Billy Bean

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Jocks : True Stories of America's Gay Male Athletes by Dan Woog  

Find out what happens when the final closet door--that of men in sports--finally swings open. Is there life for gay athletes after coming out to their teammates? Journalist Dan Woog, himself an openly gay soccer coach, interviewed dozens of gay jocks and offers over 25 inspiring stories of men who are truly today's champions.

"Woog characterizes the athletic locker room as "the largest, dingiest, smelliest closet left in America." He then profiles several dozen men, many still quite young, who have helped dispel at least the closet part of that characterization. Each has acknowledged his homosexuality and, with one poignant exception ("The Suicidal Jock," still adjusting as a college junior), has come out to coaches and teammates, or, if a coach himself, to students. Woog writes vividly about them all, communicating the fulfillment they find in sports as well as the satisfaction they experience in being out. He depicts them as normally complex persons coping with normally complex life situations, one of which is not, however, being turned on by the sight of naked teammates. Besides plenty of soccer players (Woog has coached the sport for 20 years), swimmers, gymnasts, wrestlers, runners, basketballers, hockey players, and even an "impostor," who admits going out for junior-high sports to be near other boys, also appear, and Woog concludes with advice to coaches on dealing with homophobia." -- Ray Olson

The Real Billy Doll

by Jim Provenzano, Bay Area Reporter

Excerpt:

1st Base: What I Did For Love
On a hot August 11, 1993, with the bases loaded, Billy Bean hit a home run in the third inning of a home game against Houston. Despite his best efforts, pitcher Darryl Kile failed to strike out Bean, who aced a grand slam.

A former member of the San Diego Padres, Bean had a .415 average in 1994. This week he hit a home run, despite being retired. He came out in The Miami Herald.

The 35-year-old moved to Miami to be with his partner, Efrain Veiga, who runs a new restaurant called Mayya. Add that to your must-do list for Florida.

Padres World, "your source for everything Padres," fails to mention this, or that back in 1994, Bean had to play a crucial game after having watched his first partner die on a hospital gurney that morning from a burst pancreas.

The pain of telling no one on his team of the loss and grief he went through forced Bean to vow that, should he be lucky enough to find another man, he would quit baseball for love.

He did...

Billy Bean Baseball Statistics

From CNN

These are Billy Bean's Career Fielding and Batting Statistics.

He's out - finally: Former big-leaguer Billy Bean reveals he is gay

10/31/99

Miami Herald

Excerpt:

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - It's the end of another daily grind for Efrain Veiga, longtime restaurateur, and Billy Bean, former major league baseball player.

Just days from opening their new South Beach restaurant, Mayya, they're still nailing down dozens of details. They rarely have enough time to even walk the dog.

But with dusk approaching, Veiga and Bean clip a leash on Yuca, their over-appreciative weimaraner, and head down North Bay Road. They get just a few houses away, not as far as Ricky Martin's place, before they turn around and head back. When they get to their driveway, they turn around again and do another take...

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