Who is Tara Beane?

Tara Beane is a name that many fans of the former professional baseball player Billy Beane may recognize. Married to Billy Beane in 1999, Tara Beane rose to popularity following her linkup and eventual marriage to the minority owner of the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball.

While it is quite common for the wives of sportsmen to grab the media’s attention, Tara Beane has willfully chosen to remain away from the spotlight and lead a reasonably normal life. The  San Diego-born beauty shares twin children, Tinsley Beane and Brayden Beane, with her husband, Billy Beane. 

Quick Facts

Early Life

On August 11, 1964, Tara Beane was born in San Diego, California, USA. Her maiden name was Tara Marie Graves.

Tara is a Leo. Leo females are known for their fun-loving, bold, and humorous personalities. However, Leos also tend to be arrogant, dominating, and inflexible. 

Tara Beane is an attractive woman. Despite nearing her 60s, she has kept her appearance and figure in top shape. 

The California-born beauty stands tall at 5 feet and 5 inches. In addition, Tara has brown-colored eyes and dark brown hair. Likewise, she has an oval-shaped face and a curvy figure.

Relationship

Tara Beane married former baseball player Billy in 1999. He was already the General Manager for the Oakland Athletics.

Billy Beane was first married to Cathy Sturdivant. He has a daughter from his marriage to Cathy.

During their teenage years, Tara and Billy were good friends. However, they became estranged. Billy rekindled his friendship with Tara after separating from Cathy Sturdivant. 

Eventually, they decided to spend the rest of their lives together.

Tara and Billy have been married for 22 years, and they share two beautiful children.

Billy Beane (husband)

Billy, the former professional baseball player, was born on March 29, 1962, in Mayport, FL.

His father was a naval officer and had to move from one place to another frequently. As a result, Billy Beane spent most of his childhood between Mayport, Florida, and San Diego, California. 

Growing up, Billy was quite close to his parents. His father, in particular, had a much more profound influence on him since he was the first person to teach him how to pitch.

Billy’s career decisions seem to be influenced mainly by Tara Beane. He is a loving husband and an incredible father who prioritizes his family’s comfort when making important career decisions.

Billy Beane turned down a lucrative GM job offered by the Boston Red Sox in the early 2000s. They offered him USD 2.5 million annually, making him the highest-paid GM in sports history. 

However, he declined it and joined the Oakland Athletics to remain closer to his teenage daughter.

Larry Lucchino, the former president/CEO of the Red Sox, added that Tara’s comfort played a huge role in Beane’s rejection of the offer. To persuade Beane to take up the job, the Boston Red Sox arranged for Katie Couric to sing “Happy Birthday” to Tara.

Larry Lucchino said, “Billy told us that Tara was a big Katie Couric fan.” Katie Couric, the girlfriend of Tom Werner, even called Tara and left a message on her answering machine, but none of their attempts persuaded Beane to take the job.

Baseball career

The New York Mets had considered choosing Billy Beane as their first pick during the overall selection of the 1980 Major League Baseball Draft. However, many thought Beane would attend Stanford instead of becoming a professional sportsman.

As a result, Beane became the 23rd pick instead of the first by the New York Mets. However, Beane soon signed with the Mets. He signed a contract worth USD 125,000 with the Mets. They assigned him to the Little Falls Mets of the Class A New York–Penn League, which included newly drafted out of colleges/ universities.

Beane initially drew much criticism as his first season’s batting was relatively weak. However, in 1981, Tara’s husband was promoted to the Lynchburg Mets of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League. The following year, he got promoted to the Jackson Mets of the Class AA Texas League.

In 1984, NYM promoted Beans to MLB, and he played in five games for them. The legendary player spent most of the 1985 season with the Class AAA International League Tidewater Tides, batting .284 and leading the Tides with 19 home runs and 77 runs.

He also played for The Mets for a total of eight games. However, the Met traded Beane with Joe Klink and Bill Latham to the Minnesota Twins for Tim Teufel and Pat Crosby the following season.

Even though The Twins were ready to make Beane their starting left fielder over incumbent Mickey Hatcher, Beane suffered multiple injuries, which degraded his performance.

In 1986, Beane played 80 games for the Minnesota Twins, and he batted .216. Likewise, he also appeared in 32 games for the Toledo Mud Hens of the International League in 1986.

