Joseph Martin Boever (born October 4, 1960) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

right-handed

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

, who played in

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), ...

(MLB) from to for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, Oakland Athletics, Detroit Tigers, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Early career

Boever pitched for Lindbergh High School in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, graduating in 1979. He pitched for three colleges, one of which was

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...

, before being signed as an undrafted free agent by the

on June 25, 1982.

Major league reliever

Boever made his major league debut for the

on July 19, 1985, and would go on to appear in 24 games over the next two seasons. On July 24, 1987, Boever was traded to the

for pitcher Randy O'Neal. A career

reliever In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather ...

, Boever was most notable for throwing a

palmball In baseball, the palmball pitch is a type of changeup. It requires placing the baseball tightly in the palm or held between the thumb and ring finger and then throwing it as if throwing a fastball. This takes some of the velocity off the pitch, i ...

pitch. Nicknamed "Boever The Saver", he was a closer for the 1989

, collecting 21 saves. In 1992, he led the league in appearances for a pitcher, playing in 81 games for the Houston Astros. Boever retired in 1997.

References

External links

1960 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arkansas Travelers players Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Missouri Calgary Cannons players Carolina Mudcats players Detroit Tigers players Edmonton Trappers players Erie Cardinals players Houston Astros players Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball pitchers Oakland Athletics players People from Kirkwood, Missouri Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players Richmond Braves players Sportspeople from St. Louis County, Missouri Springfield Cardinals players St. Louis Cardinals players St. Petersburg Cardinals players UNLV Rebels baseball players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1960s-stub

Early career

Major league reliever

See also

References

External links