Going the Other Way: An Intimate Memoir of Life In and Out of Major League Baseball
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.48 (726 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1615192638 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 272 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2018-01-07 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
An Inspiring Story Billy Bean is not a hero, but he is someone to be admired by persons both gay and straight and both fans and not fans of baseball. Billy Bean's book is not a great book, but it's an enjoyable one and is a book that deserves reading.I admire Billy Bean for the way he's lived his life and for choosing to tell us about it. He's not a hero. He didn't come out while he was in baseball. He married and divorced a woman he says he loved. He tells of others' sexual escapades, but reveals few of his own, though there probably were some. I admire him for working tirelessly and making sacrifices to overcome weaknesses and attain goals, for . "Real LIfe "Take Me Out"" according to Brett Benner. A professional baseball player who for years hid his homosexuality, Billy Bean recounts his story with an easygoing charm. From his childhood, up through the majors the first part of the book is about how he fell into the sport and how his passion for it consumed him. Once he begins to address his sexuality the book shifts focus and really becomes an exploration of gay athletes, and the prejudices they face or potentially face. It seemed by the end that Billy truly is happy, which is great, because at times it felt like he lived a alot of his life with regret, yet ultimately his courageous act may someday help someone else in a . Wow. Michael T. Rognlien Just when you thought you didn't need to read another story about someone struggling with coming to terms with being gay along comes Billy Bean.While Mr. Bean's story is fairly "common" in the sense that many, many men have gone through similar things, they did not have the dubious honor of going through them all on the MLB scene. Imagine the average level of homophobic jerks on the playground in school and multiply it by 1000 and you may have the idea of what it must be like to go through life as a gay man in our completely heterosexualized sporting environment.I've read a number of articles written about and by Billy in the la
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. Not long after, Bean was called back to the major leagues. 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. While the book does offer an interesting portrait of the less glamorous side of baseball, particularly the humiliation of being sent to the minor lea
At the young age of 31, in the prime of his career, even as he solidified his role as a major-league utility player, Bean walked away from the game that was both his calling and his livelihood. At once heartbreaking and farcical, ruminative and uncensored, this unprecedented memoir points the way toward a more perfect game, one in which all players can pursue their athletic dreams free of prejudice and discrimination.. But as a gay man in the brutally anti-gay world of baseball, closeted to teammates and family, Bean found himself unable to reconcile two worlds that he felt to be mutually exclusive. From major league baseball’s only openly gay former player—and now its