Brian Edward Bohanon (born August 1, 1968) is an American former

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

who played for five teams in a span of seven seasons from 1990 through 2001.

Career

Bohanon played baseball at North Shore High School in Texas. As a senior, he pitched 135.2 innings, won 17 games and had an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

of 1.72 en route to the state finals. He pitched three

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

s in high school and was twice named the Houston Player of the Year. He was selected by the Texas Rangers with the 19th pick of the 1987 MLB Draft and received a $137,000 signing bonus. He was assigned to the

Gulf Coast League The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the low ...

to begin his career. Prior to the 1990 season, ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

'' ranked him the 45th-best

prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...

in baseball and the fifth-best in the Rangers' system. Bohanon made his Major League debut with the Rangers on April 10, 1990, pitching a scoreless inning in relief of

Charlie Hough Charles Oliver Hough (; born January 5, 1948) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) knuckleball pitcher and coach who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, and Florida Marlins from 1970 to 1994. Pl ...

at the

SkyDome Rogers Centre (originally SkyDome) is a retractable roof stadium in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at the base of the CN Tower near the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989 on the former Railway Lands, it is home to ...

. He recorded his first Major League strikeout on April 25 of that season against

Robin Ventura Robin Mark Ventura (born July 14, 1967) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and manager. Ventura played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles D ...

and made his first start five days later in Chicago against the

White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The club plays its home games at Rate Fie ...

. Bohanon spent parts of his first five seasons with the Rangers, often being called up as an injury replacement. His

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch (baseball), pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. Its distinctive feature is its high speed. "Power pitchers," such as former major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, relied on the ...

rarely exceeded . Bohanon spent 1995 with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

and 1996 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) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

. In 20 appearances for the Blue Jays, he worked exclusively out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

. Bohanon's best seasons came in 1997 and 1998 with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

and

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. Bohanon enjoyed what he called a breakthrough season in 1997 with the Mets before being traded to Los Angeles for

Greg McMichael Gregory Winston McMichael (born December 1, 1966) is an American former professional baseball player who was a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1993 to 2000. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, McMichael graduated from Webb School ...

during the 1998 campaign, where he also pitched well. Before the 1998 season, Bohanon signed with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

for three years and $9 million despite having what

Tom Verducci Thomas Verducci (born October 23, 1960) is an American sportswriter who writes for ''Sports Illustrated'' and its online magazine SI.com. He writes primarily about baseball. He is also a reporter and commentator for Fox Major League Baseball a ...

described in a ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' article as "ordinary credentials." Bohanon was a regular with the Rockies for over two seasons and accumulated far more starts and innings pitched with the Rockies than with any other club, compiling a 29–30 record with them. He won 12 games in both 1999 and 2000, and in 2000 was tied for the most wins on the Rockies, with Pedro Astacio, and had an ERA of 4.68 that season. Following the 2000 season, he underwent surgery on his elbow. In August 2001, he underwent surgery on

bone spurs An exostosis, also known as a osteochondroma, is a benign chondrogenic lesions derived from aberrant cartilage from the perichondral ring. Exostoses can cause chronic pain ranging from mild to moderate, but rarely severe, depending on the shape, s ...

in his pitching elbow. He would go on to appear with the

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, wi ...

in 2002 but would not appear in another Major League game. Bohanon posted a 54–60 record with 671

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

and a 5.19

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

. In 231 career

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

s, he hit .229 with three

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

Personal life

Bohanon and his wife, Tina, had multiple children. Their son Brandon played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

at the University of Houston-Victoria for coach

Terry Puhl Terry Stephen Puhl (born July 8, 1956) is a Canadian former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a outfielder from 1977 to 1991, most prominently as a member of the Houston Astros where he helped the fra ...

Sources

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bohanon, Brian 1968 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Denton, Texas Charlotte Rangers players Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Detroit Tigers players Gulf Coast Rangers players Los Angeles Dodgers players Louisville Bats players Major League Baseball pitchers Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela New York Mets players Norfolk Tides players Oklahoma City 89ers players Syracuse Chiefs players Texas Rangers players Toronto Blue Jays players Tulsa Drillers players North Shore Senior High School (Texas) alumni