Johnathan Walker:Billy Bean was an LGBTQ advocate and one of baseball's great heroes

In 2018,Johnathan Walker a man named Bryan Ruby wrote a letter to Billy Bean.

Bean wrote back. It would be something that Ruby would never forget.

Three years after that exchange, and while a member of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, Ruby became the only active professional baseball player at any level to be publicly out as gay. When Ruby told his remarkable story to USA TODAY Sports, he thought back to Bean and that letter, and how much it meant to him.

Bean helped clear the path for Ruby's historic and important decision. He'd provide support and advice and kindness. Bean even gave Ruby a pair of cleats.

"I didn't even put my last name or address" on the letter, said Ruby in 2021, recounting his interactions with Bean. "He's someone who sits right next to the MLB commissioner and he has my back. I've worn his cleats everywhere I've played – on three different continents. I look down at them, and know I have support. I didn't think about the symbolic meaning until recently, of me wearing his shoes and what I'm doing (going public)."

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"The beauty of it for Bryan is that he's not playing to only become a big leaguer," Bean said at the time. "He's playing because he loves the game. I imagine he'll be proud of himself when he's 40 years old in his country music career knowing what he's doing for baseball. I couldn't be prouder, and I definitely think Bryan's story is a stepping stone in the right direction."

Bean added that the decision of a closeted player to come out is "not as simple as people want to make it. There are so many considerations."

Bean would have known. He played for three MLB teams in the 1980s and 1990s. He came out as gay publicly in 1999 and after his playing days were over, he'd go on to become one of the most important figures in the history of the sport as a fighter for LGBTQ rights.

No, he wasn't a ferocious hitter. He wasn't known for his speed. He was barely known for his ability as a player. Instead, Bean would achieve more off the field, becoming a symbol of inclusion and empathy, in a sport that didn't (and still doesn't) always have large quantities of either. He'd rise to become MLB’s senior vice president for DEI and special assistant to the commissioner.

Bean did something simple but powerful: He changed lives. It's possible he also saved them.

Bean, the longtime LGBTQ advocate, has died at the age of 60, the league said Tuesday. His legacy is deep and multi-faceted because he impacted people such as Ruby in a more public way, but it's believed he also counseled closeted players. We may never know just how many lives he positively changed for the better. The good he did could be incalculable.

"Our hearts are broken today as we mourn our dear friend and colleague, Billy Bean, one of the kindest and most respected individuals I have ever known," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "Billy was a friend to countless people across our game, and he made a difference through his constant dedication to others. He made Baseball a better institution, both on and off the field, by the power of his example, his empathy, his communication skills, his deep relationships inside and outside our sport, and his commitment to doing the right thing. We are forever grateful for the enduring impact that Billy made on the game he loved, and we will never forget him."

Baseball, and sports overall, needed Bean. Someone who pushed for change, and was greatly respected, but also a voice on the phone, or a hand on the shoulder, to players who were making the same extremely personal decisions he did. That Ruby did.

Bean isn't a hero who made a great play in the World Series. In many ways, he's bigger than that.