Bob Boone, longtime major league catcher and manager, has passed away, per reports. He was 78.
Boone spent 19 years in the major leagues. Drafted out of Stanford by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1969, Boone got a cup of coffee in 1972 before becoming the Phillies’ regular catcher in 1973. He finished third in the National League Rookie of the Year voting that season, tied with Dan Driessen and Elias Sosa, with Gary Matthews finishing first and Steve Rogers second in what was an especially strong class,
which also saw Ron Cey, Johnny Grubb, Davey Lopez and Richie Zisk receive votes.
Boone was his team’s starting catcher every season from 1973 through 1989, when he caught an American League high 129 games at the age of 41 for the Kansas City Royals while winning his 12th Gold Glove. Boone was remarkably durable, even as he aged — he caught 121 games for the Angels in 1988 in his age 40 season, and is the only player to have caught at least 120 games in a season in his 40s. There have been just five seasons in major league history where a player who is 38 or older has caught at least 120 games in a season — Carlton Fisk, in 1987, at the age of 39, and Boone’s age 38-41 seasons.
Boone was a fixture behind the plate for the Phillies for almost a decade, including their three straight division title teams from 1976-78, as well as the 1980 team that beat the Kansas City Royals in the World Series for the Phillies’ first ever World Series title. Despite his being an excellent defensive catcher, the play he’s best known for is a dropped foul pop up in Game 6 of the World Series that Pete Rose snagged before it hit the ground:
Boone was acquired by the California Angels, another team striving to win their first World Series, after the 1981 season. He spent the next seven seasons as the Angels’ primary catcher, with the Angels advancing to the ALCS in 1982 and 1986. Boone was behind the plate when the Mike Witt and Donnie Moore each gave up two runs homers in the top of the ninth of Game 5 of the ALCS, turning a 5-2 Angels lead into a 6-5 deficit, and then led off the bottom of the ninth with a single that led to pinch runner Ruppert Jones scoring the tying run that sent the game into extra innings.*
* Boone’s replacement behind the plate was the Angels’ backup catcher, and future Rangers coach and manager, Jerry Narron.
Had the Angels won that game, they would have advanced to play the New York Mets in the World Series. Instead, Dave Henderson, who homered off of Moore in the ninth, hit a sacrifice fly off of Moore in the 11th to give the Red Sox a 7-6 lead. Calvin Schiraldi shut down the Angels in the bottom of the 11th, and then Boston romped in the final two games at Fenway to advance to the World Series.
The 1986 postseason was one of the most memorable in MLB history, with Boston coming back against the Angels down 3-1 in the series and 5-2 in the ninth of Game 5, the bitter six game NLCS between the Mets and Astros that featured a 12 inning Game 5 and a 16 inning decisive Game 6, and then the Mets/Red Sox World Series.
Boone spent three more seasons with California after that before joining the Kansas City Royals in 1989. Age finally caught up with him in 1990, when he missed two months due to injury and appeared in just 40 games in his final season in the majors.
Boone’s 2225 games behind the plate are the third most in major league history, behind Pudge Rodriguez (2427 games) and Carlton Fisk (2226). His place in the rankings seems safe for the foreseeable future, as Salvador Perez, the active catcher with the most career games caught, trails Boone by almost 800 games. Along with his 12 Gold Gloves and third place Rookie of the Year finish, Boone appeared in four All Star Games and twice received MVP votes. His 27.4 career bWAR places him 49th all time among catchers.
Boone had two stints as a major league manager, with the Kansas City Royals from 1995-97 and the Cincinnati Reds from 2001-03, though he was not given much to work with with either club. As a manager, he never made the playoffs or finished above .500, and had a career 371-444 record.
Boone is part of a lineage of one of the most successful multi-generational families in major league baseball. His father, Ray Boone, had a 13 year career, mostly with Detroit and Cleveland, as an infielder, making two All Star Games and finishing as high as 8th in the MVP voting. Bret Boone’s sons, Bret and Aaron, had successful major league careers as well. Bret, you may recall, had a brief stint last year as the Rangers’ hitting coach, and Aaron is the manager for the New York Yankees.
