Going the Other Way: Lessons from a Life In and Out of Major League Baseball

From Publishers Weekly
Bean, who was an outfielder for teams including the Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres from 1987 to 1995, was the antithesis of the stereotypical jock: he was valedictorian of his high school; he went to a Catholic university; talk of sexual exploits made him uncomfortable; and he became involved with a woman who "fit the image he created" about the proper partner for a "baseball star." Though he was happy with Anna, "it dawned on me that I didn't share my teammates' intense attraction to the opposite sex. There was always something missing, and I felt a restlessness I couldn't quite define or shake. At the same time, I couldn't fathom the alternative." Bean went on to play in the major leagues, although, after modest initial successes, he drifted in and out of the minors. Along the way, he married Anna, in spite of his concerns about his sexual identity: "I hoped that by making my marriage a priority, I could get beyond the 'gay thing.'" He didn't. He and Anna divorced, and Bean set up house with his first companion until the man died of AIDS. Bean didn't attend the funeral because he didn't want to miss a game or explain his relationship. Not long after, Bean was called back to the major leagues. It was only then, as he prepared to retire from baseball, that he told his parents that he was gay. With relatively few coming-out tales from the baseball world, this book's novelty will attract some readers. It is intelligently written and Bean's concerns about his sexuality are well conveyed. On the other hand, Bean, who is now happily living and working with his partner in Miami Beach, hasn't played for nearly eight years; the sex lives of other more prominent players have been widely discussed in the press; and Bean's revelations are not nearly as controversial as they might have been some years ago. While the book does offer an interesting portrait of the less glamorous side of baseball, particularly the humiliation of being sent to the minor leagues, its appeal may be somewhat limited. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
During 10 years with the Tigers, Dodgers, and Padres, Bean was a good player but no star. He would have faded into obscurity except for his casual disclosure three years after retirement that he is gay. Especially because the ill-starred Glenn Burke died in 1995, the revelation made Bean the out baseball player. How he, the only child of an abandoned working-class mom, arrived at that status is the story he tells with oral immediacy and winning personality in this memoir. Sports claimed him long before homosexuality did, and his love of baseball gives the book its powerful charm. He realized his homosexuality in adulthood and came to see baseball's milieu as oppressive only after his first lover died and he felt obliged not to talk about his loss. If he now advocates dispelling homophobia in baseball and athletics generally, he doesn't rail against old teammates and managers. His testimony is as much a tribute to baseball as it is an argument for accepting gays, and better for that. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Sports Illustrated
"[Billy Bean’s] passionate memoir...will draw empathy even from those who are uncomfortable with homosexuality."


The Los Angeles Times
"The courage Bean shows in telling his story is incredible."


The San Francisco Chronicle
"A fresh and insightful book.... Bean...excels at capturing the rhythms of the game.


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Last spring Billy Bean, the only living openly gay former major leaguer, gained national attention with his breakthrough memoir, Going the Other Way-an unprecedented chronicle of America's national pastime which went on to sell more than 25,000 copies. Bean brings us inside the clubhouse and onto the playing field, offering dead-on insight into the game and the physical and emotional demands it makes on players. Bean faced an agonizing choice, in secrecy and solitude, between continuing to play the game he loved and the honesty of a loving relationship. By turns heartbreaking and farcical, ruminative and uncensored, the book culminates in a respectful, deeply felt appeal to Major League Baseball and other professional team sports to live up to their promise of equality and opportunity. A testament to the power of the single voice, Going the Other Way is an exemplary American tale that points the way toward a more perfect game, one in which all men and women can pursue their athletic dreams free of prejudice and discrimination. An eight-page photo insert is featured in this New York Times best-seller.


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