Bret Boone Retires

[DoubleX]

Bret Boone retired today. He was in Mets camp this spring. Says quite a bit if he didn't think he could challenge Kaz Matsui for the 2B position.

Here's a link to the ESPN.com article.

Once Aaron is gone, we gotta start looking forward to the 4th generation of Boones in the Majors.

[KCGHOST]

Well he was a better hitter than his Dad, but not as good as his Granddad.

[Evangelion]

Bret declined with Mariners. After 2003, his numbers decreased, but not to point where it was bad, then came 2005. He was horrible in 2005 as we all know. Not sure what happen, but he dropped from being one of the best 2B, to one of the worst in a short 2 year span.

Hey, he had 3 straight seasons with 100 plus RBI, including 141 in 01, then he just dropped off badly.

[Dontworry]

Boone and Higginson will go down in history as the highest paid .260 hitters of all-time.

[Evangelion]

Boone was only really good during 2001-2003 span. Outside that, Dontworry nailed it on the head that Boone was the highest 260. hitter that didn't put up the RBI or HR total to warrent that type of money. Outside 2001-2003 seasons, Boone was about as average of a 2B you'll ever see.

[Zito75]

Proof that steroid testing may finally be working.

[DoubleX]

Proof that steroid testing may finally be working.

I won't flat out say a player is/was a user without definitive proof, but I will say Boone has long been one of the players I suspected the most. For 8 seasons, he was very consistent with the bat. Then suddenly, at age 32, after years of consistently performing at one level, he makes a huge jump and starts hitting like very few 2Bman have ever hit before. So that's when I started to become a little suspicious. And then testing is implemented and his game completely falls apart. That's when I became a lot suspicious. Canseco also made mention of Boone in his book, but then again, that is coming from Canseco so put whatever stock you want in that.

[Big Lou1224]

You don't have to be Einstein to figure out the guy was 'roiding, usually your skills start to decline at 32, not change dramatically from mediocre to great, even if it did mean Kaz would be out of the lineup...I didn't want any part of that has-been on the Mets.

[Sweet Lou]

Ah, Boonie was part of my formative baseball years, when the Mariners won 116 games (and have nothing to show for it) and were a force to be reckoned with from 2000 to 2003. I loved his sense of humor, and I'm sure sad to see him retire, but he was fun to watch, and I hope to see him doing something in baseball, whether it's commentary or coaching, or whatever.
We'll miss ya, Boonie.
Lou

[Sweet Lou]

You don't have to be Einstein to figure out the guy was 'roiding, usually your skills start to decline at 32, not change dramatically from mediocre to great, even if it did mean Kaz would be out of the lineup...I didn't want any part of that has-been on the Mets.

Hey there, Big Lou, Welcome to Baseball Fever! I like your handle!
Sweet Lou