Bret Boone

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Boone was born in El Cajon, California, to Susan G. Roel and former major league player and manager Bob Boone. He is also the grandson of former major leaguer Ray Boone and brother of former major leaguer and current New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, as well as a descendant of pioneer Daniel Boone. As a child, Boone hung out in the Phillies clubhouse with Pete Rose Jr., his brother Aaron, Ryan Luzinski, and Mark McGraw. He is a graduate of El Dorado High School in Placentia, California. Boone attended the University of Southern California and played for the team, but left after his junior year of college when he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the fifth round. In 2016 Boone released an autobiography, Home Game: Big-League Stories from My Life in Baseball's First Family.

In Their Own Story

In 2001, Bret Boone returned to Seattle as an established All-Star who had averaged 21 home runs from 1998 through 2000. Now hitting .331 with a league-leading 141 RBIs, he broke the Mariners' second baseman home run record with 37. The team advanced to the ALCS after winning 116 games, tying the 1906 Cubs for the most wins in a season. The following year, on May 2, 2002, Boone and Mike Cameron achieved a unique feat against the Chicago White Sox: both players hit two home runs in the first inning alone. Despite his offensive dominance, the team eventually lost the ALCS to the New York Yankees.

Reader's Guide

Boone started his playing career with the Seattle Mariners, where he set the club record for home runs in a season by second baseman in 1993 (12 in 76 games) but was traded that same year to the Cincinnati Reds along with Erik Hanson. He spent the next four seasons with Cincinnati as their everyday second baseman. In his final year with the team, Boone earned his first All-Star Game appearance as a replacement for the injured Sammy Sosa. For his defensive play that year, he was also awarded his first Gold Glove Award. On the last day of that 1998 season, the Reds helped him make baseball history by starting the only infield ever composed of two sets of brothers - first baseman Stephen Larkin, second baseman Bret Boone, shortstop Barry Larkin, and third baseman Aaron Boone. An offseason trade sent Boone to the Atlanta Braves, where he contributed to the fifth of what would become eleven consecutive NL East division titles on their way to a World Series appearance. During their postseason run, Boone posted a .370/.369/.481 slash line that included a 7 for 14 World Series performance where the Braves ultimately lost in a sweep by the New York Yankees. Another winter trade sent Boone to the San Diego Padres for the 2000 season, after which he entered free agency. In 2001, Boone returned to the Mariners, the organization with which he came up from 1990 to 1993. Now an All-Star, and having averaged 21 home runs a year from 1998 through 2000, twice reaching a career high in doubles (at 38, in 1998 and 1999), Boone's superior play continued as he led the league in runs batted in (141), while producing a batting average of .331. He also broke the Mariners' team record of home runs for a second baseman with 37, while also hitting 37 doubles. Boone started in the All-Star Game at Safeco Field, received a Silver Slugger Award, and finished third in the AL MVP voting. His Mariners paced the league with a record 116 wins, earning the AL West championship and advancing to the ALCS, tying the all-time team record for wins in a season with the Chicago Cubs. The following year, Boone won a Gold Glove Award for his defense and continued to show the power he had demonstrated the previous years, hitting 24 home runs with 34 doubles. On May 2, 2002, Boone and teammate Mike Cameron became the first teammates to each hit two home runs in a single inning, doing so in the first innin

Did You Know?

• Boone started in the 2001 All-Star Game at Safeco Field.
• Boone and Mike Cameron became the first teammates to each hit two home runs in a single inning, doing so on May 2, 2002.
• Boone is a third-generation professional athlete; his father Bob Boone and grandfather Ray Boone both played in MLB.
• Boone led the American League in runs batted in (141) in 2001.