was 60.

MLB launched a press release confirming his demise. Bean died at dwelling on Tuesday after a yearlong battle with acute myeloid leukemia.

The California native performed in six huge league seasons from 1987 to 1995, making his debut with the Detroit Tigers in a four-hit efficiency that tied a document for a participant in his first recreation. He additionally performed for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. He was a two-time All-American outfielder at Loyola Marymount, main the staff to the NCAA Males’s Faculty World Sequence in 1986.

Bean wrote a e-book titled “Going the Different Approach” and was additionally a keynote speaker at many occasions. He publicly got here out as homosexual in 1999, the second former main leaguer to take action after Glenn Burke.

Bean joined the commissioner’s workplace in 2014, when he was employed by former Commissioner Bud Selig to be MLB’s first Ambassador for Inclusion. He spent greater than 10 years working for MLB, finally being promoted to senior vice chairman.

Bean labored with MLB golf equipment to “advance equality for all gamers, coaches, managers, umpires, staff, and stakeholders all through baseball to make sure an equitable, inclusive, and supportive office for everybody.”

“Our hearts are damaged at this time as we mourn our expensive good friend and colleague, Billy Bean, one of many kindest and most revered people I’ve ever recognized,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred stated in a press release. “Billy was a good friend to numerous individuals throughout our recreation, and he made a distinction by way of his fixed dedication to others.”