John Morgan Boozer (July 6, 1938 – January 24, 1986) was an 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) ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("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, who attempts to e ...

for 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 ...

(1962–64 and 1966–69). Boozer has the distinction of being one of only four Major League Baseball players to be ejected from a game for violation of the

spitball A spitball is an illegal baseball pitch in which the ball has been altered by the application of a foreign substance such as saliva or petroleum jelly. This technique alters the wind resistance and weight on one side of the ball, causing it t ...

rule (the others were

Nels Potter Nelson Thomas Potter (August 23, 1911 – September 30, 1990) was an American professional baseball player and right-handed pitcher who appeared in 349 games in Major League Baseball over a dozen seasons between 1936 and 1949, most notably as a ...

in 1944, Phil Regan later in 1968, and

Gaylord Perry Gaylord Jackson Perry (September 15, 1938 – December 1, 2022) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher for eight different teams from 1962 to 1983. During a 22-year ba ...

in 1982). The ejection occurred on May 2, 1968, when Boozer, having entered the game for the Phillies in relief of Woody Fryman, with his team trailing 3–0 to the host

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 ...

, repeatedly touched his fingers to his mouth during warm-ups for the bottom of the seventh inning. Home-plate umpire

Ed Vargo Edward Paul Vargo (September 17, 1928 – February 2, 2008) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1960 to 1983. He officiated in the World Series, National League Championship Series and All-Star Ga ...

gave Boozer two warnings, calling a ball to batter

Bud Harrelson Derrel McKinley "Bud" Harrelson (born June 6, 1944) is a former Major League Baseball shortstop. He is a coach and part-owner of the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He played for the New York Mets, Philadelphia ...

three times — the last resulting in the pitcher’s ejection, along with the ejection of Phillies manager

Gene Mauch Gene William Mauch (November 18, 1925 – August 8, 2005) was an American professional baseball player and manager, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers (, ), Pittsburgh Pirates (), Chicago Cubs ...

. Boozer attended Wofford College and also played in the Puerto Rico Baseball Winter League in 1961, 1962, and 1963 with the Ponce Lions. He was teammates with

Nelson Briles Nelson Kelley Briles (August 5, 1943 – February 13, 2005) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. A hard thrower whose best pitch was a slider, he exhibited excellent control. Briles batted and threw right-handed. He was a starting pitcher on World ...

and

Steve Carlton Steven Norman Carlton (born December 22, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher for six different teams from 1965 to 1988, most notably as a member of the Philadelphi ...

. He contributed to a championship for the Ponce Lions in 1963. He was popular among local fans as he was always joking and making fun of himself on and off the field. He entertained kids and dressed as a clown during an all-star game. In seven Major League seasons, he tallied a 14–16 W–L record, 171 games pitched (22 as a starter — three of which he completed), a 4.09

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Com ...

, and recorded 15 saves. After retiring from baseball, Boozer returned to

Lexington, South Carolina Lexington is the largest town in and the county seat of Lexington County, South Carolina, United States. It is a suburb of the state capital, Columbia. The population was 23,568 at the 2020 Census, and it is the second-largest municipality in th ...

, where he founded th
Lexington County Recreation & Aging Commission
Boozer died in Lexington at the age of 47 from

Hodgkin's disease Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition ...

. He is buried in the Pilgrim Lutheran Church Cemetery.

References

External links

John Boozer
at Baseball Almanac 1938 births 1986 deaths People from Lexington, South Carolina Philadelphia Phillies players Tampa Tarpons (1957–1987) players Eugene Emeralds players Arkansas Travelers players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chattanooga Lookouts players Des Moines Demons players Baseball players from South Carolina Deaths from cancer in South Carolina Deaths from lymphoma {{US-baseball-pitcher-1930s-stub