Great Grandfather
As Red Sox fans honored Ray Boone, a longtime Boston scout, with a moment of silence before Game 4 of the ALCS on Sunday at Fenway Park, no doubt a few noticed the irony: It was exactly a year since Boone's grandson Aaron ended Boston's season with an 11th-inning homer that sent the Yankees to the World Series. That walk-off blast was the sort of thing that ran in baseball's only three-generation All-Star family. The clan's patriarch, Ray, who died after a long illness at age 81, broke into the majors in 1948 and supplanted Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau as the Indians' shortstop the following year. He floundered in the role, but when traded to Detroit in 1953 and switched to third base, he focused on his hitting and led the AL with 116 RBIs in 1955 and twice made the All-Star team. In 1972 his son Bob came up with the Phillies; Bob's boys Bret, the Mariners' second baseman, and Aaron, a third baseman with the Reds, were All-Stars on opposite sides in 2003 while their grandfather watched from the stands. "Anybody that's not proud in this situation," Ray said, "there's something wrong with them."
B/W PHOTO
AP (BOONE)
B/W PHOTO
COURTESY PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (BOONE WITH FAMILY)