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We linked to the story earlier today, in Snake Bytes, but here’s a video version of the feature which aired on the MLB Network yesterday. In their interviews with Anthony Castrovince, Torey Lovullo and Billy Bean discuss meeting while in college at UCLA and Loyola Marymount, respectively, and then being drafted by the Detroit Tigers within one year of each other. They also detail the 10-year break in their friendship as Bean struggled with reconciling his public image as a ballplayer and his personal identity as a gay man.
“I can’t imagine what he was going through on a daily basis. It makes me sad to think about it. … When he resurfaced [in 2005], we were like, ‘Okay, Billy’s back again, and we don’t care. We don’t care what happened, where he went; we just love him and want to support him. It’s been smooth sailing ever since... I count on this friendship, I love my time with him, and I love Billy. It just goes to show you that when you build things the right way, if things stumble, that you can come out the other side. I’m just thankful that it’s back to where it was many, many years ago.”
— Torey Lovullo