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The Cheater's Guide to Baseball
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Boone! There goes the Boone!
Ready or not
he strikes out a lot
Boone, who turns 39 in April, hasn’t played in the majors since 2005, when he spent time with Seattle and Minnesota. He went to spring training with the New York Mets the next year but called it quits before playing an exhibition game.
“There’s something still in there,” Boone said Monday. “I look at it as I’ve got nothing to lose.”
Ahhhh, I remember when Boone had those good years. Man, that was fun.
Hickey at the PI has standard reactions.
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70 Responses to “Boone! There goes the Boone!”
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I just saw this in the ESPN ticker… I never thought I’d see that name in baseball again. What are the odds he makes the major league club?
High comedy. Good luck, Bret!
…and there is no possible way he was on steroids for the 3 years that he had big power and chipmunk cheeks.
Come on now, let’s not get into the steroid speculation, please.
I guess you could count his final year as an M as well, but he was on the downturn.
Oh I wasn’t meaning to speculate. At this point I honestly don’t care who did what.
I will say, however, that when the Mitchell Report was released, there were only a handful of names that would have crushed me had they been on the list:
Edgar
John Olerud
Ichiro
Griffey
What does Bret Boone think he has at age 39 that he didn’t have at 36?
It’s going to be a sad, sad moment when he steps in against a mid-90s fastball and discovers his bat speed is gone — and the best he can do is foul off a few of the fastballs he used to pound into power alleys and over walls.
Best of luck to Boonie. It’s a long shot, but maybe he can make the roster.
People can speculate all they want about him, but we sure got our money’s worth…a lot of production from a middle infielder in a pitcher’s park. Good luck.
Does he still have the ridiculous blonde frosted streak in his hair? I haven’t seen a recent picture.
Does he still have the ridiculous blonde frosted streak in his hair? I haven’t seen a recent picture.
I’m 40. If he’s like me, it’s mostly gray, now.
Then again, if he was like me, he’d be poor and be 40 pounds overweight.
One comment about Boone on Hickey’s blog says that Boone was “average at best” during his prime (not exactly how the commenter put it).
Really? One of the best offensive seasons ever by a second baseman is average at best?
Do all the steroid allegations taint people’s view of the accused that bad? I’m sorry, but even if some of these guys did it, it isn’t like Popeye and spinach with an immediate burst of muscles and power explosion. The guy had a couple break out career years. It happens.
C’mon, guys. Derek’s post was pretty clear.
I saw that too. What a d-bag.
I wish Boonie all the luck in the world. “Grip it whip it and flip it, baby.”
I meant “grip it, rip it and flip it.” Oh well what he hell.
Hey…where do I sign up for my try at the ML’s? If Boone can get a shot after the numbers he put up in his last year (3 years removed)…why can’t I get a shot at the big leagues???
Get up! Get on up.
Get up! Get on up.
Stay on the scene…
Like a crap machine.
Spanky - You aren’t a playoff tested grizzled veteran. That’s why.
I wonder how much of a real shot Boone has. He was lightning in a bottle once before, I suppose he could be again. Though, the age and diminished talent will surely hurt the odds.
I’m all for it, if we get to see a bat flip or two.
Let us all just be thankful that he wasn’t the “push” for Jose Lopez.
I always thought it was “here comes the Boone!”, but then again, I’m ashamed that I know even one line of P.O.D. lyrics.
Calling his Seattle seasons “average at best” is either a slap in the face or ignorance. I can’t believe that was written. Boone was a force to be reckoned with, a slick defensive player, and what appeared to be a very funny and enthusiastic player.
My favorite Mariners baseball commercial is still the Boonie Bat Flip one where Bret flips household items after finishing with them. My oh my
hmm it appears my link is not working properly, but paste this..
http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/sea/fan_forum/sea_fan_forum_2003_campaign.jsp
and head to “flip”
What happened to his promising broadcasting career?
Totally agree with 7.
No, Bret. There’s really not.
Good for Boone.
Lots of guys go on vacation in Florida with their dad and brother. It should be a fun few weeks. Who knows, maybe he will get a job coaching or something.
abender20, thanks for the link. Wonder who the ads will have this year?
18 Carson - Don’t worry Bavasi still has a prospect or two he could trade away!
Ha! Bret Boone!
Remember how his face would light up during at bats? I could always tell if he was going to get a hit by the way his eyes would bug out before a swing.
Well, his dad is the Asst. GM, and his brother is on the team, too.
Well, I never thought I’d see the layer again, but the anme is another matter, the Boones being one of three three-generation MLB families (see also, the Bells and the Hairstons)
Good luck Bret. Watching you strikeout swinging always brought a tear to my eye.
All of a sudden National League pitchers just became weak kneed. . .NOT!!
30 - Which was preceded by the opened strikeout stance…
Man, I really don’t miss that song.
I’d love to see Boone make a miracle comeback, but it’s hard to see how he could go from being done at 36 to being a major leaguer at 39. Heck, even if he been a solid player in his mid 30s, you’d expect he’d be done at 39.
Every year there are one of two guys who’ve been out of baseball for two years and show up at training camp hoping to have found the fountain of youth.
