Bret Boone: No. 9 Mariner All-Time

Photo Source: [frinklinspeaks]

For 30 days, Baseball Tonight will reveal the top three all-time players voted by the fans. Participate by voting here. The All-Time Franchise players from the Mariners will be chosen on Tuesday, August 19th. Over the next couple weeks, I am going to countdown my own ranking of the ten players on the ballot.

Number 9

Bret Boone, 2B 1992-1992, 2001-2005
 

The first third generation major league player in the history of baseball. Bret Boone had something other players didn't have, baseball blood. His grandpa, dad, and brother all played major league baseball. He started out his major league career as a Mariner in 1992 but then was traded to the Reds in 1993 for Bobby Ayala and Dan Wilson.

In 2000 the Mariners would sign the 2nd base free agent. Oh and did it pay off. Maybe the only reason Bret Boone is on this list is the fact that he had one of the best single season performances of any Mariners offensive player ever. 

Boone he had a monster season in 2001 at the plate, hitting .331, 37 home runs, 141 rbis, and 206 hits. All of these were career highs for Boonie. If it wasn't for Bret Boone in 2001, the Mariners would have never reached the record 116 wins that season. 

Besides having superb defense and all-star years in 2001 and 2003, Boone's benefits were reaped in the clubhouse. Boonie had one of the most contagious smiles and was instrumental in the team's chemistry in 2001. Let's try to forget about the drinking problem err..


We aren't going to speculate whether steroids may have played a role in his offensive decline. Steroids or not, Bret Boone was traded to the Twins after a disappointing 2005 first half. In the 2006 off-season Boone called it quits but then would try to make a comeback with the Nationals in 2008, but subsequently would finalize his retirement.

Mariner Records:
No.6 Home Runs-143

No.6 RBIs-535

Sources: Baseball Library Baseball Reference 

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