Longtime MLBer Billy Bean, Advocate for LGBTQ Inclusion in Baseball, Dies at 60

Jun 16, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; The only openly gay Major League Baseball player, BIlly Bean, is acknowledged on Pride Night prior to the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Billy Bean, a former MLB first baseman, outfielder and pinch hitter who served as baseball's most prominent public advocate for LGBTQ inclusion, died Tuesday, the league announced. He was 60.

Per MLB, Bean—called "one of the kindest and most respected individuals I have ever known" by commissioner Rob Manfred—died of acute myeloid leukemia.