Bob Boone, the four-time All-Star catcher who anchored the Philadelphia Phillies' first World Series championship team and became the patriarch of baseball's first three-generation family, died Monday at the age of 78, his family announced on Tuesday.
Boone's son Bret, a former major league second baseman, announced his father's death on social media on Tuesday. No cause of death was announced. The Major League Baseball Players Association and the New York Yankees, whose manager is Boone's son Aaron, both released statements honoring him. "My dad - he was my mentor, my coach, my rock. He taught me how to be a pro and more importantly, how to be a man," Bret wrote.
Drafted by the Phillies in the sixth round of the 1969 draft out of Stanford University as a third baseman, Boone was converted to catcher in the minor leagues and made his major league debut on September 10, 1972. He played 19 seasons in the majors - 10 with the Phillies from 1972 to 1981, seven with the California Angels from 1982 to 1988, and two with the Kansas City Royals in 1989 and 1990 - finishing with 1,838 hits, 105 home runs and 826 RBIs in 2,264 games.
Boone's defining moment came in the 1980 World Series, when he batted .412 (7-for-17) with four RBIs as the Phillies beat the Royals in six games for the first championship in franchise history. He was the first Phillies catcher to win a Gold Glove, and he won seven in all - in 1978, 1979, 1982 and from 1986 through 1989 - along with four All-Star selections in 1976, 1978, 1979 and 1983. He caught 2,225 games in his career, the third-most in major league history behind Hall of Famers Ivan Rodriguez (2,427) and Carlton Fisk (2,226), and he caught Mike Witt's perfect game for the Angels on September 30, 1984. The Phillies inducted him into their Wall of Fame in 2005.
The Boone name runs through three generations of the game. His father, Ray Boone, was an All-Star infielder; his sons Bret, a two-time All-Star second baseman, and Aaron, the Yankees' manager, both played in the majors, making the Boones baseball's first three-generation family. "The Yankees mourn the passing of Bob Boone, who grew up in our sport and spent a lifetime giving back to the game he loved as an exceptional player, respected manager and distinguished executive," the team said in a statement.
After retiring as a player in 1990, Boone managed the Kansas City Royals from 1995 to 1997 and the Cincinnati Reds from 2001 to 2003, compiling a 371-444 record and managing his son Aaron for nearly three seasons in Cincinnati. Born in San Diego on November 19, 1947, he died 10 days short of his 79th birthday.
