"We laughed. We cried" - Torey Lovullo paints an emotional picture of close friend Billy Bean's cancer news
Billy Bean, a former player and MLB's current senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, is fighting cancer. The 59-year-old is suffering from acute myeloid leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant.
At the same time, Catalina Villegas, MLB's diversity, equity and inclusion director is fighting her own battle against cancer. After undergoing breast cancer surgery and chemotherapy, she is hoping for good news.
This has added an extra personal touch for many in the baseball world and makes the MLB’s 10th annual charity auction, "Stand Up to Cancer" even more prevalent. Villegas is making the journey for the auction but Bean cannot be in attendance oMonday.
As Billy Bean cannot be at the event, Arizona Diamondbacks manager and close friend Torey Lovullo will speak on his behalf. Discussing the situation with USA TODAY, Lovullo said:
“You hear the word 'cancer,’ you hear the word, 'leukemia,’ and it just rattles you. He (Bean) explained exactly what he was going through. We laughed. We cried. And I got informed. Billy has always been such a giver. He’s one of the best human beings I ever met. He’s just always been available to everyone, touching everyone.
“I want the world to know what a great human he is. I know it’s not in his DNA to allow people to give back to him. Well, now it’s time for him to catch all of that love. I want the world to know it’s for him.’’
Billy Bean discusses life with acute myeloid leukemia
In what must have been a difficult interview with USA TODAY, Billy Bean went into detail about being diagnosed with cancer and living with the disease:
“I didn’t even realize that I lost that much weight, but I just wasn’t feeling well. I figured, I’ll just go for a run, drink some water, and I’d be fine. But I was going through night sweats. I finally went in, saw the doctor and nurse practitioner, and they said, 'There’s something going on here.’
“I heard of leukemia, but I never heard of AML. It was a total shock."
After the initial shock wore off, Billy Bean struggled not only with the disease but with the isolation that having a compromised immune system presents.
“Mentally, it’s a new challenge," Bean said. "I’ve been fit my whole life, but there have been some nights where I can not recognize how my body feels. I still can not enjoy food."
As many who experienced similar issues during the pandemic can attest, isolation can be very difficult to adapt to. Bean described the difficulties this presented:
“I’m not angry, I’m hopeful, but it hit me really, really hard. I spent 21 days in a hospital with my immune system compromised, I couldn’t have visitors. It was a very isolating experience, especially when you don’t know what the outcome is."
Both Billy Bean and Catalina Villegas have been open about living with cancer, and hopefully their stories can help raise awareness and funding for cancer research.
With the MLB's "Stand Up to Cancer" on Monday, there isn't a more important story in baseball right now.