Books and articles about Bob Boone

When he retired in 1990, Boone's 2,264 games caught stood as a major-league record. That mark was soon topped by Carlton Fisk, but Boone still ranks as one of the most durable catchers in major-league history.

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RELATED LINKS Book Excerpts » The Boones: Three Generations in Baseball from Bob Feller's Little Black Book of Baseball Wisdom Submissions » Gold & Silver Catchers by Chuck Rosciam » Iron Men Catchers: Catching the Majority of a Team's Games by Chuck Rosciam » Ex-Catchers Are The Choice As Managers by Chuck Rosciam Corrections » July 18, 2002 (#23) Around the Web » Peña's departure epitomizes out of sight, out of mind from kansascity.com » Bob Boone from baseball-reference.com » Bob Boone from thebaseballpage.com Jump directly to Library content from any website!

The son of Tigers All-Star third baseman Ray Boone (and the father of future major-leaguers Bret and Aaron) Bob attended Stanford University before reaching the majors in late 1972. Although he had several good seasons at the plate, his value lay in his defensive skills and his handling of pitchers. In 1977, his eight errors and three passed balls were the lowest totals among NL catchers. He started for Philadelphia's three straight division champions (1976-78) as well as the World Championship club of 1980.

None of this would have come to pass if an agreed trade at the 1974 winter meetings had not fallen through at the last minute. The Phillies and Tigers shook hands on a deal that would have sent Boone and pitcher Larry Christenson to Philadelphia for ageing veterans Bill Freehan and Jim Northrup, but a last-minute tirade from owner Ruly Carpenter forced Hugh Alexander to call off the trade.

After Boone's off-year in 1981 (.211, 4 HR, 24 RBI), the Phillies decided that Keith Moreland was ready to take over behind the plate and traded their veteran catcher to the Angels. The deal was a bust. While Moreland struggled, Boone threw out 21 of the first 34 AL runners attempting to steal against him and steadied the Angels' pitching staff as the club took the AL West title.

Boone remained the Angels' starting catcher for seven years, but was let go at the age of 40 after hitting a career-high .295 in 1988. He signed with the Royals as a free agent and led them in 1989 with a .350 batting average with runners in scoring position, but in 1990 a broken finger limited him to 40 games.

Boone decided to retire after the season, but returned to the Royals in 1995 as the club's skipper. Constantly searching for the right mix, he showed an affinity for challenging players in new roles. (In 1996, the Kansas City Star charted Boone's daily lineup changes in a daily "Boone-O-Meter," which concluded that the manager had used 152 different batting orders in the Royals' 161 games.) His second stay in Kansas City lasted less than two years, ending when Tony Muser took over midway through the 1997 season.

