Deadspin has compiled a “best of” tweets, but a short version: Williams wonders why there are so many gay people, fearing that “if everybody decided to be gay then the human population will be extinct.” He then calls gays an abomination based on the Bible, and says seeing “bold acts of gayness in public” offends him like seeing someone smoke crack. Oh, and he’s sorry if he offended anyone.

Here is Williams getting into a “discussion” with someone calling him out on his homophobia:

Williams first asked “Why are there so many gay n***** these days?” then changed it to people. In a story last year on Williams (then a Minnesota Twins prospect), one baseball scout called him “just a good human being.” It was not an April Fool’s story.

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The new collective bargaining agreement adds “sexual orientation” to its section on discrimination, a person with direct knowledge of the agreement told the Daily News.

Article XV, Section A of the MLB’s expiring Basic Agreement, in effect from 2006-2011, states: “The provisions of this Agreement shall be applied to all Players covered by this Agreement without regard to race, color, religion or national origin.”

In the new agreement, which will be made public Tuesday afternoon, the words “sexual orientation” will be added to the equivalent section.

This is terrific news and a no-brainer. Baseball now joins the NFL, NHL and Major League Soccer in having such policies. The NBA is in the middle of a lockout, but I would expect any settlement to include similar language.

Rafael McDonnell of the gay advocacy group Resource Center Dallas sent a letter to baseball officials in October advocating such a position. The letter gives a good overview of the contracts of all the major sports leagues (click PDF link below to read):

MLB CBA nondiscrimination

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I met Billy this weekend and we did a terrific interview where he talks about coming out and the regrets he has over not playing longer. He says that had he simply came out to his parents, he would have played two more years, but his fears prevented that. He now urges gay athletes to reach out to someone they trust, even if they are not ready for a wider coming out. His video echos that and is quite powerful (note: this is an updated video from the one posted a week ago):

Bean’s photo for the NoH8 campaign:

Resources:

• It Gets Better Project
• GLSEN sports project
• Outsports coming out stories

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The Billys: Bean and Beane

Billy Bean and Billy Beane could not be more different. Yet they also have a lot in common. For many people, though, confusion reigns.

I got this text a couple of days ago. “Hey Billy, I’m sitting here watching a movie called “Moneyball” with Brad Pitt. Is he you?” Sigh. Even my own friends are confused. No, I replied, the movie is about Billy Beane, not Billy Bean.

There’s no “e” at the end of my last name. That’s what I’ve always told them. It’s my auto response when people ask me if I’m the General Manager of the Oakland A’s baseball club. I’m not him, I’m the “other” Billy Bean, the only man alive who played Major League Baseball to acknowledge he’s gay.

The other Billy Beane just happened to be my teammate in 1988 when we both played for the Detroit Tigers Triple A team, called the Toledo Mud Hens.

From left: Billy Bean, Billy Beane and Brad Pitt as Billy Beane in "Moneyball"

I’ll never forget “that” Billy Beane. We both played in the outfield. I played center, he played left, and believe it or not, we had a right fielder named Pete Rice. Our outfield was coined “Rice and Bean’s.”

Beane struggled terribly through that season in our dismal ballpark on a last place team. On the field he seemed miserable, but in our clubhouse he was The Mayor. He would imitate Axl Rose to perfection when the hit song “Sweet Child of Mine” would play on MTV. He was “the ring leader of anarchy” among the players, and everybody loved him.

He was a smart minor league veteran who could rag players with the best of them. His crowning moment was an epic “soft shoe” performance one night while Frank Sinatra’s “New York New York” blared over the sound system during a rain delay in Buffalo. Our manager, Pat Corrales, seething with anger, seemed ready to release him right then and there (we were losing by at least 10 runs, and in last place), but the entire team was dying with laughter. It was Billy’s way of dealing with the disappointment of another bad season and a career that never happened the way it was supposed to happen for a “can’t miss” prospect drafted in the first round. It was his ninth year in professional baseball and my third.  I was still on the rise to the big leagues, full of hope. I hadn’t been damaged (yet) by disappointment, failed expectations and years of leaving my heart and soul on fields where few people were watching, and worse yet, a parent big league club that stopped looking.

