Edward Francis Bouchee (March 7, 1933 – January 23, 2013) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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 appeared in

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 ...

(MLB) for three

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(NL) ballclubs – the

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

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

, and

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 ...

– from to .

Early life

Born in

Livingston, Montana Livingston is a city and the county seat of Park County, Montana, United States. It is in southwestern Montana, on the Yellowstone River, north of Yellowstone National Park. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,040. Hist ...

, Bouchee moved with his family to

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He attended

Lewis and Clark High School Lewis and Clark High School is a four-year public Secondary education in the United States, secondary school in Spokane, Washington, United States. Opened in 1912, it is located at 521 W. Fourth Ave. in the Cliff/Cannon, Spokane, Cliff/Cannon ...

in Spokane, where he was an all-state athlete in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and baseball. In high school, Bouchee became longtime friends with future big league

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, ...

Jack Spring. Bouchee attended

Washington State College Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant universities in the American West. With an un ...

, where he 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, ...

for the

Cougars The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, '' KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North, Central and South America, making it the most widely distributed wild ...

in 1952.

Baseball career

Following the season, Bouchee was named NL Sporting News Rookie Player of the Year Award and finished second in

NL Rookie of the Year In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...

voting, owing to his impressive .293

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 is ...

, with 17

home runs 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 ...

, and 76

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

(RBIs). Those would all prove to be career single-season highs for Bouchee. On April 24, 1957, his bases-loaded

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * I ...

against

Bob Friend Robert Bartmess Friend (November 24, 1930 – February 3, 2019) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher between and , most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. A fou ...

of the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

allowed

pinch runner In baseball or softball, a pinch runner is a player substituted into a game for the purpose of base running. Description A pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been s ...

John Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

, the first black player in Phillies' history, to score his only major league

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 group ...

. On January 17, 1958, Spokane police arrested Bouchee for exposing himself to several young girls. He pleaded guilty to a series of charges, including

indecent exposure Indecent exposure is the deliberate public exposure by a person of a portion of their body in a manner contrary to local standards of appropriate behavior. Laws and social attitudes regarding indecent exposure vary significantly in different ...

. Bouchee was sentenced to three years of probation, spent a few months in a

psychiatric institution A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe mental disorders. These institutions cater to patients with c ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, and then was allowed to return to the Phillies on July 1, 1958. It is for this reason that what would've been his 1958

Topps The Topps Company, Inc. is an American company that manufactures trading cards and other collectibles. Formerly based in New York City, Topps is best known as a leading producer of Baseball card, baseball and other sports and Non-sports tradi ...

card (#145) was not issued. Bouchee was drafted by the New York Mets from the Cubs in the

1961 Major League Baseball expansion draft The 1961 MLB expansion draft was held by Major League Baseball on October 10, 1961, to fill the rosters of the New York Mets and the Houston Colt .45s, the new franchises which would enter the league in the 1962 season. The pool of players out o ...

. He retired from professional baseball following the 1963 season, having spent most of his last two years in the minor leagues.

Later life

After retiring from baseball at the age of 30, Bouchee moved to Chicago and worked for

ACDelco ACDelco is an American automotive parts brand owned by General Motors, which also offers aftermarket parts for non-GM vehicles. Over its long history it has been known by various names such as United Motors Corporation, United Motors Service, an ...

as a warehouse supervisor. He later retired from business, moving to

Gilbert, Arizona Gilbert is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located southeast of Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, Gilbert is home to 288,128 residents. It is the fifth-most populous municipality in Arizona and is considered a suburb of Phoenix. I ...

Death

Bouchee died in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, on January 23, 2013. His wife Joanne survived him. One of their four children, Chris Bouchee, played minor league baseball in the Phillies farm system, in –.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouchee, Ed 1933 births 2013 deaths Baseball players from Montana Philadelphia Phillies players Chicago Cubs players New York Mets players Syracuse Chiefs players Miami Marlins (International League) players Spokane Indians players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Schenectady Blue Jays players Major League Baseball first basemen Washington State University alumni Baseball players from Spokane, Washington Washington State Cougars baseball players United States Army personnel of the Korean War American sportspeople convicted of crimes American people convicted of child sexual abuse 20th-century American sportsmen