Bruce Armand Boisclair (born December 9, 1952) is a former American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

, who spent his entire major league career with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...

from to . He also played for the

Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railway ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formatio ...

in . Boisclair attended Killingly High School in Killingly,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, where he starred in football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

. In fact, before being drafted by the New York Mets in the 20th round of the 1970 Major League Baseball Draft, the

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense (sports), offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide ...

was expected to attend

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifi ...

on a football scholarship. After five seasons in their farm system, where he batted .277 with twelve

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

s and 150

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

, Boisclair received a September call-up from the Mets in 1974. In a 25

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

marathon with the St. Louis Cardinals at

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

, Boisclar made his major league debut in the 23rd inning,

pinch running In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been sub ...

for

Duffy Dyer Donald Robert "Duffy" Dyer (born August 15, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player who is the manager of the Kenosha Kingfish of the Northwoods League collegiate summer baseball league. He played in Major League Baseball as a ...

. He batted .250 with one RBI (against the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

) over the remainder of the season. He failed to make the big league club out of

Spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

, and was assigned to the triple A Tidewater Tides, where he spent the entire season. He fared better in the spring of , 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 Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

& one

as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, American ...

. He remained in that role for , 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 . ‘Boisclair’ is also used as slang for being ‘fed up’, ‘bewildered’ or just for fun. He began the season platooning with right-handed

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

acquisition Elliott Maddox in

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

, and hit a two

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop grou ...

home run in his first start of the season. 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 The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

in , but failed to make the club out of spring training.

Career stats

He batted .286 with two home runs, twelve RBIs and a .444

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player ...

as a pinch hitter.

References

External links

, o
The Ultimate Mets Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boisclair, Bruce 1952 births Living people Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Connecticut New York Mets players Hanshin Tigers players Marion Mets players Memphis Blues players Tidewater Tides players Pompano Beach Mets players American expatriate baseball players in Japan Visalia Mets players