He caught every inning of the Phillies’ first World Series championship, and the family name he carried reached the major leagues across three generations.
Bob Boone, the seven-time Gold Glove catcher who helped the Philadelphia Phillies win their first World Series title and the father of New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, died Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, at 78. His son Bret Boone, a three-time All-Star second baseman, announced the death on X on Tuesday, Nov. 10. No cause was announced.
“He was my mentor, my coach, my rock,” Bret Boone wrote in his post.
Boone played 19 seasons — 10 with the Phillies, seven with the Angels and two with the Kansas City Royals — and caught 2,225 games, third all-time behind Hall of Famers Ivan Rodriguez (2,427) and Carlton Fisk (2,226). He batted .254 with 105 homers and 826 RBIs and made four All-Star teams. The Major League Baseball Players Association said the game’s players, past and present, owe him a debt for the work he did on behalf of their rights in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Popup That Found Pete Rose
In the ninth inning of Game 6 at Veterans Stadium, Kansas City’s Frank White lifted a foul popup in front of the Phillies’ dugout. The ball bounced off Boone’s mitt and into the glove of first baseman Pete Rose for an out. For years afterward Boone said the ball should have been Rose’s all the way, and that Rose got there late and forced him into a difficult play far from his position.
Boone recorded the final putout of the title, catching Phillies pitcher Tug McGraw’s strikeout of Kansas City’s Willie Wilson.
He led the Phillies at the plate in that series, too, going 7 for 17 — a .412 average — with four RBIs in the six-game win over the Royals. An ankle injury from the National League Championship Series had him preparing for the opener with ice, aspirin and heavy taping; he collected three hits and drove in two runs. Over 36 postseason games, he hit .311 with two homers and 13 RBIs.
He Gave Up Third for Schmidt
Robert Raymond Boone was born Nov. 19, 1947, in San Diego, to Ray and Patsy Boone. He starred at Crawford High School, went to Stanford University and was drafted by the Phillies in the sixth round in 1969 — as a third baseman.
The switch behind the plate began in 1971 at Double-A Reading, after Philadelphia drafted Mike Schmidt. Andy Seminick, the catcher on the Phillies’ 1950 Whiz Kids, tutored him through it. Schmidt took over third base and went to the Hall of Fame.
Called up in September 1972, he finished third in the 1973 National League Rookie of the Year voting, behind Giants outfielder Gary Matthews and Expos pitcher Steve Rogers, made National League All-Star teams in 1976, 1978 and 1979, and in 1978 became the first Phillies catcher to win a Gold Glove. He won another the next year.
Behind the Plate for Witt’s Perfect Game
He moved to the California Angels for the 1982 season and won four more Gold Gloves there, the most by a catcher in franchise history, and he remains the Angels’ leader in games caught. The club reached the postseason in 1982 and 1986, and at 38 against Boston in the 1986 American League Championship Series (ALCS), Boone went 10 for 22 with a homer and two RBIs.
In September 1984, he caught Mike Witt’s perfect game.
He closed out his playing days with the Royals, winning his seventh Gold Glove in 1989 at 41. When he finished after the 1990 season, his 2,225 games caught stood as the major league record.
Boone would have managed the expansion franchise proposed for Orlando, but Miami and Denver got the teams instead. His chance arrived in 1995 in Kansas City, where he went 181-206 and was fired during his third season. He managed the Cincinnati Reds from 2001 to 2003 and was fired midseason, leaving him with a career managerial record of 371-444. Then came more than 15 years in the Washington Nationals front office, from the 2005 inaugural season through the 2019 World Series title; he resigned as a vice president in 2021 over a vaccine mandate. The Phillies put him on their Wall of Fame in 2005.
From Daniel Boone to the Yankees Dugout
His father, Ray Boone, played 13 seasons from 1948 to 1960 with the Indians, Tigers, White Sox, Athletics, Braves and Red Sox, was part of Cleveland’s 1948 championship, made two All-Star teams with Detroit and later scouted for Boston for years. When Bret reached the majors in 1992, the Boones became baseball’s first three-generation family, one of five. All four — Ray, Bob, Bret and Aaron — were All-Stars at least once. The Boones are also descendants of frontier icon Daniel Boone.
Bret played 14 seasons, largely with the Mariners and Reds, with four Gold Gloves. Aaron played in the majors from 1997 to 2009, was an All-Star in 2003 and hit the pennant-winning home run in Game 7 of that year’s ALCS against the Red Sox. His father managed him in Cincinnati before the trade that sent him to New York, and he is entering his 10th year as Yankees manager.
“His play and mastery of catching inspired me to want to play the position,” Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza wrote on social media. Greg Luzinski, his 1980 teammate, said he had lost a close friend who was once his roommate, and Ruben Amaro Jr., who grew up around the team, offered condolences and praised Boone’s character.
Boone is survived by his wife, Sue, his high school sweetheart; by his sons, Bret, Aaron and Matt; and by grandchildren.
Bret Boone once joked that his father was so honest he would have reported himself for driving through a yellow light.