Danny Boone

In articles about Danny Boone adjectives such as little, tiny, short, diminutive, and sparky typically preceded his name. In retrospect the more important description was expressed by Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox in 1981: “Boone is amazing. He may not throw hard, but he knows how to pitch.” He added, “If Dan Boone weighs 132 pounds, 128 of it is heart.”1

The 5-foot-8 lefty pitched in parts of two big-league seasons in 1981 and 1982. In 1989, after five years out of pro ball, Boone launched a comeback in the Senior Professional Baseball Association (SPBA). On the strength of his knuckleball, Boone made it back to the majors for four games in September 1990.

* * *

Danny Hugh Boone is a Southern California native, born in Long Beach on January 14, 1954. And, yes, he has a famous sixth great-uncle—who went by the name of Daniel Boone and was born some 220 years before Danny. However, while related, Danny’s given name is not “Daniel.” His birth certificate reads “Danny Hugh Boone.” Most baseball references list his first name as Daniel. He has accepted his fate, but to anyone who knows him, he goes by Dan or Danny.2

The Boone family’s paternal roots can be traced to Boone’s 10th great-grandparents in sixteenth-century England. Boone’s third great-grandfather, James Monroe Boone, was the first in his lineage to be born in the United States (North Carolina). He eventually moved to Elkins, Arkansas, where successive Boone generations remained. Danny’s father, Hubert Turene Boone, was born there in 1923.

Hubert moved from Arkansas to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he lived and worked in the 1940s. By 1948 he had moved to Los Angeles, where he married Mildred Evelyn Stewart. It was the second marriage for each of them. For most of his working years, Hubert’s occupation was sheet metal mechanic and welder.

Danny was the youngest of three Boone children and the only boy. Sherry, the firstborn, is seven years older than Danny. Second was Darlene, who is five years older. All three were born in Long Beach and still live in Southern California. The Boone family home from Danny’s birth through his marriage was in Norwalk, California.3

In 1991, Danny’s mother died at age 64 from an automobile accident while she was in Oklahoma. Danny’s father died in 2006 at age 82 in El Cajon, California.4

While Boone had many notable athletic achievements, what made them unique was that they were accomplished despite his being relatively short and light. (Boone’s weight was reported variously as between 131 and 150 pounds).5

Boone got his first taste of baseball as an eight-year-old Little Leaguer in 1962. As Boone advanced in youth ball, he kept improving. At age 12 he was selected to pitch in the Southern California Little League All-Star game.

Boone attended Richard Gahr High School in Cerritos6 and graduated in 1972. Early in his junior year he attracted attention when he pitched a four-hitter and struck out 17 in what was his third consecutive shutout. He had already developed an attitude about pitching, as this quote attests: “I just try to strike out every batter—get the ball past them. If my stuff isn’t working, I still strive to get the ball past them on every pitch, but I try to keep the ball low, too.”7

The next year, 1973, Boone enrolled at Cerritos College.8 He remained an elite pitcher at the junior college level, being named to the All-South Coast Conference Team and the All-State Junior College baseball team.9 Boone’s coach at Cerritos was Wally Kincaid, who eventually was elected to the College Baseball National Hall of Fame.10

In June 1973 the 19-year-old Boone was selected by the California Angels in the major-league amateur draft in the 15th round, but he wasn’t ready for professional ball. A few months later in January 1974, the Angels tried again when they drafted him in the fifth round. This time they offered $12,500; again, Boone declined.11  

Cerritos and Boone continued their winning ways in 1974, when the team had a 38-game winning streak at one point.12 Boone had a winning streak, too, which reached 22 before a loss on April 25.13 He ended his two-year career at Cerritos with a 26-2 record and was named to the 1974 All-America team. 14

Boone’s next stop was California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), where he played on its 1975 and 1976 teams. His coach there was the legendary Augie Garrido.15

In 1975 Boone went 12-3 on a team that had a season record of 36-16 and went to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. CSUF beat the University of Southern California and Pepperdine in the West Regional and advanced to the College World Series. In a double-elimination format CSUF lost its first two games, and its season came to an end. Boone took the loss in that last game, 5–3.

