Bob Boone was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the sixth round of the 1969 amateur draft after attending Stanford University where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity. He was brought to the majors in late 1972. While Boone never had excellent hitting numbers, he was a phenomenal defensive catcher, committing only eight errors and allowing only three passed balls in the 1977 season. Boone made the National League All-Star team three times in a Phillies uniform and helped the team win the 1980 World Series. In 2005, Boone was inducted into the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame.
In 1982, the Phillies decided to trade the veteran catcher to the California Angels following an unproductive year from Boone and also as a possible retaliation for Boone's key role in leading the players in negotiations during the 1981 Major League Baseball strike. However, Boone rebounded by throwing out 21 of the first 34 steal attempts and helping the Angels to the AL West title. In 1983, he made his fourth and final All-Star appearance. On September 30, 1984, Boone caught Mike Witt's perfect game.
As a free agent, Boone signed with the Kansas City Royals, but a broken finger in 1990 led to his retirement at age 42 following his shortened season. Boone was a career.254 hitter with 105 home runs and 826 runs batted in, in 2,264 games. He was selected an All-Star in 1976, 1978–79, and 1983. Boone was one of the top defensive catchers of his era, winning seven Gold Glove awards. He caught 2,225 games in a 19-year big league career, a record which was later broken by Carlton Fisk . Boone caught 117 shutouts during his career, ranking him tied for 13th all-time among major league catchers.
Managing
In 1990, just after Boone retired as a player, a group trying to bring an MLB franchise to Orlando hired him to be its first manager. The job was contingent on Orlando being awarded a National League franchise to begin play in 1993; the NL instead chose Miami and Denver. Boone returned to the Royals in 1995 as the team’s manager but was let go during the 1997 season after a third straight sub-.500 season. In 2001, he was hired to be the skipper of the Cincinnati Reds, replacing Jack McKeon. However, after another two and a half sub-.500 seasons, the Reds replaced Boone with Ray Knight, on July 28, 2003.
Besides his baseball family, Bob and his family are descendants of American pioneerDaniel Boone. Bob Boone and his wife, Susan Boone, have three sons. Two of his sons, Aaron Boone and Bret Boone, are former Major League Baseball players. Bob Boone's extended family are considered sportsmen. His mother, Patsy Boone, was a synchronized swimmer who swam with Esther Williams in the movies. His sister Terry Boone was a champion swimmer, and his brother Rod Boone was a college baseball star who played Triple-A ball in the Astros and Royals organizations.
