Chris “Mad Dog” Russo found himself in a significant on-air mix-up on Tuesday when he mistakenly announced the death of the wrong Billy Bean during his “Mad Dog Unleashed” show.
Russo incorrectly reported the passing of longtime Athletics general manager Billy Beane, confusing him with Billy Bean, MLB’s senior vice president for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, who had passed away.
Russo began by solemnly stating, “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. Billy Beane of the A’s. I don’t know anything about it. This is the first I’ve heard.”
In reality, Billy Bean, who had been battling acute myeloid leukemia, passed away on Tuesday. However, Russo continued under the false impression that it was the Oakland A’s executive who had died.
Russo, still convinced it was the Athletics’ Billy Beane, went on, “So Billy Beane of the A’s, now, had he taken a leave of absence in the last, whatever it might be? I didn’t even know. I’m sure his cohorts in the sport knew. You know, he’s very close to Cashman so I’m sure Brian knew. I didn’t know if anybody in baseball knew. I didn’t hear any of this and I’m on the baseball channel every day or thereabouts. So, that’s a terrible story of Billy Beane.”
After about 90 seconds of speculation, Russo finally realized his mistake. Reading from Major League Baseball’s statement, he corrected himself, “Billy, who fought a heroic year-long battle with Acute Leukemia — uh — That’s the wrong Billy Bean. That’s not the Billy Beane from the A’s.”
Russo clarified that Billy Beane, the longtime executive with the Oakland A’s, is alive and currently a special advisor to the team, which is preparing for a move to Sacramento and eventually Las Vegas.
“That’s the different Billy Bean. Still a terrible story. But that’s not the Beane of the A’s. That’s the Billy Bean who worked for Major League Baseball. It’s a different Billy Bean. So we apologize if we got that screwed up. It’s spelled differently. This Billy Bean is spelled, uh, it’s spelled differently than the other one,” Russo explained. He then quoted Commissioner Rob Manfred’s tribute, stating, “Commissioner Manfred called Billy ‘one of the kindest and most respected individuals I’ve ever known and someone who made Baseball a better institution, both on and off the field.’ Great quote from Rob.”
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Russo concluded his correction with an apology, acknowledging the mix-up and emphasizing the importance of getting such sensitive information right. “This is a different Billy Bean. This is not the Billy Beane of the A’s. This is the Billy Bean who works in Major League Baseball. An important, I’m not trying to make light of it, but it’s a different one. I apologize for screwing that up.”