CSUF made the NCAA regional finals again in 1976. CSUF was the top seed in the losers’ bracket and faced undefeated Washington State University. Behind Boone, CSUF took the first game, 15–1, to keep its hopes alive. In the winner-take-all championship game—and with only a 30-minute break between the two games—Boone started the second game and yielded six runs in a loss, 7–2.16 He concluded his two years at CSUF with a record of 22-6.17

In between his 1975 and 1976 college seasons, Boone was drafted two more times, in June 1975 and January 1976. He again declined to sign primarily because he loved playing college baseball and wanted to play another season in hopes of participating in the College World Series a second time.18

Boone was drafted for a fifth time in June 1976. The Angels took a third shot at him, this time in the second round. This time he signed, although it took a few months because Boone played again in the summer Alaska League for the Anchorage Glacier Pilots. He came to terms on September 5, 1976, with Angels scouts Al Kubski and Walter Shannon in attendance.19

Boone’s initial professional assignment came that fall with the Angels team in the Arizona Instructional League. Then in early 1977 he was assigned to Salinas (California League, Class A), followed by a move in June to El Paso (Texas League, Class AA). Not long after that Boone was transferred to the Angels’ top farm club, Salt Lake City (Pacific Coast League, Class AAA). He pitched 48 games for the three teams, all in relief, and his cumulative record for the season was 2-1, with nine saves and a 4.13 ERA. (Boone did not start a professional game until 1982.)

That winter (1977-78) he played baseball in Mexicali, Mexico. He was back in El Paso for the start of the 1978 season, but in late June Boone was promoted again to Salt Lake City. His 1978 season totals were a 7-3 record, 11 saves, and a 3.43 ERA.

He resumed play in 1979 with Salt Lake City and spent the entire season there. Boone finished with a record of 9-2, an ERA of 3.04, and eight saves. Boone played winter ball again in 1979-80, this time in Venezuela.

In March 1980 near the conclusion of spring training, Boone was “shocked” when the Angels released him.20 However within a matter of days he was picked up by the San Diego Padres. Boone pitched with Amarillo in the Texas League for four months before joining Hawaii in the PCL in mid-August. He had a remarkable run with Amarillo, where he set the league record (subsequently broken) for saves in a season with 26.21 He pitched in eight games for Hawaii and had a record of 2-0, with an ERA of 1.29.

During the 1980 season while with Amarillo, Boone took time in May to get married to Margaret Moss. He had met Marge in Anchorage when he played for the Glacier Pilots in 1974.

After 1980 Boone had high hopes of being on San Diego’s roster. He believed that he deserved the promotion, having posted a cumulative record in four minor-league seasons of 25-10, with 54 saves in 214 games pitched. His ERA had gone down each year, from 4.13 in 1977 to 2.69 in 1980. He was not that concerned about his age (26) but conceded the factor that might have restricted his advancement. In September 1980 he said, “Maybe my size is the thing. I feel I’ve always had to overcome it.”22

Yet as it turned out Boone got his wish—he made the Padres major-league roster to start the 1981 season.

On April 11, 1981, the 27-year-old pitched in his first major-league game. It was against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park. As was typical of that ballpark, it was a windy afternoon—after the game Boone admitted that the wind almost blew him off the mound.23 The bases were loaded with two out in the fifth inning when manager Frank Howard called on Boone. The first batter he faced was Joe Morgan. Boone threw four straight balls and forced in a run. He got the next batter out and pitched the entire sixth inning without allowing any runs. He concluded his big-league debut with 1 1/3 innings pitched, two walks, two hits, and no runs.

In his first months as a major-leaguer, Boone attracted a fair amount of attention, not only for his size but also his ability to get outs. His season was off to a good start. In his first eight games Boone struck out 14 batters in 18 2/3 innings. While he was convinced that being the smallest player in the majors had more advantages than disadvantages, it appeared that the Padres were holding back on using Boone. He said as much in a May 1981 interview when he said, “They’ve kept me out of pressure situations and I’m sure it’s because they don’t think I throw hard enough.”24 Boone then relied mainly on a curveball, slider, sinker, and screwball. As he recalled in 1991, “The knuckleball was my No. 5 pitch, way down the list.”25

Unfortunately for Boone his first season was interrupted by a players’ strike that would cause the loss of two months. The strike required Boone to pay for his flight back to San Diego from Pittsburgh, where the team had played the day before the stoppage started. At this stage of his rookie season, he had pitched in 16 games and had a 2.17 ERA over 29 innings. Boone was conflicted. He felt good about his first three months as a major-leaguer, but the strike meant he had no income.

