It turns out the reason Bret Boone left baseball in the first place was alcohol. He was a full blown alcoholic. As result, I'm starting to think the Boone's Farm stadium sponsorship might be a bad idea. Boone's been on the wagon for 7 months and team sponsorship by a major alcohol label could buck him right off.
Boone did a pretty damn good job playing despite what can only be described rampant alcoholism. At age 32, he claims to have been drinking 12 to 15 beers after games. Boone was 32 in 2001, a season in which he hit 37 HRS, 141 RBIs, and batted .331. He finished third in the AL-MVP voting that season. I can drink to that.
By age 36, Boone's addiction got to the point where he was more concerned with hitting the hotel bar after the game than playing the game itself. This was the point he decided to retire to get his life back in order.
Still, Boone's achievements as an alcoholic ballplayer fall well short of many who paved the way for his success, most notably Mickey Mantle and Hack Wilson.
Despite occasionally playing games still drunk from the night before, Hack Wilson holds the MLB record for RBIs in a season with 191. He also held the record for most HRs by a National League player with 56 until he was surpassed by both Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa in the Great Home Run Race of 1998. Despite playing an alcohol shortened career of only 12 seasons, Wilson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. He died of alcohol induced cirrhosis of the liver at age 48 in 1948.
I'm not going to bother to talk about Mickey Mantle because you should know who he is.
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