Robert Tanios Taggert "Tagg" Bozied (born July 24, 1979) is a former American professional
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 t ...
first baseman
A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...
. He was an All-American college baseball player as well as member of the
United States national baseball team
The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball t ...
.
Baseball career
High school career
Son of Bob Bozied, a college football coach for over 40 years, Tagg says he grew up understanding the importance of team. He watched his father take Augustana College, a Division II team to two playoff appearances. Bozied graduated from
Arvada High School
Arvada High School is a public secondary school operated by Jefferson County School District R-1 in Arvada, Colorado, United States.
Demographics
Arvada High's student body has the following racial demographics:
History
The first high scho ...
in
Arvada, Colorado. At Arvada, Bozied was named to the Class 4A All-State football team with a 4.0 GPA.
College career
Bozied attended the
University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...
(USF). In 1999, he won a Triple Crown in the
West Coast Conference, earning him Player of the Year honors.
He hit .412 with 30 home runs and 82 RBI; he was 10 homers ahead of runner-up
Jason Bay
Jason Raymond Bay (born September 20, 1978) is a Canadian-American former professional baseball left fielder. Bay played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Seattle Marin ...
. Bozied also led the Conference with 71 runs. He slugged .936, the highest mark in all of NCAA Division I and tied for the second-most homers in Division I.
Baseball America named him second-team All-American at
designated hitter
The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...
behind
Ken Harvey. He was named a first-team third baseman Collegiate Baseball All-American.
Bozied spent 1999 with the
United States national baseball team
The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball t ...
, hitting .303 with a .439 slugging percentage as their main first baseman (
Xavier Nady
Xavier Clifford Nady VI (; born November 14, 1978) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman. Nady played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Ari ...
manned third, Bozied's position at the University of San Francisco. The collegiate Team USA did not play in any major international tournaments that year. Bozied fell to .359 with 14 homers and 52 RBI as a junior in 2000, finishing sixth in the West Coast Conference in average and fourth in homers. He made All-Conference at third base. In 2001, his senior season, Bozied hit .335 with 12 homers, 20 steals and 51 runs for USF. He was once again the All-Conference pick at third base. USF retired Bozied's #19.
Professional career
Bozied was picked by the
Minnesota Twins in the 50th round of the
1997 amateur draft but did not sign. After his junior season at USF, Bozied was taken by the Minnesota Twins in the second round of the
2000 amateur draft, the 42nd-overall pick, but did not sign.
The
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...
chose him in the third round of the
2001 amateur draft as the 90th overall pick. Negotiations fell through and Bozied joined the
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
Sioux Falls Canaries
The Sioux Falls Canaries are a professional baseball team based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States. The Canaries are members of the North Division of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major L ...
of the
Northern League for the remainder of the 2001 season.
Bozied signed with the Padres for the 2002 and played with the Class-A
Lake Elsinore Storm
The Lake Elsinore Storm are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The Storm plays their home games at Lake Elsinore Diamond (Pete Lehr Field), which opened in 1994; the park s ...
, hitting .298/.377/.546 with 15 homers as their main first baseman. That earned him a promotion to the Double-A
Mobile BayBears
The Mobile BayBears were a Minor League Baseball team based in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The team, which played in the Southern League, served as the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres (1997–2006), Arizona Diamondbacks (2007–2 ...
, for whom he hit .214/.268/.389 in 60 games. Overall, his 24 home runs led Padres farmhands, as did his 92 RBI.
By 2003, Bozied was playing full-time in
Triple-A. He hit .273/.331/.431 for the
Portland Beavers
The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL.
Franchise history
Many baseball teams ...
. His 59 RBI tied old Conference rival Jason Bay for the team lead and his 14 homers were second to Bay's 20. He led the
Pacific Coast League with 77 assists at first base.