I was interested to see his comment about realising that he’d been indulging in the high life (or High Life?) too much of late, and needed to make a change…
Do all the steroid allegations taint people’s view of the accused that bad? I’m sorry, but even if some of these guys did it, it isn’t like Popeye and spinach with an immediate burst of muscles and power explosion. The guy had a couple break out career years. It happens.
I’d entirely agree. He was one of those players who just hit the groove for a little while and then fell apart. Baseball is full of that. He may have been using steroids, horse tranquilizers, LSD (as endorsed by Dock Ellis), caffeine, hypnosis, hatred of The View, or whatever performance enhancing method you can imagine…but none of those just creates those sorts of seasons.
Just ask Jamal “Strong”…
I’m sorry, the above is getting into unhealthy ground. I just never loved the whole steroid talk while he was good, and hated the steroid talk when he fell apart.
Hell, maybe he did it. But back in 2001/2002 when anyone brought up Boone and steroids I said out that pitchers and marginal players probably saw a greater benefit, so AAAA players and pitchers were much more likely candidates, and it was probably just career years for Boone. Funny how now the guys getting caught are at least 3/4 pitchers or marginal players.
If Boone makes the Nats, watch for Bavasi to acquire him at the trade deadline. It will give the Mariners a shot of proven veteran goodness as they pursue the Angels in the pennant chase this season.
Triunfel and Aumont for Boone. This will be almost as good as the Vidro trade with the Nats. Git er done, Bavasi!
What is the actual cost to sign a guy like Boone to a minor league contract with a spring training invite?
Next to nothing. Until they put him on a major league roster, they’re on the hook for probably the per-diem and little else, and if he doesn’t make the 25-man, he’ll likely pack up and go home, so big savings there.
The talk on that page of being average was quite silly.
He played gold glove (yeah, yeah, popularity contest) defense; and from 2001 – 2004 was an offensive powerhouse for a 2nd baseman. From 2001 – 2003 he was a powerhouse for about any position; hitting for average and power. It’s a shame people don’t remember just how fun he was to watch whither he was batting or in the field; all most of the kids remember is “BOOOOOOOne” and forget that there was a “NE” on the end of it; and just assume people were booing him.
He wasn’t Richie Sexson. He was arguably the best 2nd baseman playing during those years, and a big reason the M’s were so good.
I miss Boonee. And his hair!
(yeah.. I still have a mancrush on him.)
Go ahead and switch your man-crush to Angie Mentink then. She’s Boone with a wig.
So, like, am I the only one really tired of the sarcastic Bavasi trade jokes? We get it. The guy has made some bad trades, and I am in no way defending them.
While neither is smart, there is a huge difference between trading top prospects for an ace starter and top prospects for a washed up infielder (who Bavasi himself designated for assignment). The joke just isn’t funny or clever, and hasn’t been since about 1963.
“While neither is smart, there is a huge difference between trading top prospects for an ace starter and top prospects for a washed up infielder (who Bavasi himself designated for assignment).”
Bavasi did trade for a washed up infielder. His name is Jose Vidro. To compound it, he agreed to pay $12 million of the remaining $16 million on Vidro’s contract.
And sorry I couldn’t live up your lofty standards of cleverness or humor. My bad, dawg.
Yes.
How about the 2007 trades of an ace middle-reliever for a no. 7 starter straight up? Or two young, cheap players for a DH with no knees and no extra-base hits who cost $7.5 million in 2007?
The Bedard trade didn’t happen in a vacuum. Bavasi has been wholly incompetent at evaluating talent and assigning it value for a long time before that.
45- To be fair Snelling doesn’t have knees either.
Apparently, you both not only missed the part where I said I wasn’t defending the trades, but also the point of my post.
But, to clarify; I know Doyle is loved around here, and I’m one of said lovers. I also hated that trade. However, I can also realize that Doyle is oft injured and possibly will never be a productive major leaguer. His knees aren’t exactly that of a young prospect.
Also, Vidro and Boone are not an apples to apples comparison. Vidro isn’t a quality major leaguer anymore, and should be considered an infielder. His suck is currently limited to batting. The Nationals don’t get a DH, so for Boone to contribute, it’d be as a pinch hitter/defensive replacement/spot start type thing, all of which he’d likely be bad at.
It hurts to say it, but Bret Boone is a far less valuable player than Jose Vidro right now.
Make that “should not be considered an infielder.”
Boone is one of my favorite Ms of all time for the bat flip alone…the guy helped the team win and had a good time doing it for a couple of years…he’s probably washed up, but Juan Gonzales is trying to make a comeback, so why can’t Boonie?
And for all the bad trades Bavasi has made, we shouldn’t have to worry about him trading for Boonie…he already cut the guy once, and he brought in Cairo for the veteran bench player role…
I’d have to agree that the Bavasi jokes are getting a little old. We get it, he isn’t good at his job.
But let’s wait until he makes another bad decision before we rag on him some more.