After the strike was settled, Boone pitched in two consecutive games against the Atlanta Braves, on August 11 and 12. Four scoreless innings lowered his ERA to 1.91. (It rose before season’s end.)

Boone ended the 1981 season with a 1-0 record and two saves. He was optimistic about his chances to remain on the Padres major-league roster for the upcoming season. Boone had pitched in 37 games, fourth most on the team. Based on those who pitched more than 30 innings, his 2.84 ERA was third best, and he had the highest strikeout rate of 6.1 per nine innings. He offered this appraisal of his rookie year: “I think I turned my size into an advantage. The big hitters were trying to hit my pitches 500 feet.”26

The 1982 Padres team had a new look with a new manager, Dick Williams. The first time Williams brought in Boone was the second game of the season, April 17, at home against the Braves. Boone entered the game in the top of the ninth inning with the Padres behind, 5–3. He lasted four batters and left after he allowed three hits and a run.

Boone pitched in 10 games for the Padres in April and May. He gave up runs in five of those games, including a total of seven runs in two of the outings. At the end of May his ERA was 5.63.

Going into June, his last appearance had come May 24. It turned out to be his last with the Padres. On June 8 (coincidentally, his mother’s birthday) Boone was traded to the Houston Astros for infielder Joe Pittman.

Boone joined his new team that same day in San Francisco. He had not pitched in two weeks, but, evidently, manager Bill Virdon wanted to get to know his new reliever immediately, as he called on him to pitch that night in relief of Nolan Ryan. It was the bottom of the seventh inning, with two out and two runners on base, and the Giants were ahead, 5–3. Boone got an infield popout to end the inning. He went back on the mound in the eighth inning and allowed two runs on two walks and one hit.

Between June 8 and 21, Boone pitched in six games with his new team and allowed a run in only two of them. It was not good enough. On June 28 he was sent to Tucson in the PCL.

At Tucson Boone put up good numbers: a 3.31 ERA and strikeout rate of 7.9 per nine innings in 49 innings over 25 games. He had a 5-4 record and one save. He also started for the first time. It would be his only outing in that role until he launched his comeback.

Boone’s Tucson performance warranted a recall by the Astros on September 1. He again had to introduce himself to a new manager—Bob Lillis, who had replaced Virdon weeks before.

In his first two games back with the Astros, Boone faced the Padres at the Astrodome. On September 6, Lillis brought in Boone in the ninth inning with Houston behind, 4–2. It was three up and three down, but the Astros could not rally and lost the game.

The next night, Boone entered in the top of the sixth inning with the Astros leading, 4–2. Runners were on first and second with none out. Boone got out of the inning with three ground-ball outs, the first of which came on a sacrifice bunt. Over the next three innings Boone faced 11 batters, just two of whom reached base, one by error and one by a base hit that produced an unearned run. He got three quick outs in the ninth inning and wound up with a save in a 4–3 win.

Boone remembered those two games for several reasons. For one he was the subject of postgame interviews by both teams’ broadcasters. For two he felt good about his back-to-back performances. Yet to his dismay he was called on in relief only twice more in the season’s final three-plus weeks. In 2023 he reflected on the memory of 41 years before: “I remember feeling good about myself two nights in a row, and then I pitched two times the rest of the month. I was just so upset.”27

The Astros sent Boone back to Tucson to begin the 1983 season, and he was released in June. The Milwaukee Brewers picked him up on July 15, and he finished the season with Vancouver (PCL). His combined statistics for the season with the two PCL teams included a 7-6 record and 11 saves in 43 games, with a 5.02 ERA.

