Going the Other Way

By Billy Bean, Chris Bull,

Book cover of Going the Other Way: Lessons from a Life In and Out of Major-league Baseball

Book description

Billy Bean is the first major league baseball player to publicly discuss his homosexuality and the first athlete in a professional American team sport to do so since all-pro football player Dave Kopay came out in 1975. By 1996, when Bean retired at age thirty-two from the game he loved…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked Going the Other Way as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The day-to-day pressures as an MLB player are enormous. On the field, off the field, in the clubhouse, it’s nonstop.

Doing all of that while hiding who you are as a gay man, compounds everything. Billy Bean takes you with him, from the best player in little league to making it on a major league roster, all while hiding his true self.

Leaving baseball at his prime after the death of his partner, something he couldn’t tell a soul about, Billy’s story is heartbreaking yet triumphant and helped me when I publicly came out as an active MLB umpire.

Want books like Going the Other Way?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Going the Other Way.

Browse books like Going the Other Way

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in baseball, MLB, and homosexuality?

Baseball 177 books
MLB 33 books
Homosexuality 78 books