The Texas Rangers are enlisting the help of a former multi-time MLB All-Star to fix their hitting woes.
The club announced on Monday afternoon that they have hired Bret Boone as their next hitting coach after firing offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker on Sunday.
Boone, a three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove-winning second baseman, played 14 seasons between the Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres and Minnesota Twins. Boone had 1,775 career hits and slashed .266/.235/.442./.767 in 1,780 games played.
Boone confirmed the news on his podcast.
"This completely came out of left field," Boone said on 'The Bret Boone Podcast.'" It started when I went up to USC, my alma mater, and threw out the first pitch (on Saturday, May 3). I ran into an old buddy of mine, Michael Young, and he's with the Texas Rangers. And we just started talking. We had a ten-minute conversation. Gave each other a hug. I said, give CY [Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young] and Bruce Bochy, who I played under in 2000, and I've had a really good friendship with him for a lot of years (my best).
"I get home, and the phone's ringing, and it's Bruce Bochy. And the first thing I thought was this is a weird time for Bruce to be calling. ... He ran it by me, I talked to my wife, I talked to the people close to me. But it didn't take long (for me to say yes). It was one of those things where I didn't know where this journey is taking me, but if there's a guy to get back on the field with for the first time in a long time... Bruce Bochy's No. 1 on my list."