Jokes/comments about Bavasi being bad at evaluating talent/making good trades: OK, whether unpopular with some people or not
Inappropriate personal attacks, like saying he smells like tuna fish (for example, I’ve never smelled the guy): Not OK
That’s the standard that comments will be moderated by, anyway.
In other “ancient (former) Mariner” news, is Jaimie Moyer — on track to start for the Phillies at age 45 — now the oldest player in baseball? Or is Julio Franco on somebody’s roster somewhere? (Or maybe Rickie has arisen once again somewhere zombies never quite go away, like Florida?)
Fracno is a free agent right now… Who knows, maybe Jamie pitches until he’s seventy.
To paraphrase Scott Hatteberg in Moneyball, as long as he can keep his changeup well away from his fastball, that alternate universe he creates will be good enough to fool hitters. Absolute speed isn’t a necessity. Although I think a 60mph fastball backed by a 45 mph changeup would no longer fool hitters.
they are listing Moyer as the oldest current player in the various spring training “RJ tries to come back” and “Wow, Kenny Rogers is old” articles ….
they finally voted Neihaus into the HOF
Yes, now time to retire. Eliminate Rizzs, Sims, Valle, et al. I want Buhner in the booth alone!
I’m still laughing about the Hendricks’ Brothers’ statistical report that compared Roger Clemens — in terms of longevity in the art of pitching in baseball — to Jamie Moyer, among others.
So we just signed Bubba Crosby…minor league deal…ST invite…
I always loved the “Boonie Buzzcut Night” commercial, with Buhner egging him on to keep up the tradition. For those of us who were here during the Funny Nose Glasses Night crap, the idea that we had something with an actual tradition attached to it, homegrown not “throw it back because they do that at Wrigley Field and so what if you’re an 11 year old kid”, made me feel good about being an M’s fan.
But seriously, Bret, if you need to spend a week or two in Florida, just buy a vacation package.
I don’t understand some of these negative comments towards Boone? It’s not like he’s signed with Seattle again so it doesn’t affect this ballclub in any way. I enjoyed Boone’s time spent in a Mariners uniform and I thought it was really unfortunate the way he went out. I hope that he does well enough to make some sort of difference with the Nats whether it be an everyday position at 2b or just as a mentor figure to some of the younger players. Go get em’ Brett!
I’m not sure that pointing out that at 39 years old he has basically zero chance of being a productive major leaguer, when he was already done as a player once at 36, is “negative”.
So, like, am I the only one really tired of people bitching about the comments on this site? I for one use every available opportunity to make a joke about Bavasi’s ability as a GM, as it is slightly more tolerable if it gives me a laugh or two.
But seriously all this USSM is too negative, why does everyone love Adam Jones, too many jokes about Bavasi, etc. crap is just getting freaking old. If you don’t like the content, don’t come to the darn site, or just read the posts and not the comments if you think the commentors are annoying. By the way great job authors/MODs, I love this place.
My apologies for opening this can of worms. I never told anyone that they shouldn’t/can’t make the jokes. I don’t have that authority. I just stated they are not creative, funny, or even close to a trade Bavasi would actually make (God, I hope not at least).
Bill Bavasi is not an idiot. I don’t want him running the baseball team I dump my cash into anymore, but he’s still smarter than I am, and a lot more qualified to run a baseball team than 99.9% of people I’ve ever interacted with.
Oh, so don’t do what you just did? Got it.
Okay, guys, let’s draw the metacommentary discussion to a close, please.
If you don’t like the direction a particular thread is going, a specific comment that is made, or just general feedback about the site, use the “email the authors” link on the side of the page; bringing it up in a comment thread only leads to arguments.
Can we not have this discussion, guys?
You know, I am sick and tired of moderators shutting things down every time I want to try and rekindle some long-smoldering argument about the site. In the future, can we please not have comments about not having discussions about comments about the site, or negativity, or fandom?
[deleted, recursive]
^^^That is just another classic example of this site’s continuing censorship of opposing viewpoints. If the moderators want to try and nudge conversation in one direction or another, why try and stop them from stopping people from stopping people? That’s just another complaint with no point or contribution, and we should all just move on.
That’s even funnier for having gone up after Graham’s
Bret Boone, along with Jay buhner, has always been one of my favorite Mariners. It may be a cliche to say that Boonie was a blue collar guy, but that’s exactly what he was. Good game or bad he always gave everything he had on the field. Shannon Drayer wrote an outstanding piece about her relationship with Boonie and it can be read on Myohmy.us. My father was an alcoholic so I can express factually what alcoholism can do to yourself or your family. I am not excusing Boonie for his drinking problems but I do understand what the pull of booze can do to someone. Did he cheat the fans and the Mariners the final couple of years he was here because his drinking left him less then 100%. You’re damn right he did. However when Bret Boone was on, he had to be one of the most exciting players of his time. I will always be grateful and will always have fond memories of “grip it, rip it and flip” and Bret Boone. Now that he has fought against is demons and is ready to return to baseball, I hope that he has an outstanding end to an aleady remarkable career. I only hope the best for him and if he were ever able to return and play in Seattle, either in our dugout or the visitors I would give him the best welcome possible. I hope everyone’s feelings are the same. Boonie, good luck to you.