Bozied started off 2004 hitting .315/.374/.629 with 16 homers and 58 RBI in his first 57 games for Portland. On July 19, he hit a game-winning game-ending grand slam to give Portland a victory over the Tacoma Rainiers. During his celebration at home plate, he ruptured the
patella
The patella, also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in many tetrapods, such as ...
tendon
A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...
in his left knee and had to be hospitalized. He did not return to the field that year. Bozied battled knee problems throughout 2005, hitting .333/.388/.533 in 12 games for Mobile and .259/.323/.444 in 14 contests for Portland. This likely cost him a shot at the majors.
Let go by San Diego, Bozied signed 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 league ...
. He batted .256/.358/.481 in 60 games for the 2006
Norfolk Tides
The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's location on the Chesapea ...
, being used primarily as an outfielder. He was then signed by 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 ...
; in 2007, he hit .264/.349/.490 for the
Memphis Redbirds
The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbir ...
, with 24 home runs, 82 RBI and a .336 average against left-handers (.234 versus righties). He was second on Memphis in homers and RBI, trailing
Rick Ankiel
Richard Alexander Ankiel (; born July 19, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, Ho ...
in both departments.
In 2008, Bozied joined the
Florida Marlins
The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park.
The fran ...
organization. He batted .306/.382/.569 with 86 runs, 28 doubles, 26 home runs and 80 RBI. He was second on the
Albuquerque Isotopes
The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an e ...
in homers and RBI, trailing
Dallas McPherson in both.
On April 28, 2009, Bozied joined the
Brother Elephants
A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...
of
Chinese Professional Baseball League
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...
in Taiwan. On July 8, 2009, he was signed to a minor-league contract by the
Pittsburgh Pirates, and assigned to their Triple-A club.
On December 31, 2009, Bozied signed with the
Philadelphia Phillies. He was named
Eastern League Player of the Week for the week ending August 23, 2010, playing with the
Reading Phillies
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
In 2011, Bozied played for the AAA
Lehigh Valley IronPigs
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and are named in reference to pig iron, used in the ...
.
Bozied filed for free agency after the 2011 season. He retired before the 2012 season began, in order to focus on launching a technology company with partners.
Baseball retirement
March 2020, in Las Vegas, Tagg was inducted into the WCC Hall of Fame with his friends and family in attendance, calling him "one of the best power hitters in WCC, USF history" His coach, friend and mentor, Troy Nakamura gave the opening credit
YouTube WCC Hall of Honor
Tagg participates in alumni events for USF whenever possible. In Sept 2020, Tagg was interviewed by Frank Allocco on the USF Don's Athletic YouTube Channel highlighting the lives and commitments of the son's and daughters of US
YouTube USF's Tuesday Testimonials
Business career
After retirement from baseball, Tagg spent 3 years as an entrepreneur building an app geared toward the fan experience for baseball. He was mentored by the CEO of
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...
during his stay in San Francisco.
He moved to Lake Elsinore Cali in Southern California as a director of marketing, where he strategically led the venue hosting nearly 100 events per year, including 70+ professional baseball events. He also promoted community development and outreach liaison for the Inland Empire.
In 2016, after spending 15 years away, Tagg moved back home to Colorado to support his family, working as a media strategist for a global cloud service IT infrastructure company.
Personal life
In 2009 he and his wife lived in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
.
[Bozied's big-league dream tempered by wife's recovery]
, SFGate
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...
, Susan Slusser, February 21, 2009 As of 2021 he lived in
Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
.
[Obituary - Bob Bozied"]
HoranCares, August 25, 2021
References
External links
Stats at Yahoo Sports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bozied, Tagg
1979 births
Living people
Sioux Falls Canaries players
Lake Elsinore Storm players
Mobile BayBears players
Portland Beavers players
Norfolk Tides players
Memphis Redbirds players
Albuquerque Isotopes players
Indianapolis Indians players
Reading Phillies players
Lehigh Valley IronPigs players
Baseball players from South Dakota
San Francisco Dons baseball players
Sportspeople from Sioux Falls, South Dakota