Blast fro the past

Little Slide Rooter · February 18, 2008

The Washington Nationals today signed a non-guaranteed minor-league contract with second baseman Bret Boone, who will begin his workouts in the Nationals' Accelerated Development Program next week. Nationals Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden made the announcement.
Boone is a career .266 hitter (1775-for-6683) with 366 doubles, 252 home runs and 1021 RBI in 1780 games spanning 14 seasons with Seattle, Cincinnati, Atlanta, San Diego and Minnesota. He last played in 2005, when he split the season with the Mariners and Twins, tallying seven home runs and 37 RBI in 88 games for the two clubs.

A three-time All-Star (1998, 2001, 2003), Boone has earned a pair of AL Silver Slugger Awards (2001, 2003) and four Gold Glove (1998, 2002-04) citations. He currently ranks third all-time in home runs hit as a second baseman (251), trailing only Jeff Kent (339) and Hall-of-Famer Ryne Sandberg (277). Boone's 1013 career RBI as a second baseman rank fourth all-time behind just Kent (1331), Roberto Alomar (1107) and Lou Whitaker (1041). Boone's offensive and defensive efforts resulted in three post-season berths, most recently with Seattle's 116-win club in 2001.

Bret is reunited in Washington with his father Bob, Nationals Assistant General Manager/Vice President of Player Development, and his younger brother Aaron, who signed with the Nationals as a free agent on December 6, 2007. Bret and Aaron were teammates with the Reds for portions of the 1997 and '98 seasons. The 372 combined career homers hit by Bret and Aaron rank 10th all-time among brothers according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Bret's and Aaron's grandfather, Ray, also played in the big leagues and serves as the patriarch of baseball's three-generation Boone family. All four Boone's hit at least 100 career big league home runs.