| Bret Boone | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Boone with theSeattle Mariners in 2002 | |
| Second baseman | |
| Born: (1969-04-06)April 6, 1969 (age 55) El Cajon, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| August 19, 1992, for the Seattle Mariners | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| July 31, 2005, for the Minnesota Twins | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .266 |
| Home runs | 252 |
| Runs batted in | 1,021 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Bret Robert Boone (born April 6, 1969) is an American formerMajor League Baseballsecond baseman. During his career, Boone was a three-timeAll-Star, four-timeGold Glove winner, and two-timeSilver Slugger Award winner. He is a third-generation professional athlete. His brother isAaron Boone, manager of the New York Yankees.
Boone was born inEl Cajon, California, to Susan G. Roel and former major league player and managerBob Boone. He is also the grandson of former major leaguerRay Boone and brother of former major leaguer and current New York Yankees managerAaron Boone, as well as a descendant of pioneerDaniel Boone.[1] As a child, Boone hung out in the Phillies clubhouse withPete Rose Jr., his brother Aaron, Ryan Luzinski, and Mark McGraw.[2]
He is a graduate ofEl Dorado High School inPlacentia, California. Boone attended theUniversity of Southern California and played for theteam, but left after his junior year of college when he was drafted by theSeattle Mariners in the fifth round.[3] In 2016 Boone released anautobiography,Home Game: Big-League Stories from My Life in Baseball's First Family.[4][5]
In1992, Boone became the first-everthird-generation big-leaguer in baseball history. As a member of anAll-Star family, he is the son of Bob Boone, acatcher for thePhiladelphia Phillies,California Angels, andKansas City Royals (1972–1990) and later amanager with the Royals andCincinnati Reds; his brother Aaron was athird baseman who has played with the Reds,New York Yankees,Cleveland Indians,Florida Marlins, andHouston Astros, and is now the manager of the Yankees. His grandfather Ray Boone was aninfielder for the Indians,Detroit Tigers,Chicago White Sox,Kansas City Athletics,Milwaukee Braves, andBoston Red Sox (1948–1960).
Boone started his playing career with the Seattle Mariners, where he set the club record for home runs in a season by second baseman in 1993 (12 in 76 games)[6] but was traded that same year to theCincinnati Reds along withErik Hanson.
Boone spent the next four seasons with Cincinnati as their everyday second baseman. In his final year with the team, Boone earned his firstAll-Star Game appearance as a replacement for the injuredSammy Sosa.[7] For his defensive play that year, he was also awarded his firstGold Glove Award.[8]
On the last day of that 1998 season, the Reds helped him make baseball history by starting the only infield ever composed of two sets of brothers - first basemanStephen Larkin, second baseman Bret Boone, shortstopBarry Larkin, and third baseman Aaron Boone.[9]
An offseason trade sent Boone to theAtlanta Braves,[10] where he contributed to the fifth of what would become eleven consecutiveNL East division titles (and eighth of fourteen consecutive titles including three NL West titles before the division realignment) on their way to aWorld Series appearance. During their postseason run, Boone posted a .370/369/.481 slash line that included a 7 for 14 World Series performance where the Braves ultimately lost in a sweep by theNew York Yankees.[11]
Another winter trade sent Boone to theSan Diego Padres for the 2000 season, after which he entered free agency.[12]
In 2001, Boone returned to the Mariners, the organization with which he came up from 1990 to 1993.[13] Now an All-Star, and having averaged 21 home runs a year from 1998 through 2000, twice reaching a career high in doubles (at 38, in 1998 and 1999), Boone's superior play continued as he led the league inruns batted in (141), while producing abatting average of (.331). He also broke the Mariners' team record of home runs for a second baseman with 37, while also hitting 37 doubles.
Boone started in theAll-Star Game atSafeco Field, received aSilver Slugger Award, and finished third in theAL MVP voting. His Mariners paced the league with a record 116 wins, earning theAL West championship and advancing to theALCS, tying the all-time team record for wins in a season with the1906 Chicago Cubs.
The following year, Boone won aGold Glove Award for his defense and continued to show the power he had demonstrated the previous years, hitting 24 home runs with 34 doubles. On May 2, 2002, Boone and teammateMike Cameron became the first teammates to eachhit two home runs in a single inning, doing so in the first inning against the White Sox. With local media and behind the scenes, he was famous for his humorous behavior. Boone took up three lockers, as Erick Walker notes, "one for him, another with a nameplate above that read 'Boone's friend' and a third with a nameplate that read 'Boone's friend's friend' that was scattered with about 100 bats."[14]
He wasdesignated for assignment by the Mariners on July 3, 2005, and later traded on July 11 to Minnesota for cash and a player to be named later (minor league pitcherAndy Baldwin).[15] Minnesota released Boone on August 1 after only 14 games, where the second baseman struggled with a .221 batting average, with seven home runs and 37 RBIs in 88 games for the Mariners and Twins.
On January 4,2006, Boone signed aminor league contract with theNew York Mets. He received an invitation tospring training, but on March 1, only a few days into spring training, he announced his initial retirement from baseball, citing a lack of passion for the game.[16]
On February 18,2008, Boone came out of retirement and signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals.[17] At first he was assigned to the minor league camp, but after five days, he was invited to the team's major league spring training camp.[18] On March 21, 2008, Boone was reassigned to minor league camp after hitting .189 and began the season with theColumbus Clippers, the Nationals Triple-A affiliate.[19] He hoped to get signed by a major league club, and left the Clippers in late April to work out on his own. However, on May 28, he once again announced his retirement.[20] On March 9, 2010, he was named manager of theVictoria Seals of the Golden Baseball League. On May 27, 2010, after managing just four games, the Seals announced Boone was leaving the team permanently to deal with "family matters".
Bret Boone had his best years as a Seattle Mariner, where he is still a fan favorite. He finished his career with a .266 batting average, 252 home runs, and 1,021 RBIs in 1,780 games in 14 MLB seasons. He was a three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner, and participated in two Home Run Derbies.
Jose Canseco, in his bookJuiced, accused Boone of steroid use, saying that in a 2001 spring training game, he was stunned at Boone's physique, and the two chatted about what Boone was taking. However, Boone has denied taking steroids, or having any such conversation with Canseco, pointing out that he never played against Canseco during the 2001 spring training.[21][22] In fact, Canseco never reached second base in any of the five games the Mariners played the Angels, where the conversation is alleged to have occurred.[23] Canseco was cut by the Angels on March 28.[24]
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