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.
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