Boone Says Pride Made Him Do It

In the frantic final minutes before Thursday night’s deadline, after six weeks of only intermittent negotiations, it came down to pride and principle. Bob Boone reflected on his contributions to the Angels and concluded that the dollars didn’t make sense.

“I do know I did the right thing, the only honorable thing,” Boone said Friday of his decision to reject the Angels’ one-year offer of $883,000. “If I hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t be able to motivate myself to compete at the level that I expect of myself.

“I mean, if I could play strictly for money, I’d have taken the Angels’ deal. But I have to feel good about a deal and I didn’t. I’d have had to stand up in the press conference and say, ‘I’ve been destroyed; don’t congratulate me.’ I know that the way the market is I’ll probably have to sign for less with another team, but at least my motivation will be there, and I can walk into the clubhouse with my head up.”

Boone’s old three-year, $2,750,000 contract included a $300,000 signing bonus and a $250,000 deferral to be paid over a 10-year period beginning this year. Boone looked at the $883,000 offer and figured it represented a cut from his previous three-year average of $917,000.

The Angels figured it represented a significant raise over his $700,000 salary of last year and a three-year average of $833,000, excluding the deferral.

Said Boone: “I needed the Angels to say, ‘Here, we appreciate what you’ve done in the past so we’re going to give you what you’ve made in the past ($917,000 in his view) because it’s fair and we’re going to kick in a suit of clothes on top of it.’ Well, there wasn’t a suit of clothes and there wasn’t what I made in the past. In my mind I was asked to accept a cut and the feeling I wasn’t appreciated.

“I mean, it was as if the Angels were saying, ‘OK, you had wanted two years and we beat you on that, now we’re going to kick sand on you, too.’ ”

Angel General Manager Mike Port said Friday it was ridiculous not to have completed a deal with Boone and that both sides shared the blame.

Said Boone: “I won’t accept any of the blame and you can read into that what you want. I did everything I could to keep the negotiations alive, including meeting with Mr. (Gene) Autry (the team’s owner).

“I have a very empty feeling today,” he said. “I just talked to (Manager) Gene Mauch on the telephone and he’s in as much shock as I am. It’s distressing to think I’ll never go to the plate here again and hear the crowd call out ‘ Boooone .’ ”

Only time will tell if there is a market for a 39-year-old catcher whose forte is defense and durability. Only time will tell if there is a free-agent market, period.

The Oakland A’s, Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox, who failed to sign catcher Rich Gedman before the Thursday deadline, are expected to show interest in Boone.

Port, meanwhile, said that the Angels had directed their energy toward re-signing Boone and had yet to analyze their catching situation.

The choice would seem to be between former Yankee Butch Wynegar, who did not play after July 31 because of mental stress, and a free agent such as Gedman or Lance Parrish, the Yorba Linda resident who rejected the Detroit Tigers’ final proposal of one guaranteed year at $1.2 million.

“It doesn’t cost to listen,” Port said of possible talks with Gedman and Parrish.

Third baseman Doug DeCinces, who joined Brian Downing in re-signing with the Angels Thursday night, will receive a guaranteed salary of $850,000 in 1987 and can make another $200,000 based on $50,000 for 400 appearances at the plate, $50,000 for 480 and $100,000 for 520. DeCinces made $1.1 million in salary and incentives last year.

His 1988 salary of $850,000 is not guaranteed. He can make an additional $300,000 on plate appearances if the Angels retain him that year.