AWKWARD! ‘Mad Dog’ Russo Announces Death of Former Oakland A’s GM Live on Air — Then Realizes It Was Someone Else With a Similar Name
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo was stunned to hear that legendary Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane died — only it was someone else entirely who passed.
On Tuesday, the MLB announced the death of Billy Bean, the league’s Senior Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The 60-year-old had been battling leukemia for the past 11 months.
We are deeply saddened by the passing of our friend and colleague Billy Bean, MLB’s Senior VP for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and Special Assistant to the Commissioner. Billy, who fought a heroic year-long battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, was 60.
Over the last 10 years,… pic.twitter.com/dCfFM6hQlE
— MLB (@MLB) August 6, 2024
Later that evening, Russo seemingly read the name “Billy Bean” and got confused it with the former A’s GM. Beane, 62, rose to fame thanks to his cost-effective method of assembling teams that would become known as “moneyball.” A movie of the same name — starring Brad Pitt as Beane — was released in 2011. He is still alive.
“Wow!” Russo said on Mad Dog Sports Radio. “Was he, was he — the word that we’re getting right now is that the general manager of the A’s, Billy Beane, may have passed away. Wow. Was he ill? I wasn’t aware of this. I mean, he’s not that old. Geez, was it sudden? We’ll see if we can get some information. Wow, that is a terrible story with Billy Beane of the A’s. I don’t know anything about it. This is the first I’ve heard. He’s an historic general manager… He built very good teams with not a lot to work with financially. The movie, of course, with Brad Pitt. He’s probably not more than 62 or [63] — 60. Wow. Leukemia. That’s a terrible story.”
When Russo read the MLB’s tweet announcing Bean’s death, which included a photo of him, Russo realized his error.
“That’s the wrong Billy Bean,” he said on air while reading the tweet. “That’s not the Billy Beane from the A’s. Last 10 years, ‘Billy worked passionately and tirelessly with MLB and all 30 clubs, focusing on player education… Ten-year playing career with six teams.’ That’s the different Billy Bean. Still a terrible story, but that’s not the Beane of the A’s. That’s the Billy Beane who worked for Major League Baseball. So it’s a different Billy Bean, so we apologize if we got that screwed up.”
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