We were both born in Southern California, both dark-haired, All-American looking boys who played QB in high school and taught to say all the right things. When I played for the San Diego Padres from 1993-95, at every home game people would yell from the stands, “Hey Billy, remember me from high school?” He went to Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego, where he was surely one of the all-time great high school athletes in that city’s history. I’d often be signing autographs after the game and someone would politely say, “I remember you from high school,” and I’d say, “I’m sorry that wasn’t me, you’re thinking of someone else, I went to Santa Ana High School about an hour north of here.” Sometimes it just seemed easier not to embarrass them, so I’d go along with it.

I thought our paths might never cross again until about 10 years ago, when the book “Moneyball” came out. People were always asking if the book was about me. I read the book immediately and enjoyed it, but it was a stinging reminder that I had left baseball way too early. I still missed the game very much. I was very happy for Billy and it didn’t surprise me at all that he had risen to the GM position at Oakland. He quit playing very young and got himself into a great situation, working for a forward-thinking executive named Sandy Alderson. I think Sandy was extremely influential shaping Billy’s well-documented approach to evaluating players.

I remember being told by Randy Smith, who was the general manager of the Padres my first two years there, that I had a future in San Diego’s front office whenever I was ready. It was a wonderful compliment, and to this day I often wonder what my life would be like had I chose that path. Maybe I would’ve been brave enough to come out as a part of the organization and blaze a trail that may have helped my community, but I was still uncomfortable with myself, too afraid to be a hero. When my partner Sam suddenly died right before the 1995 season, it changed me and I ultimately walked away from all of it. I gave up that front office opportunity the moment I acknowledged that I was gay. Baseball wasn’t ready for that issue 15 years ago (I’m hopeful that will soon change, but that’s for another article).

After the book “Moneyball” came and went, the questions went away, and the only times I thought about Billy Beane was when I would receive baseball cards in the mail to be signed for card-collecting fans. Inevitably, there would be four or five of my cards, and always one or two of his, even though our names were spelled differently. I was lefty, he was righty, he’s at least 6’3″ and I’m barely 6 feet tall. I would never sign his cards, but I would always send them back with a short note that said, “I’m sorry … this isn’t me, he’s the other one.”

At the time, as I was becoming more and more recognized as a member of the LGBT community, I was sure that Billy was getting the short end of the stick. It was OK for me to be confused with a general manager of a Major League Baseball team, but I wasn’t so sure how he felt about people thinking that he was “the gay baseball player.” He’s a straight Republican, who’s married with kids, and I’m a gay Democrat with two Jack Russell Terriers. To make matters worse for him, my book, “Going the Other Way: Lesson’s From a Life in and out of Major League Baseball” came out in the summer of 2003. It spread through the sports world pretty quickly. It’s the one topic that catches every athlete’s attention, and not always in a good way. However, I have to say that the reaction to my book by players was mostly supportive. I was told that Billy was constantly receiving my cards for him to sign. The LGBT community in San Francisco and Oakland area was hopeful, but ultimately disappointed that I was not him.

My book rights were quickly purchased by the Showtime Network and news spread that a film was being made. The screenplay was written, and then the fun game of “who’s going to play Billy Bean?” began. I’ve been asked that question so many times that I’ve lost count, and truth be told, I was pretty anxious to find out as well. I have learned that patience is a virtue when waiting for a film to be made. Promises mean very little, and feelings get hurt often. I read that “Moneyball” has taken more than eight years to come to the silver screen, so I’ll keep waiting for my turn.

