Boone Makes First Return to Anaheim Stadium : Former Angel Catcher Chats About Pitching Inside and $1 Raise He Got in K.C.

Bob Boone tore out of town so fast last November we hardly had the chance to say goodby. Or tie up loose ends and/or lips. Or ask what he planned to do with that extra dollar Kansas City was throwing in the pot to pry him away from the Angels.

Let’s see, if Boone invested the dollar wisely in a regular savings account at six percent, he’ll more than double his money in 20 years.

Boone might be saving the dough for a bag of peanuts, or a down payment on a gallon of gas.

“No comment,” Boone said, breaking into laughter before Friday night’s series opener with the Angels at Anaheim Stadium. “I need John (Angel publicist Sevano) to get me some extra tickets, so I’m not going to touch that one.”

Boone, of course, signed as a free agent with Kansas City in the off-season for $883,001, exactly one hundred pennies more than his Angel contract of 1988. But oh, if that dollar could talk.

You remember the details: Boone was coming off his best season as a big leaguer in 1988, hitting a career high .295 while sharing the team’s most valuable award. He’d won three gold gloves in seven years with the Angels but hadn’t received a raise since 1986. He really wanted one.

The Angels, figuring a 41-year-old catcher couldn’t hit .295 again if his career depended on it, went out and signed another free-agent catcher, Lance Parrish. Boone saw it as cutting into his playing time, and received all offers. In the meantime, Angel management played the negotiating game with Boone, which meant not negotiating much at all.

Boone grew impatient and grabbed for the big bucks, well, the big buck. Angel owner Gene Autry, who apparently wanted to keep Boone all along, is still waiting for a return phone call.

So it was under this cloud of intrigue that Boone returned for the first time Friday night, though you’d never know it by the way Boone was carrying on.

“I’m pleased the organization is doing well,” Boone said of the Angels. “I care about this organization. You don’t just cut the Angels out of your soul. Regardless of everything that had been written, I didn’t go away mad. I certainly understood the situation. As to whether there was an oversight or whatever, it doesn’t really concern me. It’s just the way it was. I owe a lot to this organization. I wouldn’t be standing here now if it wasn’t for the Angels. A lot of people here are good friends of mine that I care about a lot. I’m tickled to see them doing so well. I wish they were just doing slightly worse.”

So much for controversy. There was hope, however, in pursuing the other inside story on Boone, who was supposedly criticized by some--though it was never clear by whom--who said that he was afraid of calling for inside pitches while with the Angels. The gist here is that the Angels are calling them now, with some success.

So might the story have been spread by organizational insiders trying to get even for Boone’s abrupt defection?

Nonsense, Boone said.

“From the people I’ve talked to, I don’t believe the organization was laying it on me,” Boone insisted. “If you want to talk and say that Lance Parrish is doing a great job, and say our pitching staff is doing a great job, fine. But I did not hear that was because Bob Boone was lousy at it. That’s the innuendo that came from the statements. How else are you going to say ‘Well, Lance Parrish is doing a great job?’ I certainly expected Lance to do a great job. Lance is one of my best friends, I’m pulling for him, but not too much--just enough to finish second. But there’s no question Lance Parrish is a quality player. He’s probably one of the reasons I’m here (in Kansas City).”

Boone said he never paid much attention to the inside-pitch comments.

“I read that as being blown out of proportion, and that’s the way I took it,” he said. “If you asked somebody what you’re doing different this year, you can say we’re pitching aggressively. You have to do with what you have. All those things I read were very true.”

Boone said he took offense only because others tried to make something of it.

“When it’s presented to me in the way that ‘Hey, here’s the difference,’ well, that’s not true,” he said. “You’re talking about apples and oranges. You don’t have the same pitching staff. It’s easy to say you’ve got to pitch in. But you’ve got to pitch with what you have.”

And what Boone had last year doesn’t compare with what Parrish has now.

“You’ve got no (Bert) Blyleven, no Kirk McCaskill (who was injured),” Boone said, recalling the staff of 1988. “And you’re talking about a changed Chuck Finley, which I thought was going to happen, but then it was still a what if. And no (Jim) Abbott. You’re talking about a pitching staff that was (Willie) Fraser, (Jack) Lazorko and (Dan) Petry.”

Boone has put the Angel years behind him and continues to roll on through his 17th major league season. He entered Friday night’s game with a .252 average--his career average is .253--and had thrown out nine out of 27 runners attempting to steal.

Still, he knew there would be emotion spent entering the series.

“I’ve never played against a team that I’ve played with before,” Boone said. “I was pretty fired up when I played against the Phillies this spring for the first time. I’m sure I’ll be pretty keyed up tonight.”

Boone was. He came to bat in the top of the third inning as an Anaheim Stadium crowd chanted “Boooooooone,” as they had in seven previous seasons. Or were those really booos this time?

Boone stuck out his bat and fisted a double to right field, just out of the sprawling reach of Angel center fielder Devon White. It was a vintage Boone hit--one of two he got Friday. Seemed just like old times.

“From the time I left, it was the right thing to do.” Boone said of his decision to sign with the Royals. “I’m still convinced it is. It’s sad to leave, but it was the right thing to do. I’ve never had remorse, and I’ve really enjoyed being a part of this organization. It’s top notch. I’m having a great time.”