Boone retires
DMZ · March 1, 2006 at 12:23 pm · Filed Under Mariners
As noted in comments for the day’s news thread, Boone has hung up his cleats. Picture here.
Boone’s career was quite the roller coaster ride, wasn’t it?
As noted in comments for the day’s news thread, Boone has hung up his cleats. Picture here.
Boone’s career was quite the roller coaster ride, wasn’t it?
It was, and I enjoyed watching him play, except for the last year or so when he drug the M’s down, but even then I was always pulling hard for him.
Is he still bleaching his hair, or has it just gone gray in a big hurry? I can’t tell.
Let him, please, take over one of the commentating roles for the Mariners broadcasts. On a couple of occassions before he’s been in the booth making comments and he’s pretty amusing, intentionally. It’d be nice to keep him around somehow.
Feel bad for Boonie, but there’s a reason metricians have studied the “decline” curve. Secondbasemen really go down hill after 36 and Boone is now just another stat.
Is he still bleaching his hair, or has it just gone gray in a big hurry?
Bleach. No, his hair did not go with his other skills.
I dunno about Boone as a broadcaster, I remember during the 2003 playoffs him being pretty bad, though not without his funny moments. Has he done much since then?
Anyhow, it was sad to see Boone decline so rapidly, but we’ll never forget his 2001 and 2003 seasons, some of the best seasons any second baseman has ever had. He was really a valuable player to the M’s, and he used to be a great defensive 2B.
roller coaster is right–
Out of high school he was selected by the Twins in the 28th round of the 1987 draft. He declined.
He was advised by his grandfather and father to go to college, even though (according to his mother) “He has never really been a student. He does OK, but he doesn’t love it. And [Stanford grad] Bob can’t understand that.”
After 3 years at USC, he was projected to go in the 1st or 2nd round, but finally went to the M’s in the 5th round.
In ’93 he came up to the M’s as a rookie. “Asked if his name is Latin for “up and down,” Bret Boone acknowledged his status as a part-time big leaguer this year. If he were any more temporary, he’d be playing for Kelly Services. “I’ve been the designated expendable guy,” the Mariner second baseman said. “I’m going to put ‘UPANDDOWN’ on my license plate.”
Three times this year he has been brought up from Calgary. Twice he was sent back. But this time? “This time, I’m staying,” said Boone, who has been somewhat chastened personally and much changed professionally by his yo-yo year. “No, I’d like to say I’m here to stay, but that’s up to them. All I can do is do well so they can’t send me back.”
“Boone has changed,” said Manager Lou Piniella, who plainly did not cotton to the youngster’s swagger or his big swing during training camp or either of the first two times he was brought back. “He’s a little more under control.”
He played 109 games for Seattle in 1992 and ’93. His totals for those two seasons were .233, 16 homers and 53 RBIs.
He was sent to Cincinnati for Dan Wilson and Bobby Ayala; and stayed from 1994-1998:
“Defensively Boone is unimpeachable. He led NL second basemen in fielding percentage in ’95, ’96 and ’97, set a major-league record for fielding percentage by a second baseman in ’97, then won an overdue Gold Glove. Few hitters in recent years have been as inconsistent as Boone. His batting average has fluctuated from .320 in ’94 to .223 in ’97, settling at .266 in ’98. He had dismal offensive season in ’97, and the Reds were so eager to unload his contract that they did not protect him from the expansion draft. But Tampa Bay and Arizona passed on him, believing — along with everyone else — that his contract was too lavish. After Boone’s surprising 24-homer, 95-RBI season and another surge in baseball salaries, the same contract is perceived as a bargain. He strikes out a lot, and he is neither a leadoff hitter nor a base-stealing threat”
End of ’98 he was traded to Atlanta (“”Baseball players are like the stock market,” Jim Bowden says, “and Bret’s at his highest value.” Nine teams had expressed interest in Bret Boone, according to Bowden, and the Reds were willing to trade him only if someone would overpay. The Braves overpaid”) and got to the WS
Traded with Klesko in 2000 to SD, ended up going on the DL with a bad knee before the season ended.
