FanHouse BretBoone

Bret Boone has had a long and prosperous (and occasionally controversial) career, and after a year of minor league irrelevancy and one too many failed comeback attempts, the second basemen is calling it quits. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick has the story, in which Boone admits to the rigors of getting older:

"I had no idea how hard it is when you get to be a certain age," Boone told ESPN.com. "My whole life, when the older guys would tell me, I would laugh at them -- like, 'That would never happen to me.' Now I know what 39-year-old middle infielders feel like playing every day. Wow -- it's very hard."

Boone's legacy will be defined by his hitting, an area of the game in which he was maddeningly inconsistent. To wit, Boone enjoyed two straight years of 64 OPS+ before three years of average or below average numbers, just before his 2001 153 OPS+ explosion. That 2001 year remains fishy in the same way as Brady Anderson's 50-home-run season, but really, who knows? Sometimes players just explode.

Combined, Boone retires with average career rate numbers, but sixth all-time in home runs by a second baseman. A good player, but only rarely a great one.

Are the Nationals conducting training camp or a Boone family reunion? Right about now it's not very clear. Bret Boone, who turns 39 in April, signed a minor league deal this morning, a move undoubtedly endorsed by proud papa Bob Boone, the team's assistant GM, and younger brother Aaron Boone, the team's utility infielder.

Bret hasn't played in a big league game since 2005, but that hasn't stopped him from thinking he can compete for the starting job at second base. For now, he'll work in the accelerated minor league camp, which is where Dmitri Young started out last year. After being introduced to the media, Boone alluded to some of the reasons he left the game two years ago. From MLB.com:

Boone acknowledged that there were off-field problems, and while he didn't mention what they were, he said, "I've been a guy that goes out and has a good time and maybe, at times, I had too good of a time and that catches up to you. [At some point,] you have to look in the mirror and find out where you are going with your life. I took care of some personal business."

Of course, what he doesn't mention are all of the steroid rumors that have circled him ever since his completely out of-the-blue breakout year in 2001. Maybe off-field issues really can explain his sharp decline, or maybe, you know, he simply got off the juice.

I am so sick and tired of watching the media fall back in love with Sammy. This love affair is disgusting. If there has ever been a player whose career achievements reeked more of performance-enhancement, I have yet to see him. Sammy Sosa is the biggest fraud in baseball. He puts Barry Bonds to shame. He buries McGwire. He embarrasses Brady Anderson and Bret Boone alike. And he has no place in the present day Hall of Fame.

Sammy Sosa started off as a 200 pound outfielder who never cracked a .900 OPS for the first nine years of his career. All of a sudden, he makes a jump from 36 home runs in 1997, to 66 in 1998, nearly doubling the total of the previous year, and the size of his body just the same. Then, Sosa proceeded to go on an unprecedented run, making a mockery of the home run record by slugging over 60 home runs in three out of four years. He single-handedly diminished the value of the home run. What does it prove when a 30 home run guy grows into a 60 home run guy? All the while, Sosa capitalized on hitting 350 foot home runs out of the cozy Wrigley Field, and routinely striking out over 150 times per season.