Boone was back with Vancouver at the start of the 1984 season but was released on July 3. He had pitched in 27 games and had a 4-4 record, three saves, and a 4.74 ERA. It seemed obvious to Boone that his professional playing career was over at age 30. But the memory of that midseason release has not softened with time. “It was a horrible time to get released,” Boone recalled years later.”28

In 1983 he and wife Marge had taken up residence in El Cajon, and offseason jobs in construction became full time. From 1984 through 1988 Boone worked for Standard Pacific Construction. He followed that with several years managing customer service for home and apartment associations.

Nevertheless, playing baseball remained an important part of Boone’s life. He played in San Diego’s adult leagues and spent the 1985 summer pitching for the Anchorage Glacier Pilots of the Alaska League.

In the winter of 1989 he joined the new SPBA.29 Boone was contacted by a former Padres player, John D’Acquisto, and was offered $5,000 per month for the three-month season.30 He played for the Bradenton Explorers.

Boone was happy to play pro baseball again. At the time (1989) and at age 35, he still yearned to get back—not just to the SPBA, but to the major leagues. He realized that the only way it would happen was to develop his knuckleball.

Fortunately for Boone a scout for the Baltimore Orioles, Birdie Tebbetts, saw him pitch in the SPBA. Tebbetts was a seasoned scout who had played in the major leagues for 14 seasons and managed for another 11. He recognized Boone as the sort of pitcher who could get outs with his assortment of pitches—most notably, his impressive knuckler. Tebbetts recommended Boone to the Orioles. Boone was invited to spring training in February 1990 and was paid for housing, meals, and transportation expenses.

Boone made it back. He was signed to a contract by Baltimore in late February 1990 and was assigned to the Rochester Red Wings (International League, Class AAA). His comeback got off to a positive start with Rochester. Through August 1990 he had an 11-5 record, and there was a notable change in how Boone was used in Rochester compared to his earlier pro seasons. In late June he became a starting pitcher and went on to post a 7-1 record over nine starts.

One of Boone’s victories was a no-hitter on July 23, 1990, against the Syracuse Chiefs.31 He did not issue a walk, and only one Syracuse batter reached base, on an infielder’s throwing error in the third inning.

In late September 1990 he received a call-up to the Orioles. Boone’s first appearance in a Baltimore uniform came September 16 against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto’s SkyDome. It had been nearly eight full years since his last appearance in a major-league game (September 30, 1982).

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Orioles were down, 5–3, and manager Frank Robinson brought Boone in to face Toronto’s Ken Williams with two men on base and two out. A comebacker to the pitcher got the O’s out of the inning. Boone pitched two more innings and gave up two hits but no runs while striking out two. Boone later admitted to being surprised that Robinson kept him in the game that long.32

Two more scoreless relief appearances followed. Finally, at age 36, on September 30, 1990, Boone was tabbed to start a big-league game—the second game of a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians at Cleveland Stadium. He went 4 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. He left with a one-run lead, but the Blue Jays eventually won the game. After the game Boone was questioned about how it felt to finally start a major-league game. He said, “It wasn’t as exciting as my wedding night. But I love pitching against the greatest hitters in the world.”33

Although he held out hope that he would be back with the Orioles in 1991, this game turned out to be Boone’s last in the majors. He pitched in 61 games overall in The Show, posting a 2-1 record and 3.36 ERA with four saves.

He returned to the SPBA with the Daytona Beach Explorers, but the league folded in late December. He then played in Puerto Rico, but an ailment particular to knuckleballers plagued Boone over the winter of 1990-91—overuse of the knuckler wore down his fingernails. Boone explained that the knuckleball is a “feel” pitch and the particular length of his nails was a necessary part of that feel, neither not too long, nor too short.34 This nail issue had been a problem earlier, and he had to borrow a special nail hardener from his wife.35

Boone was released by the Orioles in early April 1991 but was quickly signed by the Texas Rangers. He spent the entire 1991 season with Oklahoma City (American Association, Class AAA). At 37, he was the old veteran on the club. He kept hoping for one more chance at the top level, but it never came. He appeared in 24 games and started 16 in 1991. Boone had three complete games and finished with an ERA of 4.28 and a 5-7 record. They weren’t bad numbers, especially for a last-place team that finished with a record of 45-79. But his time had run out. He was released in early September.

In 1993 Boone was back playing in the Alaskan League, this time with the Fairbanks Goldpanners. He signed on as pitching coach and also helped the team as a relief pitcher. Boone saw his two months in Alaska as a good deal because he got to play baseball, plus it allowed him to bring his family there for the summer and stay with his wife’s parents. He ended up doing this for four years, 1993–96.

During that period, there was more player-owner turbulence in Major League Baseball. In August 1994 players went on strike.36 Boone saw this as an opportunity to once again play professional baseball.37

In January 1995 he became one of the first replacement players signed by the Padres. He was quoted in The Sporting News, noting, “I’m definitely on the union’s side, but when it comes to taking care of my family and the bills, that means a little more.”38

At age 41 Boone was a seasoned pitcher who relied on knuckleballs and curveballs. The Padres felt that gave him an advantage facing replacement batters. Within a few days of Opening Day, he was publicly identified as the Padres likely starting pitcher for the first game if the strike was not settled in time.39 Padres manager Bruce Bochy said, “Booney is a guy that just loves the game.” However the strike ended in late March.

In 2001 Boone was recognized as the “top relief pitcher in the history of Alaska baseball. He inserted his name in the record books by compiling the most saves in a career (40), most games in a career by a pitcher (80), and most saves in a single season (15 in 1993).”40 In 2007 he was elected to the Anchorage Glacier Pilots Hall of Fame. In 2009 he entered CSUF’s Baseball Hall of Fame.

In his postbaseball years Danny and Marge have remained residents of El Cajon. They have three daughters: Bethany, who lives in Fairbanks, Alaska; Amanda, who lives in El Cajon; and Brittany, who lives in Oregon. Boone keeps active with his own business, Dan Boone Construction, which handles home improvement projects.

Looking back in 2024, when asked about his favorite baseball memory, Boone offered one from April 1981 that involved Hall of Famer Johnny Bench. The San Diego Union reported it this way: “‘He struck me out with a knuckleball and I didn’t know he could throw one,’ Bench said. ‘That’s what he struck me out on in San Diego (two weeks ago),’ said teammate Ken Griffey. ‘Thanks for warning me,’ Bench replied in mock anger.”41

But Boone’s favorite part of the memory took place the next day as he was running in the outfield while the Reds were taking batting practice. Bench saw Boone, went over to him, and said, “I was told that you had every pitch … but they didn’t tell me you had a knuckleball! It was a good one, too!”42

Last revised: August 12, 2024

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and Will Christensen and checked for accuracy by SABR’s fact-checking team.

Sources

The author conducted two in-person interviews with Boone and had several follow-up phone calls and email/text correspondence. In addition, these five websites proved valuable for obtaining factual references:

Ancestry.com

Baseball-Reference.com

GenealogyBank.com

Newspapers.com

PaperofRecord.com via SABR.org

Photo credits

Courtesy of Fantography/Andy Strasberg.

Notes

1 Phil Collier, “Atlanta Sweeps Padre Series on Unearned Run in 11th, 4-3,” San Diego Union, August 13, 1981: 43, 44.

2 Danny Boone, interviewed by Tom Larwin, September 12, 2023 (“Larwin interview I”).

3 Norwalk is an incorporated city in the southeastern part of Los Angeles County and is one of the county’s 88 cities.

4 El Cajon is an eastern suburb of San Diego.

5 Beginning with his 1976 season with CSUF through to his last season in professional baseball in 1991, Boone’s weight was reported in various resources to range from a low of 131 pounds to a high of 150. However, the majority of references listed his weight at 140 pounds. From 1950 through 2022, no major-league players weighed under 140 pounds, and 20 weighed between 140 and 149 pounds. That is 20 out of 12,224 players who played in the major leagues over that period, or 0.016 percent. (Source: Lahman Baseball Database.)

6 Cerritos is an incorporated city adjacent to and south of the city of Norwalk.

7 Gary Ellis, “Daniel Boone making history at Gahr High,” Long Beach (CA) Press Telegram, May 2, 1971.

8 Cerritos College is a community college in Norwalk, California.

9 “Eight Falcons on SCC Teams,” La Mirada Review (Whittier, CA), May 24, 1973; “JC baseball team picked,” San Pedro (CA) News Pilot, June 11, 1973.

