Bruce Armand Boisclair (born December 9, 1952) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder, who spent his entire major league career with the New York Mets from 1974 to 1979. He also played for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball in 1980.
| Bruce Boisclair | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born: December 9, 1952 Putnam, Connecticut, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 11, 1974, for the New York Mets | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 30, 1979, for the New York Mets | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .263 |
| Home runs | 10 |
| Runs batted in | 77 |
| NPB statistics | |
| Batting average | .249 |
| Home runs | 8 |
| Runs batted in | 26 |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
Killingly High School
editBoisclair attended Killingly High School in Killingly, Connecticut, where he starred in football, basketball & baseball. In fact, before being drafted by the New York Mets in the 20th round of the 1970 Major League Baseball Draft, the tight end was expected to attend Boston College on a football scholarship.[1]
New York Mets
editAfter five seasons in their farm system, where he batted .277 with twelve home runs and 150 runs batted in, Boisclair received a September call-up from the Mets in 1974. In a 25 inning marathon with the St. Louis Cardinals at Shea Stadium, Boisclar made his major league debut in the 23rd inning, pinch running for Duffy Dyer.[2] He batted .250 with one RBI (against the Philadelphia Phillies)[3] over the remainder of the season.
He failed to make the big league club out of Spring training 1975, and was assigned to the triple A Tidewater Tides, where he spent the entire season. He fared better in the spring of 1976, and won the fourth outfielder/left-handed bat off the bench job. He performed admirably in that role, batting .287 with two home runs & thirteen RBIs. He had a stellar .571 batting average & one home run as a pinch hitter.
He remained in that role for 1977, and batted .293 with four home runs, 44 RBIs and 21 doubles, all career bests. This played a part in the Mets' giving up on the Mike Vail experiment in the spring of 1978. [4] He began the season platooning with right-handed free agent acquisition Elliott Maddox in right field, and hit a two run home run in his first start of the season.[5] However, he batted just .222 in April, and soon found himself back in his familiar reserve role.
Hanshin Tigers
editHe missed half of the 1979 season due to a wrist injury, and batted just .163 upon his return. He was released during spring training of 1980,[6] and signed with the Hanshin Tigers for the 1980 season. He batted .246 with eight home runs and 26 RBIs, and enjoyed the only two home run game of his career in his only season in Japan.[7]
He attempted to come back to Major League Baseball with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1981,[8] but failed to make the club out of spring training.[9]
Career stats
edit| Games | PA | AB | Runs | Hits | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | HBP | SO | Avg. | OBP | Slg. | Fld% |
| 410 | 1030 | 917 | 114 | 241 | 47 | 6 | 10 | 77 | 18 | 86 | 2 | 183 | .263 | .324 | .360 | .976 |
He batted .286 with two home runs, twelve RBIs and a .444 slugging percentage as a pinch hitter.
Personal life
editBosclair & his wife, Delores, have two daughters, Erin & Britt. Erin became a nationally ranked tennis pro[10] who won the Southern California Junior Championship when she was 13 years old (1993).[11]
References
edit- ^ Harrison, Don (2008). Connecticut Baseball: The Best of the Nutmeg State. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781625843944.
- ^ "St. Louis Cardinals 4, New York Mets 3". Baseball-Reference.com. Shea Stadium. September 11, 1974.
- ^ "Philadelphia Phillies 6, New York Mets 3". Baseball-Reference.com. Veterans Stadium. September 25, 1974.
- ^ "Mets Sell Mike Vail". The Spokesman-Review. March 27, 1978.
- ^ "New York Mets 6, Montreal Expos 5". Baseball-Reference.com. Shea Stadium. April 9, 1978.
- ^ "Rain Halts Games; Mets Cut Boisclair". St. Petersburg Times. April 2, 1980. p. 7C.
- ^ "Ex-Met Scores For Tigers". The Virgin Islands Daily Newsdate=October 18, 1980.
- ^ "Transactions". Calgary Herald. February 5, 1981. p. D14.
- ^ "Mid to Late Seventies Mets Outfielder: Bruce Boisclair (1974-1979)". Centerfield Maz. December 8, 2017.
- ^ "Player Bio: Erin Boisclair". University of Washington Official Athletic Site.
- ^ Haddad, Dana (August 27, 1993). "Fair Play From a Pretty Fair Player: Agoura Hills' Boisclair is as Good a Sport as She is a Sportswoman". Los Angeles Times.
External links
edit- Career statistics from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or The Ultimate Mets Database