Bye, Bye Boonie

No matter how you felt about Brett Boone when he was abruptly shown the clubhouse door last July, you have to admit that he was once a key force in the Seattle Mariners line-up.

Yup, things were bleak at the end. There were days when the once golden glove seemed to have been cast in bronze and couldn't catch a basketball. And the bat? Seemed like Boonie was wielding a broomstick rather than a piece of sculpted ash. Probably the victim of desperation, of wanting the big hit that would knock the monkey right off his back. Never came, though. Finally the Mariners, desperate enough themselves, had had enough and put the spirited second baseman on waivers where he lingered for 8 long days until picked up by the Twins for what amounted to little more than a nightmarish vacation, lasting just 2 weeks. After a long, hard summer he finally signed with the Mets organization last January. But by then, something had changed, Boone had lost his passion.

New York's training camp in Port St. Lucie was the site of his tearful resignation where he cited his dulling edge.

"It wasn't as easy as even three or four years ago, but I had lost the edge. I couldn't look in the mirror and think that I would get that edge back."

True Mariners fans will long remember the contributions Brett Boone made for the 3 1/2 years he wore the M's uniform. Averaging 32 homers and 119 RBIs. Notably his part in the glorious 2001 season in which the Mariners won 116 games. Boone impressively belted in 37 homers and drove in 147 runs, averaging .331 for the season. A gratifying highlight of a respectable, 14 year career that any major leaguer could be proud of.