In 1987, Beane played in 12 games for the 1987 Minnesota Twins.
Nevertheless, The Twins traded Beane to the Detroit Tigers for Balvino Gálvez the following year. Beane was a part of the Tigers’ opening-day roster in the 1988 season as an injury fill-in.

In April 1988, Beane was optioned to Toledo, after which he served as Detroit’s Class-AAA affiliate. Billy Beane played in a total of six games for the 1988 Tigers.
After being granted free agency, he signed with the Oakland Athletics. Making an appearance in 37 games with the team, Beane batted .241 in 79 at-bats. In 1990, Beane re-signed with the Oakland Athletics.

Front Office career

After being sent down to the minor leagues at the end of the 1990 spring training, Billy Beane approached Oakland Athletics GM Sandy Alderson seeking a job as an advance scout. From 1990 to 1993, Beane worked as an advance scout for the Athletics. 

In 1993, Beane was promoted to assistant GM of the Athletics, and he handled the scouting of minor-league players. After the death of Oakland Athletics’ owner Walter A. Haas Jr. in 1995, new owners Stephen Schott and Ken Hofmann demanded to slash payroll.

Sandy Alderson instructed Beane to seek value using sabermetrics in a way other teams did not see. On October 17, 1997, Beane succeeded his mentor, Alderson, and he was promoted to the GM of Oakland Athletics. 

As the new GM of Athletics, Beane took the team to new heights. Establishing the Athletics as one of the most cost-effective teams in baseball, Beane played a big role in helping rank the Athletics 24th of 30 major league teams in player salaries and the 5th-best regular-season record in the 2006 MLB season.

The Oakland Athletics created history in 2002 by becoming the first team in the 100+ years of American League baseball to win 20 consecutive games. After the 2002 season, Beane was offered the job of GM for USD 12.5 million by the Boston Red Sox, which Beane declined. 

His contract with the Athletics was extended until 2012 April 15, 2005. Similarly, new team owner Lewis Wolff also awarded Beane a small share of the team’s ownership, making him a minority owner of the Oakland Athletics. After his contract expired in 2012, Beane’s contract was extended through 2019.

Since the Athletics did not make the playoffs or finish above .500 from their 2006 playoff appearance till 2012, Beane and his approaches were heavily criticized. However, the former professional baseball player has maintained that despite the criticisms, his approaches have always centered around research and analysis, which other team GMs have also copied.

After the Moneyball revolution, Beane focused on high school players he considered heavily undervalued. Additionally, he revised his draft strategies to focus more on defensive skills. 

A clear example of this new approach was visible in the 2010 season, where the Athletics led MLB in defensive efficiency despite finishing at .500 and missing the playoffs. Fortunately, under Beane’s guidance, the Athletics emerged victorious in the 2012 season of the American League West title on the last day of the regular season. 

The Athletics won the American League West division title again in 2013, the team’s first back-to-back division championship win since the 2002 and 2003 seasons. In October 2015, Beane was promoted to executive vice president of baseball operations. 

David Forst succeeded him. Beane ranked #10 on Sports Illustrated’s list of the Top 10 GMs/Executives of the Decade in all sports in 2009. 

Children

Tara Beane is the proud mother of twins Tinsley Beane and Brayden Beane, born on January 4, 2008. In addition, she is also a stepmother to Casey Beane, Billy Beane’s daughter, born from his previous marriage to Cathy Sturdivant. According to reports, Tara is a doting mother to her kids and shares a good relationship with Casey’s stepdaughter. 

Net worth

As of 2023, Tara Beane’s net worth is approximately USD 500,000. In contrast, her husband, Billy Beane, has an astounding net worth of USD 20 Million. Beane, who was also one of the board of directors of NetSuite, earned USD 4 million for his services to the software company.

The executive vice president of baseball operations of Oakland Athletics earns an annual salary of USD 3 million. As a result, there is no doubt that the Beanes lead quite a lavish lifestyle.

Additionally, the power couple has made many expensive purchases in the past. In 2002, Billy Beane purchased a luxurious home named McMansion in Danville, California, for USD 1.735 million. The Beanes listed the stunning property for USD 1.895 million in 2013.

Social media

Despite being a celebrity, Tara Beane has maintained a safe distance from social media. She is not active on any major social networking platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.