Going the Other Way – Billy Bean

No, not Billy Beane. Today’s Book Club is a bit of a throw back as we feature Going the Other Way: An Intimate Memoir of Life In and Out of Major League Baseball by Billy Bean with Chris Bull from 2003. While the story is a bit old, it never really made the mainstream at the time, but it has been more recently as Bean was named MLB ambassador for inclusion prior to the 2015 season.

There are literally thousands of players who have had a career similar to Bean (Bill Bean on baseball-reference), an up and down affair from when he was drafted in 1986 to when he retired in 1995, playing with nine different Major and minor league teams. In his six MLB seasons, mostly as a reserve outfielder, he batted .226/.266/.308 with five home runs and three steals in 272 games. While the story of a struggling player does have interest, that is not alone to warrant every single one to write about it. What makes Bean’s case different is, spoiler alert, he’s gay.

Baseball being the boys club it is, Bean was unable to come out as gay during his career for fear that something similar, but likely worse than what actually did happen in Spring Training with the Mets would have happened during his playing career. Daniel Murphy‘s opinions caused controversy when he made them, but things were very different in the late 80’s and the Seinfeld, “not that there’s anything wrong with it” 90’s. If such a talented player as Barry Bonds could be colluded against simply because teams were afraid of the stigma he would bring, I have no question that Bean could easily have been blackballed for simply being gay.

Had he been able to come out earlier in life, the book would still be of interest, but because he was unable, it becomes a near tragic story. Bean takes you into his life, dealing with not only the pressures of becoming a Major League player without the talent to be an All-Star, but missing out on the camaraderie with his other players and having to deal with personal tragedy without any outside support.

The information is likely out there, but I would really recommend every baseball fan read this book, so I won’t ruin what I consider the primary story line. Suffice it to say that Bean does have a serious tragedy he has to deal with that he can’t go to anyone to help and largely can’t even admit exists. He shows an incredible strength of character getting through this and many other difficult situations without ever giving up on his Major League dreams.

While nothing should be taken away from others who broke baseball’s unwritten, but well known barriers, such as Louis Sockalexis, Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby, Bean broke a barrier while no one knew he was doing it. This lead to less on-the-field hardship, but more internal strife as he was the only one who knew his secret. Bean had to hide the secret of his sexual preference like certain NFL players have tried to hide the times they beat their wives or literally killed someone. Current Major Leaguers hide PED use at the risk of long suspensions, but in all these scenarios, the player is either cheating or participating in incredibly amoral activity. Bean was just living his life, not hurting anyone else or cheating the game and yet faced, at least a perceived, threat that he would get a life-time ban for his lifestyle.

As said, the times have changed, but people still have to face extreme discrimination based only on their gender of preference. Despite now being the ambassador of inclusion, I would expect that the majority of those involved in professional baseball feel the same as Murphy, if not more extremely so. We have already seen the kind of reaction caused when a gay football player, Michael Sam, was drafted into the NFL and given no real chance by the Rams before getting cut. Whether this was due to talent or more likely, the kind of black-balling that Bean expected, professional sports still have a long way to go in joining the current century.

If you are a fan of baseball in any manner or simply care about social justice, read this book. Do so with an open mind and you may even realize that a person is still a person, no matter their sexual preference.