It's not a terrible mistake to make, but it is a notable one. A lot of people, in fact, mixed up their facts when it came to the death of former MLB player Billy Bean, who died Tuesday. Sports talk host Chris "Mad Dog" Russo was among them.
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Bean, 60, died of leukemia. He was baseball's second openly gay player and later became MLB senior vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion.
When announcing his death, some confused him with popular Oakland A's executive Billy Beane (who has the notable "e" at the end of his last name). That list included Russo. Beane, of course, was the subject of the book and movie Moneyball, portrayed by Brad Pitt in the 2011 film.
Russo, again, thought that was the Billy who died.
"The word that we're getting right now is that the general manager of the A's, Billy Beane, may have passed away," Russo said on his Mad Dog Unleashed show on Wednesday. "Wow. Was he ill? I wasn't aware of this. I mean, he's not that old. Geez. Was it sudden? We'll see if we can get some information. Wow. That is a terrible story. Billy Beane of the A's. I don't know anything about it. This is the first I've heard."
Beane, 62, does have a unique name, and it was quite a coincidence that there were two people with that name — as far as pronunciation goes — who made a name for themself at baseball's highest level. This Beane currently serves as A's senior advisor.
"So Billy Beane of the A's, now, had he taken a leave of absence in the last, whatever it might be? I didn't even know," Russo continued. "I'm sure his cohorts in the sport knew. You know, he's very close to Cashman so I'm sure Brian knew. I didn't know if anybody in baseball knew. I didn't hear any of this and I'm on the baseball channel every day or thereabouts. So, that's a terrible story of Billy Beane."
After about a minute and a half, Russo realized his mistake.
"Billy, who fought a heroic year-long battle with Acute Leukemia — uh — that's the wrong Billy Bean," Russo said. "That's not the Billy Beane from the A's."
Mad Dog Russo announces the death of former Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane, who is very much still alive.
It was "Billy Bean" who died. OOPS! pic.twitter.com/F7P5opCzuR
— Funhouse (@BackAftaThis) August 7, 2024
Honest mistake, and it was truly made by many.
Either way, RIP to the Billy Bean who passed. He too played an important role and will go down in MLB lore.
