John Boccabella (#466)

John Boccabella played 12 seasons in the big leagues (1963-74). Most of his playing time (376 games) game with the Expos from 1969-73. Earlier, he played 146 games for the Cubs from 1963-68 (with most of that coming in 1966). He finished up his career in 1974 with the Giants.

John was signed by the Cubs in 1963, but played mostly in their farm system from 1963-68. When in the minors, he mostly played 1st base.

1966 was the only season that he spent entirely with the Cubs, and saw action in 75 games. That was also the first year he spent some time behind the plate, both with the Cubs and in the Arizona Fall Instructional League.

He was briefly claimed by the Yankees in the 67/68 off-season, but was returned to the Cubs the following April.

Check out John’s 1968 stats. He played 73 games for the Cubs’ AAA team while only playing 7 games (with 14 at-bats) for the Cubs. Cup of coffee, right? No! He was the Cubs’ #2 catcher that season! How is that possible? Well, Randy Hundley started 156 games that year, collecting 606 plate appearances. Boccabella started 4 games and played 28 innings, while 4 other backstops (Randy Bobb, Gene Oliver, John Felske, and Bill Plummer) split the remaining 40 innings. With all that leisure time in 1968, it’s amazing he even has a card in the 1969 set.

John was selected by the Expos in the October 1968 expansion draft, but so were veteran Astros’ catchers John Bateman and Ron Brand, so Boccabella didn’t really get a fresh start in his new location. Still, John managed to stay out of the minor leagues now that he was with the Expos. He was also a favorite of the PA announcer, who got to say “John Boc-a-BELLLLLLLLLLL-a” many times.

He was the #3 catcher in 1969, then was #2 behind Bateman for the ’70 and ’71 seasons.

Boccabella was the team’s starting catcher for the first 2 months of 1972, then rookie Terry Humphrey took over for 2 months. Tim McCarver (acquired in mid-season from the Phillies for Bateman) handled most of the catching over the final 2 months.

Surprisingly (to me anyway), John was the team’s #1 catcher during the 1973 season, starting 106 games. Humphrey got the odd start during the first half, until he was sent down in mid-season. John was out of the lineup for most of September, but finished up with 10 consecutive starts to close the season.

The Expos’ first-round draft choice Barry Foote was going to be the “catcher of the future”, so Boccabella was dealt to the Giants in April 1974, where he finished his career as a seldom-used backup.


The three "B"s of the 1969 Expos' catching corps: