| John Boccabella | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Catcher /First baseman | |
| Born: (1941-06-29)June 29, 1941 (age 84) San Francisco, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 2, 1963, for the Chicago Cubs | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 19, 1974, for the San Francisco Giants | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .219 |
| Home runs | 26 |
| Runs batted in | 148 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| |
John Dominic Boccabella (born June 29, 1941) is anAmerican former professionalbaseball player.[1] He played as acatcher andfirst baseman inMajor League Baseball from 1963 to 1974 with theChicago Cubs,Montreal Expos andSan Francisco Giants.[1]
Born in San Francisco, California to Italian immigrant parents, Boccabella grew up inSan Anselmo where he attendedMarin Catholic High School.[2] He attended college at theUniversity of Santa Clara where, he was a member of theSanta Clara Broncos baseball team that made it to the final of the1962 College World Series before losing to theMichigan Wolverines baseball team.[2]
After graduating with an honors degree in commerce, he was signed by the Chicago Cubs before the start of the1963 season and assigned to thePocatello Chiefs, a Cubs farm team in thePioneer League.[1][2] Boccabella had an impressive first season inprofessional baseball, posting a .365batting average along with 30home runs and 92RBIs in just 84 games with the Chiefs.[3]
His performance earned him a promotion to the major leagues where he made his debut as a first baseman with the Cubs on September 2, 1963 at the age of 22.[1] Despite hailing from San Francisco, the Cubs' radio announcers dubbed him "Boccabella from 'Pocatella'".[citation needed] In1966, Cubs manager,Leo Durocher made the decision to convert Boccabella into a catcher to serve as a backup forRandy Hundley.[2]
Boccabella was drafted from the Cubs by the Montreal Expos in the1968 expansion draft. He served as autility player until1973 when he became the Expos' primary catcher. He set new personal career highs in 1973 in games played (118), plate appearances (442), home runs (7), and RBIs (46).[1] Boccabella had another career highlight on July 6, 1973 when he hit two home runs in the sixth inning atJarry Park, including agrand slam.[4]
With the arrival in September 1973 of highly rated Expos' first round draft choiceBarry Foote, Boccabella was traded to the Giants on March 27, 1974 forpitcherDon Carrithers after five seasons in Montreal. After one season with his hometown team, during which he batted just .138 in 29 games, Boccabella retired at the age of 33.[1]
In a twelve-year major league career, Boccabella played in 551games, accumulating 320hits in 1,462at bats for a .219 career batting average along with 26 home runs and 148 runs batted in.[1] As a catcher, he had a .984 careerfielding percentage.[1]
After baseball Boccabella lived inMarin County, California with his wife Joyce. He worked as a marketing representative forPG&E for 19 years and retired in 1993.[2] Boccabella is a Roman Catholic.[5]
· Baseball Almanac