One of the things about Boone is that toward the end of his career, there was a perception by some writers that he was a likely HOFer, mainly due to the games caught record he broke (which has since been shattered). Yet shortly thereafter, Boone's stock dropped, and he was off the HOF ballot in 5 years.
Two things happened to Boone: One, is that his games caught record (a record which stood for decades before Boone broke it) was soon broken, and then broken again. (Boone is now 3rd on the all time list for games caught.) The other thing is that Boone became a manager, and was largely unsuccessful at it. He was named by Rich DeVos to be the manager for his proposed Orlando MLB franchise; that went kaput when DeVos didn't get the expansion franchise. Then, he became the Royals manager in 1995, but was unpopular AND unsuccessful. This period of unsuccessful managing coincided with his entry onto the BBWAA ballot, and I believe this caused a diminishment of Boone's image as a winner. "He was a flop as manager; how much "leadership" did he really exert as a catcher?" That's a thought that went through my mind and, I'm sure, through HOF voters' minds. Anyway, I believe his tenure as Royals' manager hurt his image to where he was dropped from the ballot after 5 years:
Hall of Fame
1996 BBWAA ( 7.7%)
1997 BBWAA ( 5.9%)
1998 BBWAA ( 5.5%)
1999 BBWAA ( 5.4%)
2000 BBWAA ( 4.2%)
Two things happened to Boone: One, is that his games caught record (a record which stood for decades before Boone broke it) was soon broken, and then broken again. (Boone is now 3rd on the all time list for games caught.) The other thing is that Boone became a manager, and was largely unsuccessful at it. He was named by Rich DeVos to be the manager for his proposed Orlando MLB franchise; that went kaput when DeVos didn't get the expansion franchise. Then, he became the Royals manager in 1995, but was unpopular AND unsuccessful. This period of unsuccessful managing coincided with his entry onto the BBWAA ballot, and I believe this caused a diminishment of Boone's image as a winner. "He was a flop as manager; how much "leadership" did he really exert as a catcher?" That's a thought that went through my mind and, I'm sure, through HOF voters' minds. Anyway, I believe his tenure as Royals' manager hurt his image to where he was dropped from the ballot after 5 years:
Hall of Fame
1996 BBWAA ( 7.7%)
1997 BBWAA ( 5.9%)
1998 BBWAA ( 5.5%)
1999 BBWAA ( 5.4%)
2000 BBWAA ( 4.2%)
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