Saturday, May 01, 1999

Boone finds happy home with Braves

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BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Bret Boone

        ATLANTA — One by one, the steady stream of Reds visitors came to greet Bret Boone before Friday night's game, exchanging hugs and pleasantries. Barry Larkin. Sean Casey. Denis Menke. Hal Morris. And of course, Boone's brother, Aaron.

        But when it came time for Boone to retreat to a dugout, he went to the Atlanta Braves' side. Which is plainly where he feels comfortable these days.

        Boone lined a key RBI single in the eighth inning off Scott Williamson that hiked Atlanta's lead to 2-0 and helped seal its 3-0 decision.

        Though Boone committed only his second error of the season on Dmitri Young's seventh-inning grounder, the 1998 Gold Glove winner also assisted on a nifty fourth-inning force-out and participated in two double plays that helped Braves starter John Smoltz preserve his one-hit shutout.

        Boone said he “hated” the Braves during his 1994-98 tenure as the Reds' everyday second baseman. But it hasn't taken him long to change his mind.

        “Whenever you go to a new team, you don't know how they're going to be,” Boone said in the Braves' clubhouse. “You don't know what the personalities are going to be like, especially on a team with so many great players. But from Day 1 in spring, these guys were great. It's been easy. They made you feel welcome. I felt right at home.”

        Boone, 30, has continued to settle in with the Braves.

        He said his .267 batting average entering the game doesn't reflect the consistent contact he has made: “It's the best I've ever felt the first two weeks of the season. With the least amount of hits.”

        Moreover, he has played his usual precise defense, having committed just one error.

        He didn't expect to be distracted by confronting old friends.

        “I've never been in this situation,” said Boone, who switched leagues (from Seattle) to join the Reds. “I'm sure it's going to be a little weird, playing against the team I played with for five years. But by Sunday, it'll be no big deal.”

        Boone said he missed playing alongside Larkin, his companion on and off the field.

        “What Barry and I had was something that I think comes along once in your lifetime,” Boone said. “I'll probably never play with another shortstop (with whom) I was so in sync. I don't know what the reason was, but it just seemed like we were on the same wavelength. If I got a ball, twirled and threw, he was always there, and vice-versa.”

        Then Bret Boone, the Atlanta Brave, stopped looking back.

        “But I'll tell you what: Walt Weiss is very good,” he said of his current partner at shortstop. “Walt's been an easy adjustment. He's a great player. I've been pretty lucky. I've gone from Omar (Vizquel) to Barry to Walt. That's made it easier for me to play.”

        Playing behind Atlanta's pitching staff also has helped.

        “It's better than facing it,” Boone said, flashing his wit.

        Amid the Braves' talent-laded lineup, Boone's under less pressure to produce as he did with the Reds last year, when he led the team with 24 homers and 95 RBI.

        “You don't have to be one of two or three guys to carry the team,” he said. “There's six or seven guys in the lineup every day that can take over a game.”

       

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