His Love of the Game for Half a Century Bridges Generation Gap : Baseball: Ray Boone’s son Bob had a 19-year career, and his grandson Bret is continuing the family tradition.

During Ray Boone’s 13-year career in the major leagues, his peak salary was $32,500. If he were in his prime today, he would be earning about a hundred times that much.

Under the circumstances, Boone, 68, who attended Hoover High in San Diego and lives in Alpine, Calif., might be tempted to say he was born too soon. His son, Bob, made a more handsome living in 19 major league seasons, and his grandson, Bret, is on the brink of a career that could make him a multimillionaire. Bob and Bret live in Villa Park.

But don’t expect the eldest Boone to complain. He couldn’t be happier as he begins his 32nd season as a scout for the Boston Red Sox--the job he has had since he retired as a player in 1960.

And he is excited about the likelihood that Bret will soon make the Boones the first three-generation family in the major leagues. Bret, a former USC player, is expected to be the Seattle Mariners’ second baseman by next year. He was an all-star with the Mariners’ double-A team at Jacksonville, Fla., last season, his second as a pro.

Still, Ray’s satisfaction goes beyond the family angle.

“I love the way it is now,” he said. “Nobody ever takes into account the five years these guys bounced around the minor leagues, or maybe even six or seven years. It’s not all glory. It’s not like they walked out of their living rooms and made a lot of money.

“Actually, we’ve all been overpaid. Sure, my top salary was only $32,500 after leading the American League in runs batted in, but three of my friends were getting $2,500 a year as coaches. So I wasn’t doing all that bad.”

Boone noted that despite escalating salaries, ticket prices have not soared out of sight.

“If I was a season-ticket holder, I’d want to see the best players my team could put on the field,” Boone said. “When I was playing, Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio made around $125,000, and our minimum was $5,000. Now people complain about ballplayers’ salaries, yet they’ll go to movie theaters and stand in lines a block long, and you never hear anybody say, ‘This guy is making $8 million for this movie.’

“People will go to Las Vegas and slip the maitre d’ $10, and maybe spend $60 or $70 on the total show. Maybe the stars they see are considered better entertainers than us.

“I like our standard of living the way it is. You talk about the good old days, but before the recession, this was the good old days for me.”

Boone isn’t one to live in the past.

“I don’t go for the good old days,” he said. “Maybe the camaraderie we had on train rides, when we talked baseball all the time, but not that better baseball was played then.”

Regardless of any comparison between the players of today and yesteryear, there is no denying that advanced training techniques can lead to greater longevity.

“Players last longer now because they work out all winter,” Boone said. “I guarantee you, when we finished the season on a Sunday, we’d be working on a job by Tuesday. We had to have off-season jobs to make a living.

“My son Bob had such a great work ethic that three or four times a week, he’d work out after games for two hours. He had four knee operations, yet he played till he was 44.”

In a career that stretched from 1972 through 1990, Bob Boone, a Stanford graduate, caught more games than any other man in major league history--2,225. He also set major league records for putouts, chances accepted and seasons catching 100 or more games (15). He will make his managerial debut this season at triple-A Tacoma in the Oakland Athletics’ farm system.

Another of Ray’s sons, Rod, was a catcher-outfielder in the Kansas City and Houston organizations from 1972 through 1975. He advanced as far as triple A, returned to school and earned a degree in civil engineering from Stanford and now owns a construction company with brother Bob in Mission Viejo.

The Boone baseball legacy doesn’t stop there. Bret’s younger brother, Aaron, is USC’s starting second baseman as a freshman.

Ray hit .275 and played in two All-Star games in a major league career from 1948 through 1960. He was first a shortstop, then a third baseman and finally a first baseman in an odyssey that took him to the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Braves and Red Sox.

Ray received a $500 bonus out of high school 50 years ago for signing with the Indians. He was a catcher then (Bob was originally a third baseman) and remained one until he played at Oklahoma City in 1947. That was only his third pro season, after missing the 1943, 1944 and 1945 seasons while serving in the military in World War II.

“We had a sixth-place club, and players were coming and going all the time,” Boone said. “We must have had five or six shortstops by then, and a new guy who was supposed to play short one day didn’t arrive on time.

“The manager, Pat Ankenman, asked me if I’d ever played shortstop. If I said I hadn’t, he’d have to play, so I played it and enjoyed it. The next year, they had a guy named Jim Hegan, who was a great defensive catcher, and I didn’t see myself beating him out, so I became a full-time shortstop.”

Boone was a member of the Hollywood Stars briefly in 1948, and recalled seeing movie stars at every game.

“Bill Frawley (later on ‘I Love Lucy’) even traveled with us,” Boone said. “They wanted me to stay, but Oklahoma City was crying, so I went back there, and I was glad I did. I got used to playing in 110-degree heat.”

Boone joined the Indians before that season was over and eventually succeeded Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau at shortstop. He became a third baseman after being traded to the Tigers in 1953.

“They had Harvey Kuenn at short, so I moved over to third,” Boone said. “Playing third was easy. It was like stealing compared to playing short.”

Boone tied an American League record that season by hitting four grand slams, two before the trade and two afterward.

“I should have had five,” he said. “I hit a ball to the gap in left-center and could have had an inside-the-park home run, but the third base coach yelled at me to hold up. I put on the brakes, and the throw was off the plate.”

That was the year Boone emerged as a long-ball threat after hitting no more than 12 home runs in a season previously. He hit 26, 20, 20 and 25 in successive seasons, and twice drove in more than 100 runs.

Having been a teammate of Hall of Famer Bob Feller in Cleveland, Boone was asked to compare the Indians’ star with Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers.

Boone recalled that Feller had been clocked at 102 to 105 m.p.h., which would be better than Ryan’s reported best of 97. However, the method of measuring speed of pitches in Feller’s day was primitive by today’s standards.

“I’d like to have both of them on my club,” Boone said. “They talk about their fastballs, but what made them great was their curveballs.

“I never saw Feller even give an umpire a bad look. I guess with his ability, he’d say to himself, ‘Just give me the ball. He’s not going to hit it anyway.’ Ryan is the same way. They’re both strictly class.”

Boone’s scouting duties are varied. Currently, he is checking out college, junior college and high school players in this area. Soon, he will scout the Pacific 10 Southern Division. Eventually he will settle into his summer routine of watching every National League club that comes into San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

“I wouldn’t give up my career as a scout for any other position in baseball,” he said. “Even if a player I like is drafted by another club, I’m happy to see him succeed.”

And the prospect of grandson Bret continuing the Boone family’s major league tradition?

“I honestly never thought about it until Bret was in high school,” he said. “That would make me very proud.”