and then back to the M’s in 2001 as a free agent
I dunno about Boone as a broadcaster, I remember during the 2003 playoffs him being pretty bad, though not without his funny moments. Has he done much since then?
of course, in ’03 he was hampered by McCarver in the booth and the fact that he wouldn’t comment on fellow players or his brother 🙂
from Hickey’s blog:
“Seattle first baseman Richie Sexson spent most of Tuesday night on the telephone with former Mariner Bret Boone. Sexson did his best to talk his friend into sticking with baseball. But Wednesday morning saw the 37-year-old Boone, now in the camp of the New York Mets, announce his retirement. ”I was on the phone with him for three hours last night,” Sexson said. ”I tried to talk him out of it. We all did — his dad (former big league catcher and manager Bob Boone) and his brother Aaron (the third baseman in Cleveland). We sort of ganged up on him, but he said his heart wasn’t in it.”
Good luck to The Boone. I hope he lives well and enjoy’s life. He had his greatness and made the most of it. God I loved the bat flip commercial and I liked the way he raked balls all over the place. He had some lifetime highlight plays at second base that nobody could have gotten to besides him.
He made the game fun to watch and I will miss his play. Hat’s off to a guy man enough to see himself clearly.
I wonder if ESPN is leaving messages for him right now. He’s really a good TV persona. I could see him getting a Baseball Tonight gig. They have a soft spot for ex-Mariner second basemen.
Thanks, Bret, for the 2001 season you had…it was just another incredible piece of an incredible season that I was thrilled to be able to watch.
The Boone deserves our thanks and appreciation. He was a huge part of that 2001 club (led the team in VORP by a pretty wide margin). I always liked his arrogance, too.
I didn’t like his sucking, which he did a lot in his last couple of years, but 2001 was 2001 in large part because of The Boone.
Ready or not, I strike out a lot.
You know, Boone doesn’t miss the Hall of Fame by THAT much (though a miss is as good as a mile here). If he had one or two years in his late 20s like he had in his early 30s (instead of two years where his OBP was below .300, and his SLG was below .400), he probably makes it.
Can Boone ever NOT cry? Geez.
He had a few great years, but he is not HOF’r.
Definitely miss The Boone, especially the 2001 vintage. Best of luck to him. I think maybe after a year or two off, he would be a decent broadcast type. But it’s tough cause i could see him having to hold back on his bradcasting the way Jay Buhner does when they stick him in there, he wants to explode and say “How did you miss that pitch?!?!” but he can’t. I could see Boonie being the same way. Still it wouldn’t be bad to see him drop by a Mariner game or two as a guest announcer or something. Maybe in 5 years when the Mariners start celbrating the 10 year anniversary of the 2001 team. Cause you know they’re gonna.
Well, yeah, I believe that’s what I said. He’d be a legit candidate with about two more 2001-2003 seasons replacing his dreck years when he SHOULD have been peaking. As it is now, though…no sale. Damn good ballplayer, though, in the Jay Buhner/Jamie Moyer class of All Star without QUITE having a HOF resume (to cite another couple of example Mariners of that caliber).
Second base is a tough crowd, admittedly- Joe Gordon and Lou Whiatker aren’t there yet.
Anyone for a Jay Buhner/Bret Boone play by play group? That would certainly be exciting.
The last time the Ms really mastered this game, Boone was Kangaroo Court Judge and Jester. Won 3 GG in the center infield. Finished 2nd among 2nd-base power hitters.
That’s just a scratch of what he left in Seattle, along with his “Chicks dig the Boone” t-shirts.
Every contributor to that 116 team was very special, and I can only salute his decision to hang up the game before it hangs him.
You know, Boone doesn’t miss the Hall of Fame by THAT much
Mariners hall of fame, sure. Cooperstown? No way.
If he had one or two years in his late 20’s like he had in his early 30’s…he probably makes it.
If Mitch Williams wasn’t a wildly inconsistent pitcher, the Phillies win the World Series. If Jeremy Giambi slides, the A’s beat the Yankees. If…oh, you get the idea.
