Boone Straightens Up, Hits One Out : Back Spasm Aside, 40-Year-Old’s Home Run Is His 100th

Sometimes even Bob Boone is reminded that he’s too old for this sort of thing. Squatting in the dirt for a couple of hours while guys fling baseballs at you is clearly stuff for younger men.

Take Sunday evening, for instance. Boone came home from work, was lifting weights in his back yard and suffered a back spasm. Back problems plague a lot of 40-year-olds. You know, a few extra pounds, poor posture, bucket seats in the car, too much time behind a desk.

Boone, of course, is not your typical 40-year-old and his back problems aren’t the result of a lack of exercise or poor body mechanics. He’s a fitness fanatic who spends his off-seasons making like the Karate Kid, but even a rigorous martial arts regimen can’t completely stem the tide of Father Time when you make your living as a catcher.

Still, Boone is one of the best at bucking the odds.

So Boone stretched and applied a heat treatment and by Monday night, it looked like the same old Boone behind the plate. He threw out a runner who dared to try to steal; he blocked the plate while guys half his age tried to dislodge the ball from his grip; he slapped a single and he hit a home run.

Hit a home run?

OK, maybe it wasn’t the same old Boone.

In the second inning of Monday night’s 5-3 loss to Kansas City in Anaheim Stadium, the Angels’ middle-aged mainstay reached another milestone. With two out and Wally Joyner on second, Boone hit a 2-2 pitch from Floyd Bannister over the 386 sign in left-center. It was the 100th home run of Boone’s career.

“I’ve been aware of it for a long time, so it’s sort of like getting a monkey off my back,” Boone said. “It’s nice, but when you pound out 100 homers in 16 years, well, it’s not that much.”

Boone has learned that good things come to those who persevere. He has played in 2,017 games, tying him with Jose Cardenal and Aurelio Rodriguez for 126th on the all-time list.

Patience is also a Boone virtue . . . and it’s a good thing. He waited 63 games and the better part of a year to hit No. 100. He has hit only 4 home runs in the last 208 games and 3 of the 4 have come against the Royals. He also drove in his first run at home in almost two months. It was his first multiple-hit game in the same period as well.

“The way I’ve been swinging lately, I didn’t know if it would ever come,” Boone said. “It was a fastball. You’ve got to throw a pretty perfect pitch to get it in my wheelhouse and he did. Heck, I was just tickled to get a good swing on a ball for a change.”

This good swing had to bring a smile to the face of Boone’s father, Ray. Ray Boone hit 151 homers during 12 major league seasons, so the Boones become the second father-son tandem to hit 100 or more home runs. Gus Bell (206 homers) and Cincinnati’s Buddy Bell (194) were the first to gain the distinction.

Bob Boone’s son, Bret, a freshman standout at USC, gives the Boone clan the potential to someday make it a three-generation record.

Ironically, Boone was watching his son work out when he hurt his back Sunday evening.

“I wasn’t concentrating and I locked up pretty good,” Boone said. “I was still locked up today, but when I saw my name on the lineup card, I figured I’d give it a go.”

No surprise there. But this quintessential pro could be in his final season. His defensive prowess and the intangible advantage his experience provides the Angel pitching staff can’t outweigh that .203 batting average forever.

“He’s an amazing individual,” Manager Cookie Rojas said. “Can you recollect, in 100 years of baseball, another guy who’s played that position and lasted this long?”

No one has caught more games than Boone, who appeared behind the plate in No. 1,981 Monday night.