Last year, when news that the film “Moneyball” was finally happening and none other than Brad Pitt had agreed to play “Billy Beane,” it sent a wave of enthusiasm through  sports fans in the LGBT community. An avalanche of questions came my way via Facebook, e-mails, and texts, asking me how it felt to have Brad Pitt playing me in a movie. Was I excited? Many people were asking if I had met him, and what was he like? I mean, really, if anyone could pick one man on earth to play himself in a movie, Brad Pitt is the guy.

I truly wish I could have answered all of those questions, but I don’t know how it feels. Sadly, I only know how it feels to have Brad Pitt playing someone with my name, about baseball, but NOT me, in a wildly successful major motion picture. Is that surreal or what? Honestly, the feeling sucks. It’s like being told you’ve won the lottery, but then finding out that you really didn’t, because you only have the first four numbers right, but you need five to win it all.

The movie is amazing and you should go see it. One of Hollywood’s greatest writers, Aaron Sorkin wrote it, and I’m sure that Brad Pitt will finally win an Oscar for Best Actor. Not because he’s long overdue for his profession’s crowning achievement, but because it will cement my fate of having to answer this question for the rest of my life and say, no it’s not me….it’s the “other” Billy Bean(e).

Truth is, I don’t really mind the questions at all. I’m happy for Billy Beane, and his movie, but I wouldn’t trade places with him for all the money in Major League Baseball.  My friends, my family, my community. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.

Billy Bean — the one who wrote this article, not the other one — can be reached via email: billybean11@aol.com. Bean’s coming out made Outsports’ list of 100 greatest gay sports moments.

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Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history.

Baseball, 1999: A restaurant review in the Miami Herald changed Billy Bean’s life. The article, in an oh-by-the-way fashion, mentioned that Bean and his partner in the restaurant were also partners in life. The item caught the attention of the New York Times, which then did a front page article on Bean, making him a national story and spawning numerous TV and speaking appearances.

Twelve years later, Bean still has regrets about how his Major League Baseball career ended after six seasons in 1995. He says that while he loves baseball, he has a hard time watching it without thinking back on his career. I spoke with him for this story and he reflected about how his fears about being outed led him to prematurely retire.

If I had only told my parents, I probably would have played two or three more years and understood that I could come out a step at a time, not have to do it in front of a microphone. And I was completely misguided. I had no mentor. I think that’s where the responsibility comes in for people who have lived that experience, and we take for granted that everybody’s adjusted and gets it. I had no one to confide in and that was the biggest mistake of my professional life was to think that if one person knew, everybody knew.

Just having some kind of ally at that time, I think I would have changed and I think I would have played so much better. You can appreciate the degree of despair when you’re hiding something and you’re on the bubble as it is. It just was a really frustrating time for me.

After he came out, the response was nothing but positive and Bean became a sought-after speaker and activist. But one conversation post-coming out with a former teammate was unsettling.

I thought about telling [teammate] Brad Ausmus, and after I came out he said, ‘I can’t believe you didn’t trust me to tell me.’ It was very emotional. We were buddies. We roomed together for two years and he’s a great guy. But I was so uncomfortable with it personally. I think that’s one of the things people don’t understand about athletes that might be gay is that they’re athletes more than they are gay at that point in their life. It was a terrifying and really disappointing realization about myself. I didn’t embrace it. I had sort of angry sex the first few times I played around with guys. It was a naïve unplanned … I just felt like I was driving into a tunnel with my lights out. I had no idea where I was going with it. I was just drawn to this sexuality part and curious but I felt I was dooming myself with my career.

Bean retired before cellphones and the Internet were part of our lives, which made him feel disconnected and isolated. When his lover Sam died, Bean — then with the San Diego Padres — felt he could tell no one and kept his grief to himself. He even went and played a game that day, something unthinkable for a straight player who lost his wife.

Bean has had some struggles since his coming out. The restaurant he and his then-partner Efrain owned went bankrupt in 2000 and Bean turned to selling real estate in Miami. “Not only was I being portrayed as this wealthy ex-big leaguer, I was hustling like nobody’s business in real estate to pay our bills. It was a lot of pressure,” he said.

