William Daro Bean, aka Billy Bean, an American professional baseball player and MLB’s first Ambassador for Inclusion, recently passed away on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, amassing a significant net worth in millions.
Beginning his sports career at age 20, Billy Bean played college baseball on an athletic scholarship for the Loyola Marymount Lions team. He played in the 1986 College World Series with the Lions.
Likewise, Bean was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the fourth round of the 1986 MLB Draft and signed with them for $12,500. He made his MLB debut for the Tigers on April 25, 1987, and appeared in several minor leagues during the 1988 season.
The Tigers traded Billy Bean to the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 17, 1989. He played Minor League Baseball in the 1990 and 1991 seasons before playing for the Kintetsu Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball in 1992.
In 1993, Billy Bean signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres and was later promoted back to the major leagues. He played over 170 games for the Padres and retired from his professional baseball career after the 1995 season.
Regarding Billy Bean’s earnings from his professional baseball career, according to sources, the average annual salary of a baseball player in minor and major leagues ranges from $40,000 to $ 1.5 million annually.
Considering Billy Bean’s outstanding tenure of 8 years as a professional baseball player, he might have accumulated a significant income of around $2 million, including bonuses and compensations, which added to his net worth.
Billy Bean also amassed his income through his diverse career as a TV personality and writer
In addition to his baseball career, Billy Bean also appeared on several TV shows. He was a panelist on Game Show Network’s “I’ve Got a Secret” in 2006. He was also a board member of the Gay and Lesbian Athletics Foundation.
Similarly, Bean also appeared in a 2009 episode of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List and worked as a consultant for Scout Productions on the project with the Showtime network, “The Beard.”
We mourn the passing of our friend and former Padre, Billy Bean. He was a great ambassador for equality and inclusion in the game of baseball, and our thoughts are with his loved ones at this very difficult time. pic.twitter.com/D2sFHSVLhO
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 6, 2024
Billy Bean also starred in an MTV episode of Made and acted in the sitcom Fraiser. He appeared in the 2002 episode of the HBO series Arli$$, “Playing it Safe.“
In April 2003, Billy Bean released his memoir “Going the Other Way: Lessons from a Life in and out of Major League Baseball,” which has a market price of $8.71.
Furthermore, in June 2014, Billy Bean became the MLB Ambassador for Inclusion for two years before becoming the Vice President and Special Assistant to the Commissioner at MLB in 2017.
Before his demise, Billy Bean recently served as MLB’s Senior vice president for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Special Assistant to the Commissioner.
Considering all his income from his diverse career, Billy Bean’s estimated net worth was around $3 million at the time of his demise.
Many people have also mistaken Billy Bean for another former professional baseball player, Billy Beane, because of their similar names. However, it is essential to know that Billy Beane played for Oakland Athletics and is still alive.
Additionally, Oakland Athletics’ Billy Beane is a senior advisor to the principal owner of Oakland Athletics, John Fisher, and the subject of Michael Lewis’ 2003 book Moneyball, who has an estimated net worth of around $20 million.
Additional Information
- Billy Bean was offered a $55,000 signing bonus by the New York Yankees in 1985, but he chose to play for Loyola Marymount for his senior year. He earned a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Loyola Marymount University.
- He was born on May 11, 1964, in Santa Ana, California, to father Bill Bean and mother Linda Roberston. His parents met at Santa Ana High School; the couple separated when Billy was six months old, and his mother Linda married Ed Kovac, with whom she had five children.
- Billy married his college sweetheart at the age of 24 and later divorced after four years of marriage. He started dating his partner Sam, an Austria-raised Iranian immigrant in secret who passed away because of cardiac arrest from HIV-related complications.
- After retiring from baseball, Billy moved to Miami Beach, Florida, where his partner Efrain Veiga, the founder of Yuca restaurant, lived. The couple was together for 13 years before breaking up in July 2008. In 2023, Billy was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