There’s no point in what ifs, because Boone’s reality is that he was a decent player for most of his career, a great player for a couple years, and execrable for the last two. His contribution to the M’s in 2001 can’t be questioned, but beyond that, there’s no way he’s HOF material.
#17- They already have the names for a broadcast team…the Bone and the Boone.
wouldn’t that be the XM Satellite broadcast team?
His contribution to the M’s in 2001 can’t be questioned, but beyond that, there’s no way he’s HOF material.
Is the part where I said “not quite good enough to make the HOF” a couple of times not getting through here? But he’s closer than you think- one of his comps is Bobby Doerr (HOF’er), one is Joe Gordon (should have been HOF’er, better player than Doerr), one’s Bobby Grich (who wouldn’t be dragging the place down, though his numbers aren’t as flashy since they were obtained in an environment where runs were scarcer than when Boone, Gordon and Doerr played).
That’s all I’m saying- heck of a ballplayer at his best.
And if I recall correctly, didn’t even last his first year of eligibility, which is a disgrace. Even Boone will muster more support, I’ll bet. Whitaker, great as he was, will never sniff the hall; he just didn’t do any marquee thing, or have a marquee personality.
I stopped rooting for Boone when he appeared to stop giving a damn in the field.
For someone who claims “Chicks dig the longball”, I’m surprised he also doesn’t know that “Chicks don’t dig balling your eyes out at every press conference.”
Bawling. Balling your eyes out is something else entirely.
I’ll miss him. As arrogant as he was, there was always enough of a tongue-in-cheek element to it that it was endearing instead of grating. And he obviously loved the game, as that picture makes clear.
He’s got a good chance to make a good broadcaster. Heck, if the M’s picked him up for it he’d be their number one color guy right now.
God, please don’t let Boonie be a marerer’s broadcaster. It was painful enough to listen to the Bone. I can only take so much akwardness, and the kid’s inning pretty much puts me at my threshold.
“Bawling. Balling your eyes out is something else entirely.”
Hilarious. Its a good thing its the end of the day and most everyone left the office because I just guffawed pretty loudly.
#25 — That was definitely Laugh-Out-Loud funny. You should, you know, write for a blog or something.
Heck, if the M’s picked him up for it he’d be their number one color guy right now.
The M’s could pick up a potted plant to do color and it’d be the #1 color guy right now.
God, brets the biggest cry baby
why shouldn’t he get emotional? we’re talking about someone who was figuratively born in a clubhouse, whose primary influence growing up was a pair of major leaguers — someone who decided as a kid that he was going to play big league ball too (even though he was considered too small throughout school) and in fact made it. So when he has to admit to himself that he now can’t do it anymore (when his dad played 19 years as a catcher) why not cry?
ok, I’ll stop channeling Dr Phil now.
Plus, he just realized that he is a 36 year old man with bleach-blonde hair…and now he doesn’t have the “Oh, I’m a professional baseball player” excuse to fall back on.
I’d be cryin’ too.
Zero Gravitas said: March 1st, 2006 at 2:14 pm
I wonder if ESPN is leaving messages for him right now. He’s really a good TV persona. I could see him getting a Baseball Tonight gig. They have a soft spot for ex-Mariner second basemen.
I’ve heard that Tino Martinez is headed for ESPN…at least that’s the rumor from Yanks fans. Who would YOU rather have, buttoned-down corporate ex-pinstriper-too-far-removed-from-his-Mariner-roots, or funloving always-ready-with-a-quip ex-Mariner?
Sorry, but I have to disagree with just about everybody here. I’m glad to see Boonie gone. He had a couple of good years, but was a jerk off the field.
Boone always sort of rubbed me the wrong way, but I never could quite put my finger on why. I can see what people are saying about the tongue-in-cheek quality to the arrogant displays, and I feel like that should agree that it makes it better. But instead, it was just infuriating for me.
