Baseball

d his partner to the closest hospital, but changed course after recalling that he had recently appeared at the local hospital as a member of the Padres. Fearing that he would be outed, Bean drove an extra thirty minutes to a different hospital in a different direction.[24] The next morning, Sam died of a cardiac arrest from AIDS-related complications. Their homosexual relationship was guardedly private, and Bean did not attend Sam's public funeral. [5][25]

Bean retired after 1995 MLB season,[26] and gradually came out as gay to his parents and friends.[27] He came out publicly to Lydia Martin of the Miami Herald in 1999, becoming the second Major League Baseball player to publicly come out as gay; Glenn Burke was the first to come out to his teammates and employers during his playing days but did not come out to the public at large until his career was over.[5] Following Burke's death in 1995, Bean became close with Burke's family.[28]

After leaving baseball, Bean moved to Miami Beach, Florida, to be with his partner Efrain Veiga, the founder of Yuca restaurant in Miami. Bean and Veiga were together for 13 years, breaking up in July 2008.[29][30]

In 2003, Bean released a memoir titled Going the Other Way: Lessons from a Life in and out of Major League Baseball.[31][32]

Bean was appointed MLB's first "Ambassador for Inclusion" on July 15, 2014.[33] In this role, Bean counseled David Denson, who became the first minor league player signed to an MLB organization to come out as gay.[34] He later became the league's senior vice president for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.[28]

Bean was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2023. He died on August 6, 2024.[35]