He also wrote a terrific book, “Going the Other Way” in 2003 to counter some negative reaction he was getting, including from Outsports, for how he was addressing the issue of whether players should come out.

A of lot bloggers in the community are unforgiving to the varying degrees of self-acceptance and self-awareness. It’s easy to judge. I think I got ripped on Outsports for endorsing people to stay in the closet, which was the furthest things from the truth. That was the impetus for me writing my book.

I was so upset because a lot of people thought I was parading around like I was the hero and I never said that. In my book, I said I was a coward. I said the people who are the heroes are those in junior high school in middle America when they’re 15 and they tell the truth then. I was being sort of categorize as someone running around trying to make a living off of gay people, which never happened.”

Bean, though, says he can understand the pressures that keep a pro athlete closeted or leery of publicly associating with gay people and brought up an anecdote involving Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees, with whom Bean helped look for real estate.

I spent a lot of time with Alex Rodriguez when he was married to Cynthia and the truth is, is that if you’re seen with me and you are a jock, you will be accused of being gay. Us being out together, it is a risk. So I always told Alex you better bring your wife or your buddy. Alex is very comfortable being out with me.

One of the things I found quite ironic about my place in the sports world, from what I hear, everyone knows who I am. Maybe 1 percent of the people read my book. I’m the gay baseball player. That’s it.

Bean, 47, is thinking about a life change and is considering leaving south Florida for Los Angeles, where he could be closer to his family (he was born and raised in Orange County, Calif.). He has been out of the spotlight for the last few years dealing with his breakup with Efrain, but has started to become more visible by using social media. One passion is writing and I encouraged him to start a blog. Bean is a sports pioneer and still has a relevant voice.

I feel like I’m reconnecting. But I feel I’m missing out in what I’m supposed to be doing. There’s not enough of the type of voices that I think I have.

Related: Bean’s video for the It Gets Better project.

For more information

• New York Times coming out story on Bean
• Billy Bean’s book hits a home run
• Excerpts from Bean’s book

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Mets players were reluctant to speak publicly about the issue. Still, the news from Albany led to considerable clubhouse discussion, and one player who supports same-sex marriage estimated that the team was “split 50-50.” Several players cited religious objections to homosexuality, while others disagreed, and argued that all Americans should see their love officially recognized.

… Most players felt the professional sports locker room might not be ready to fully accept an openly gay athlete. Asked why this was, one Met said, “Most of us are still Neanderthals.”

Actually, 50-50 pretty much mirrors where the country is on the issue, if you believe all the latest polling data. Given the perception that many athletes are “Neanderthals,” I would have thought the split would have been higher against gay marriage.

The day before, Martino quoted former Met player and now announcer Ron Darling as saying it was “joyous” by what happened in New York:

“I immediately called my wife as soon as I heard,” said Darling, who long ago made the city his adopted home and now works as a broadcaster for the team. “I’m joyous. Excited. I can’t wait to hear if my friends are going to take the plunge, and I’m anticipating going to many marriages.”

Darling’s reaction mirrored that in the gay community. “Joyous” is about the best word to describe what happened Friday night.

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Opening Day 2011 has arrived!

In an attempt not to have baseball played in November again, the 2011 season began a few days earlier than in seasons past. So I had no choice but to blow off work, buy some hot dogs & beer, and settle onto my couch and begin the journey of a 162-game Major League Baseball season.

The Braves, Yankees, Reds, Angels, Padres, and Dodgers all won on Opening Day while the Nationals, Tigers, Brewers, Royals, Cardinals, and Giants lost. It is hard to put value on these first games because the season is so long but some of these teams might look back to the results of  Opening Day if their playoff chances are decided by one game or less.

Many dramas will be unfolding over the course of the next seven months and I would like to highlight some that I find most interesting…

Battle for the NL East: Almost everyone in the world is picking the Phillies to take their division and easily make it to the World Series, with good reason because of the phenomenal four in their starting rotation of Halliday, Lee, Hamels, and Oswalt…WOW! However, the 2010 Wild Card winning Braves have a pretty impressive four of their own in Lowe, Hudson, Hanson, and Jurrjens. The Braves might just have the edge because of their superior bullpen.

