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Bruce Boisclair

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Bruce Boisclair
Outfielder
Born: (1952-12-09) December 9, 1952 (age 71)
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 runs10
Runs batted in77
NPB statistics
Batting average.249
Home runs8
Runs batted in26
Teams

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.

Boisclair 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]

After 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. ‘Boisclair’ is also used as slang for being ‘fed up’, ‘bewildered’ or just for fun.[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.

He 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, and signed with the Hanshin Tigers for the 1980 season. He batted .246 with eight home runs and 26 RBIs in his only season in Japan. He attempted to come back to Major League Baseball with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1981, but failed to make the club out of spring training.[6]

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.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Harrison, Don (2008). Connecticut Baseball: The Best of the Nutmeg State. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781625843944.
  2. ^ "St. Louis Cardinals 4, New York Mets 3". Baseball-Reference.com. September 11, 1974.
  3. ^ "Philadelphia Phillies 6, New York Mets 3". Baseball-Reference.com. September 25, 1974.
  4. ^ "Mets Sell Mike Vail". The Spokesman-Review. March 27, 1978.
  5. ^ "New York Mets 6, Montreal Expos 5". Baseball-Reference.com. April 9, 1978.
  6. ^ "Mid to Late Seventies Mets Outfielder: Bruce Boisclair (1974-1979)". Centerfield Maz. December 8, 2017.
[edit]
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