10 Kincaid was inducted in 2010 and was the first coach to come from a two-year college program. He coached at Cerritos in 1958–77 and 1979–80 and had a career record of 678-163. He also was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. See: https://abcahalloffame.org/inductees/2017_kincaid_wally?view=bio.

11 Danny Boone, interviewed by Tom Larwin, January 2, 2024 (“Larwin interview II”).

12 “Cerritos Winning Streak Ends, 3-2,” Los Angeles Times, March 31, 1974.

13 “Cerritos falls, 9-2,” Long Beach (CA) Independent, April 26, 1974.

14 Dave Wielenga, “Kincaid Reflects on Title,” Long Beach (CA) Independent, May 30, 1974.

15 Garrido compiled a career record of 1,975-951, and when he retired in 2016, he had the most wins in college baseball history. He was named national college coach of the year six times, in 1975, 1979, 1984, 1995, 2002  and 2005. He was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. See: https://abcahalloffame.org/inductees/2016_garrido_augie?view=bio

16 Garrido went on to win CWS in 1979, and he paid tribute to two former players—one of whom was Boone—when he said that CSUF baseball always would owe a tremendous debt to the two players who opened the door for everything good that followed. (Source: John Hall, “So Help Me,” Los Angeles Times, June 18, 1979: 34)

17 !975 statistics from CSUF website; two-year total (1975+1976) from: “Angels choose Dan Boone in draft’s secondary phase,” Anaheim (CA) Bulletin, June 10, 1976: 13.

18 Danny Boone, interviewed by Tom Larwin, July 22, 2024.

19 Ancestry.com, Bill Weiss Player Questionnaire Collection, Questionnaire dated September 30, 1976.

20 Larwin interview I.

21 Ron Meyer, “Barely 1,000 See Islanders Lose Again,” Honolulu Star Bulletin, August 4, 1980: 14; Les Giles, “Amarillo’s Boone Hopes Padres Save Him a Spot,” The Sporting News, September 6, 1980: 61.

22 Giles, “Amarillo’s Boone Hopes Padres Save Him a Spot.”

23 Phil Collier, “Wind, Padre Hurlers Wild as Giants Collect 2-0 Victory,” San Diego Union, April 12, 1981: H-1.

24 Phil Collier, “Boone Finds His Size Is No Big Thing, There’s No Shortage of Strikeouts for The Diminutive Padre Relief Pitcher,” San Diego Union, May 22, 1981: 47.

25 Bob Hersom, “There’s Only One Little Danny Boone,” The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK), June 2, 1991.

26 Phil Collier, “Small in Stature, Boone Is Really Big on Confidence,” San Diego Union, March 7, 1982: 144.

27 Collier, “Small in Stature.”

28 Collier, “Small in Stature.”

29 Players in the SPBA had to be at least 35 years of age, except for catchers, where the minimum age was 32. It lasted two seasons, 1989 and 1990.

30 Larwin interview I.

31 It was the second game of a doubleheader, which was limited to seven innings.

32 Larwin interview I.

33 “Milacki Ends Year on Positive Note,” The Sporting News, October 15, 1990: 21.

34 “Boone’s Tough as Nails,” Sarasota (FL) Herald Tribune, March 6, 1991: 92.

35 Tim Crothers, “Chip Off an Old Block,” Sports Illustrated, July 23, 1990: 73.

36 The strike lasted from August 12, 1994, until April 2, 1995. Opening Day was rescheduled to April 26, 1995, and the season was reduced in length from 162 games to 144.

37 Replacement players were guaranteed $5,000 to report to spring training and another $5,000 if they made the Opening Day roster.

38 Buster Olney, The Sporting News, January 30, 1995: 46.

39 Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, March 23, 1995: D3.

40 Baseball card, 2001 Alaska Goldpanners All-Stars of the 1990s, #57 Dan Boone.

41 Phil Collier, “Concepcion ‘Salary Drive’ Drops S.D. Into Cellar 8-5,” San Diego Union, April 30, 1981: 77.

42 Larwin interview II.