Baseball’s other Billy Bean speaks out: “Sadly, I only know how it feels to have Brad Pitt playing someone with my name.”

As you may know, the movie Moneyball starring Brad Pitt is a solid hit at the box office with a domestic gross of $38 million in its first 10 days.

The film is about Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane who I really wasn’t very familiar with. But there was another former player with the same name who I was very familiar with because I had read his book about coming out about a decade ago and wept when I saw him being interviewed about it on television by Diane Sawyer.

His name is Billy Bean and I have been fortunate enough to meet him on several occasions and interviewed him a few times too. He recently wrote a column for Outsports.com about sharing the name and the confusion it has been causing in recent weeks.

Here are some excerpts:

I got this text a couple of days ago. “Hey Billy, I’m sitting here watching a movie called “Moneyball” with Brad Pitt. Is he you?” Sigh. Even my own friends are confused. No, I replied, the movie is about Billy Beane, not Billy Bean.

There’s no “e” at the end of my last name. That’s what I’ve always told them. It’s my auto response when people ask me if I’m the General Manager of the Oakland A’s baseball club. I’m not him, I’m the “other” Billy Bean, the only man alive who played Major League Baseball to acknowledge he’s gay.

The other Billy Beane just happened to be my teammate in 1988 when we both played for the Detroit Tigers Triple A team, called the Toledo Mud Hens.

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My book rights were quickly purchased by the Showtime Network and news spread that a film was being made. The screenplay was written, and then the fun game of “who’s going to play Billy Bean?” began. I’ve been asked that question so many times that I’ve lost count, and truth be told, I was pretty anxious to find out as well. I have learned that patience is a virtue when waiting for a film to be made. Promises mean very little, and feelings get hurt often. I read that “Moneyball” has taken more than eight years to come to the silver screen, so I’ll keep waiting for my turn.

Last year, when news that the film “Moneyball” was finally happening and none other than Brad Pitt had agreed to play “Billy Beane,” it sent a wave of enthusiasm through  sports fans in the LGBT community. An avalanche of questions came my way via Facebook, e-mails, and texts, asking me how it felt to have Brad Pitt playing me in a movie. Was I excited? Many people were asking if I had met him, and what was he like? I mean, really, if anyone could pick one man on earth to play himself in a movie, Brad Pitt is the guy.

I truly wish I could have answered all of those questions, but I don’t know how it feels. Sadly, I only know how it feels to have Brad Pitt playing someone with my name, about baseball, but NOT me, in a wildly successful major motion picture. Is that surreal or what? Honestly, the feeling sucks. It’s like being told you’ve won the lottery, but then finding out that you really didn’t, because you only have the first four numbers right, but you need five to win it all.