Boone got another chance to manage when the Reds hired him to replace Jack McKeon in November 2000. With Aaron Boone on the Reds' roster, Bob became only the sixth man in major-league history to manage his son. (SG/JGR)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » December 2, 1974: After several rounds of bourbon are consumed by Phillies GM Paul Owens and Detroit GM Jim Campbell at the winter meetings, Owens agrees to trade promising catcher Bob Boone and P Larry Christensen to Detroit for veterans Bill Freehan and Jim Northrup. Tomorrow morning, Owens won't recall the trade and the deal is never made. "How do you unshake a handshake?" says the disappointed Campbell. » August 29, 1976: In 15 innings, the Reds beat the Phillies, 6–5. Cincy ties the game in the 9th when Pete Rose scores from 2B on a Bob Boone passed ball. Both teams score in the 13th before Ken Griffey drives home the winner in the 15th. » December 2, 1978: TSN announces the Gold Glove winners. SS Mark Belanger wins for the 8th and final time, while 1B Keith Hernandez and C Bob Boone are each honored for the first time. » May 17, 1979: The wind is really blowing out at Wrigley as the Cubs (6) and the Phillies (5) combine for a ML-record-tying 11 home runs and 97 total bases during a wild 10-inning slugfest won 23–22 by the Phils. Dave Kingman has three home runs and six RBIs for the Cubs, while teammate Bill Buckner has a grand slam and seven RBIs. Mike Schmidt's two home runs include the game-winner in the 10th off Cub relief ace Bruce Sutter. Bob Boone has five RBIs and Larry Bowa five hits. The Phils jump to a 7–0 lead in the 1st and lead 15–6 after three innings, and 21–9 going into the bottom of the 6th but can't hold it. Rawly Eastwick shuts out the Cubs for two frames to win. The two teams combine to have 21 different players score runs and the 2-team total of 47 extra bases on long hits (24-Phi) sets a ML mark for an extra inning game. It is the largest scoring game in the majors since August 25, 1922, when these same two teams met. » April 14, 1982: In the longest game ever played at Anaheim Stadium, the Angels beat Seattle 4–3 on Bob Boone's RBI single in the bottom of the 20th inning. The game began yesterday, but was suspended after 17 innings. In the 20 innings, Angels SS Rick Burleson accounts for ML-record 15 assists. In the scheduled contest, California wins again, 2–1 in 10 innings. » July 27, 1982: Against California, Oakland's Rickey Henderson steals his 95th base but gets caught stealing three times in an 8–7, 13 inning California win. Not since 1916, has an American Leaguer been thrown out three times in a game. Rickey will be thrown out 42 times this year, breaking the mark of 38 caught steals set by Ty Cobb in 1915. Bob Boone, who is behind the plate, homers for the Angels. Reggie Jackson and Brian Downing homer and Jax adds two doubles. » July 31, 1986: Brian Downing and Bob Boone each hit grand slams off Oakland's Eric Plunk to lead the Angels to an 8–5 victory. » January 8, 1987: Ten free agents (Tim Raines, Lance Parrish, Bob Horner, Andre Dawson, Rich Gedman, Ron Guidry, Bob Boone, Doyle Alexander, Toby Harrah, and Gary Roenicke) fail to meet a midnight deadline and thus will not be allowed to re-sign with their former clubs until May 1st if they are not offered contracts by new teams. The general lack of interest in the players will become the focus of the Players' Association's first anti-collusion suit against the owners. » May 1, 1987: Free-agents Ron Guidry (Yankees), Rich Gedman (Red Sox), Bob Boone (Angels), and Tim Raines (Expos) all re-sign with their former clubs on the first day that they are allowed to do so. Doyle Alexander will re-sign with the Braves on May 5th. » September 16, 1987: In a 6–4 win, California's Bob Boone catches his 1,919th ML game to break the record held by Hall of Famer Al Lopez. » July 15, 1988: California's Bob Boone catches his 2,000th ML game as the Angels beat Detroit 6–4. » November 30, 1988: The Royals sign veteran catcher Bob Boone, who hit a career-high .295 last season. » June 24, 1993: Carlton Fisk of the White Sox, plays his 2,226 and final ML game, surpassing Bob Boone's record of 2,225 for most games caught. Fisk reluctantly retires with 3,999 total bases, the most ever for a catcher. The Sox will exacerbate Fisk's bitterness by refusing to allow him into the locker room after the Sox make the playoffs this year. When the Sox retire Fisk #72 in 1997, Fisk will request that Jerry Reinsdorf and GM Ron Schueler not be there for the ceremony, and when he goes into Cooperstown he will wear a Red Sox cap. A clerical error about three games caught in 1981 in which Fisk relieved initially gives him a total of 2,229 games caught. This error will appear on Fisk's Hall of Fame plaque when he is inducted, the 5th edition of Total Baseball, and the 1997 edition of The Sports Encyclopedia-Baseball. Other records books such as the final edition of The Baseball Encyclopedia, the 1997 editions of The Sporting News Complete Baseball Record Book and the Elias Book of Baseball Records both correctly showed him with 2,226 games caught lifetime. SABR historian Wayne McElreavy and others note the discrepancy and the plaque and subsequent editions of the record books have corrected the total to 2,226. » October 7, 1994: The Kansas City Royals name Bob Boone manager. » April 26, 1995: At Kansas City, Royals Kevin Appier is lifted after six 2/3 innings of no hit ball. Appier had thrown just 11 1/3 innings in spring training and manager Bob Boone does not want to risk injury. Appier is ahead 3–0 when he exits and the Royals win 5–1. Nolan Ryan, in the 1990 opener, also was lifted in a no hitter because of limited work in spring training. » May 9, 1997: Against the Royals in the 6th inning, the Yankees catch Jay Bell in a rundown when Bell is suddenly called out by umpire Dale Ford, who thinks he passed the preceding baserunner, Jose Offerman. Offerman, however, had been forced out at 3B. Royals' manager Bob Boone argues until the umps agree and put runners back at 2B and 3B and call for a resumption of play. Chili Davis then lines a 2-run single off Kenny Rogers to tie the score. The Royals win 7–5 in 12 innings, with the victory going to Randy Veres. The Yanks protest that the rundown play should not have been reversed. Gene Budig will dismiss the protest, stating that with the rundown there were several scenarios where Bell could have escaped a tag. » July 9, 1997: Bob Boone is fired as Royals' manager and replaced by Tony Muser. » November 3, 2000: After being turned down by several candidates, the Reds name Bob Boone as their new manager.