Really though, I think it’s mostly the disappearing in the playoffs, which is really pretty unfair to judge someone on one playoff series against the Yankees. But it just seemed so inevitable to me that it was twice as frustrating when it happened. Sort of like those Arthur Rhodes home runs.
All that and because I could see the Mariners building around his continued success at elite offensive levels, which was crazy. So, there it is. Sorry Brett that I dislike you for illegitimate reasons, not that you give a damn.
Boone always sort of rubbed me the wrong way, but I never could quite put my finger on why.
For me, the fact that a badly fading 36 year old continued to do that annoying-as-eff-all batflip was what sent me over the edge; I never liked the stupid flip anyway, and when he su-hu-HUCKED as a player and still continued to do it, I lost what little respect I had left for him.
Boone’s perfunctory ‘catch-on’ appearance in ST is the only surprise in this, since he could only have looked more done last year if he’d been in a wheelchair.
I liked Boone as a player quite a lot, and clearly most all of his teammates did, too. I’ve never understood those who were turned off by him either; confidence is great if you back it up, and most of the time Bret did just that. OTOH, his legacy is mixed, to me, for reasons I won’t get into. Wouldn’t mind at all if he became a sportscaster, though; he’s glib, funny, personal, and I suspect that he would do reasonably good preparation if he got serious about it.
My favorite Boone moment; last year, or maybe the year before, Derek and I were sitting at a game. Pretty good seats; we had a good view of what was going. Boone’s taking cuts in the on deck circle. The 14-16 year old ballgirl comes walking down the side, and Boone’s eyes never leave her. She walks down the other line to talk to the other ballgirl, and his head is on a swivel, following her the whole way.
In front of about 30,000 people, he’s openly leering at a girl who’s a few years shy of driving and not even trying to hide it.
That’s Bret Boone.
#34– Tino is officially working for ESPN; he says “it will only be 45 appearances on Baseball Tonight. It’s only about 7 days of work a month. It allows me to be with my family and still be involved with baseball.”
Teh Boone had Teh Swagger, which was not a bad thing.
it’s something that this Mariner team could use a little more of.
#39– well, I can’t comment on any possible leer-related activities, but FWIW, with the Mariners, just to get into the Fielder Program, you have to be 16. The Fielders do the slag jobs– accompanying the Moose on his rounds, assisting participants in various on-field competitions, even baby-sitting. Usually it takes several years to graduate into a ‘ball girl’, as there are only a few openings per year for the 14 jobs. I’ve heard the usual time frame is about two years to make it onto the field, as the turnover isn’t great… the current Miss Washington (anyone remember Tina?) stayed in the job for 5 years 🙂
Tina was great. She and Rosie (who used to do the charcoal drawings of the players) were the best. They’ve really lost quality with the ballgirls since then.
41: Ryan Leaf has swagger.
Re: The Boone ogling the ball girl. Good for him. Nothing wrong with looking.
Re: Mitch Williams’s inconsisntency. Everyone remembers that homerun Carter hit, but two batters earlier Mitch Williams was pwned when Rickey Henderson drew a walk with such obvious ease it makes me laugh every time ESPN Classic replays the game.
What happened to Boone’s hair?!?!
It went from frosted blond to gray in about a few months.
So he was dying his hair in order to cover up the fact that it was completely gray. Wonder what other ‘enhancements’ Boone has been using?
I don’t know about your job, but openly ogling female employees has never been an acceptable part of my workplace. Especially given the huge difference in power between Boone and a ballgirl. If she doesn’t like it, what’s she supposed to do about it?
#43Tina was great. She and Rosie (who used to do the charcoal drawings of the players) were the best. They’ve really lost quality with the ballgirls since then.
well, very few young ladies measure up to Tina. Just doing a quick look, there is also Aleena), Crysti …
#46– it’s still died. Bad blonde job, not grey.
There are some advantages to being part of the vast right-wing conspiracy…
I will always remember him for his post game comments to AA on Fox, when she asked if he was coming back the next year (2002?), he said it was time to start passing the hat and get a big hat. Nice.
I hated watching him flip the ball to first. I really think his 30+ defense was overrated.