Three team race for the AL East: Boston looks to be the favorite here because of their acquisitions of Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, and Bobby Jenks. The Yankees are never out of the conversation because of the big talent, big money players always on their roster. The Yanks starting rotation is questionable other than Sabathia but the impressive back end of their bullpen of Joba and Mariano just got better with the addition of  Rafael Soriano. The Rays lost some valuable players but they also gained some potentially potent offensive players in Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon but is it enough to repeat as winners of this tough division.

How the NL West will be won: Can the World Series Champion San Fransisco Giants repeat their success of 2010? Their pitching is still great but the Giants did not make any significant off season moves while the Padres made great improvements even after losing Adrian Gonzalez by adding Bartlett, Hudson, Hawpe, and Maybin. The Dodgers have much to prove after a very disappointing 2010 but the maturation of their pitching staff and improved health of their offense could actually make them contenders for the NL West.

There are many more teams and many more stories that will factor into this season but I think the 2011 World Series participants will most likely come from the above mentioned divisions. However, anything can happen from day 1 to day 162 and the three divisions not mentioned might be more involved in the post season picture than I have envisioned. Naaah, probably not.

Low and inside.

Kevin Hart writes the myboyfriendlikesbaseball blog.

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Just a week or so ago, most people were probably imagining a rematch of last year’s Fall Classic participants,  the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies.  Alas, both teams failed to win there respective leagues and instead the uncanny San Francisco Giants and the resilient Texas Rangers are facing off in the 2010 World Series.

Fans of the Giants and Rangers never doubted that their teams would be playing for baseball’s ultimate crown just as I’m sure fans of the Phillies and Yankees never imagined that their teams would not. I will not mention the team I would prefer to be watching chop their way to another championship title but instead will thoroughly enjoy watching two very deserving teams compete for their first World Series title  (New York Giants not included).

Unfortunately, because of the extreme length of the baseball season and the distractions of both college and professional football, the start of the NBA and the NHL,  sports fans have grown tired of baseball. Add to that the fact that the two popularity contest winning teams are not present, a lot of people aren’t going to watch the World Series and will miss some great baseball drama unfold.

FOX, which is broadcasting the series, probably would have preferred a Phils/Yanks rematch but I for one think it is better for the sport that those two teams are watching instead of playing. The 2010 World Series proves you do not have the biggest payroll or a team full of smug superstars in order to be competitive in Major League Baseball. Those things help but it is harder to earn a championship than it is to buy one.

Low and inside,

Kevin Hart

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The Bear vs. The Twink: What better drama than Roy Halladay, the seasoned veteran and only second pitcher in history to pitch a no-hitter during the post season, versus 26 year old, long-haired, 5’11″ 170 pound Tim Lincecum, who struck out 14 batters in his first post season apperance. By the way, it was also Roy’s first post season appearance. The start of the National League Division Series should be an impressive duel between these two guys.

The Big Chocolate Bunny vs. The Hottie: 21 game winning C.C.Sabathia  will take the mound with his 6’7″ 290 pound presence and overpowering stuff, while bullpener turned starter C.J.Wilson will try to continue his surprising yet dominant ways. Even with these two great starters going at it, the American League Division Series will have balls flying all over the place and should be pretty entertaining.

Wow! Those are just the first games!

More to come…

Low and inside,

Kevin Hart

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Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies was masterful in pitching a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds in Game 1 of their National League playoff series. The Phillies won, 4-0.

Only a fifth-inning walk kept Halladay from matching Larsen. Not bad for his first postseason start. Halladay had a perfect game earlier this year and is the first pitcher since Nolan Ryan in 1973 to have two no-hitters in the same season. It was fun watching history made in Philadelphia.

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