Boots Day

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Boots Day

|position=Center fielder

|image=

|bats=Left

|throws=Left

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1947|8|31}}

|birth_place=Ilion, New York, U.S.

|death_date=

|death_place=

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=June 15

|debutyear=1969

|debutteam=St. Louis Cardinals

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 24

|finalyear=1974

|finalteam=Montreal Expos

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.256

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=8

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=98

|teams=

St. Louis Cardinals ({{mlby|1969}})
Chicago Cubs ({{mlby|1970}})
Montreal Expos ({{mlby|1970}}–{{mlby|1974}})

}}

Charles Frederick "Boots" Day (born August 31, 1947) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and Montreal Expos. Day was bench coach for the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League, and was in professional baseball for 55 years before retiring in 2021.

A native of Ilion, New York, Day played Major League Baseball for all or parts of six seasons (1969–74), with the bulk of that time spent with the Montreal Expos.

He threw and batted left-handed, stood {{convert|5|ft|9|in|m}} tall and weighed {{convert|160|lb|kg}}.

Early life

Day was born on August 31, 1947, in Ilion, New York.{{Cite web |title=Boots Day Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/daybo01.shtml |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}} He attended Ilion High School, where he was well known for his basketball and baseball prowess. As a pitcher on the baseball team he won all of his games but one (a 1–0 loss); and he was a phenomenal hitter.{{Cite web |last=PITARRESI |first=JOHN |date=August 30, 2009 |title=Boots Day enjoying a long career |url=https://www.uticaod.com/story/news/education/graduation/2009/08/30/boots-day-enjoying-long-career/44836107007/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Utica Observer Dispatch |language=en-US}} Day's elementary school principal, Bart Shelley, was a regional scout for the St. Louis Cardinals, who signed Day in 1965. Even though he played in the Cardinals system in 1965, it has also been stated he signed with them on January 1, 1966.

Day is a member of the inaugural class of the Ilion High School Alumni Hall of Fame (2017).{{Cite web |title=Ilion Alumni {{!}} Featured Story - March 2019 - IHS Alumni Hall of Fame |url=https://www.ilionalumni.com/maincovers/2019_03_hall_of_fame.html |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Ilion Jr/Sr High School Alumni}} He also attended Mohawk Valley Community College. In 2012, he was inducted into the Mohawk Valley Baseball Hall of Fame.{{Cite web |last=Rathbun |first=Jon |date=August 10, 2021 |title=Former Ilion classmates heading to Indiana for Charles 'Boots' Day's baseball sendoff |url=https://www.timestelegram.com/story/sports/2021/08/06/boots-days-ilion-classmates-travel-indiana-baseball-send-off/5471453001/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Herkimer Times Telegram |language=en-US}} In 1993, he was inducted into the Greater Utica Sports Hall of Fame.

Minor league player

In 1965, Day was assigned to the Cardinals Florida Instructional League team. From 1966-68, he played in the Cardinals minor league system. In 1968, with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers of the Texas League, Day played in 137 games with a .295 batting average, 17 home runs, 26 doubles, 67 runs batted in (RBI) and 68 runs scored. He also had 24 assists and was part of five double-plays as an outfielder. In 1969, he played 93 games for the Triple-A Tulsa Oilers, hitting .262, and played 11 games for the National League Cardinals.{{Cite web |title=Boots Day Winter, Minor & Independent Leagues Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=day---002cha |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}} In 1970, after two trades, he played the majority of the season for the Montreal Expos Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons/Winnepeg Whips, hitting .294 with 10 home runs in 313 at bats, and 13 assists from the outfield.{{Cite web |title=1970 Buffalo Bisons/Winnipeg Whips Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?id=4f39a1e0 |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}} The team had moved from Buffalo to Winnipeg on June 11, 1970.{{Cite web |title=1970 Buffalo Bisons/Winnepeg Whips Roster |url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/roster/t-bb10631/y-1970 |website=Statscrew.com}}

Major league player

Day received a major league trial with the Cardinals in 1969, playing in 11 games and going hitless in six at bats. At the close of the season, in December 1969, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for left-handed pitcher Rich Nye.{{Cite web |title=Boots Day Trades and Transactions by Baseball Almanac |url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/trades.php?p=daybo01 |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=www.baseball-almanac.com}} He made the Cubs' opening day 1970 roster, but only played in 11 games before being traded, in May, to Montreal for veteran catcher Jack Hiatt. After further seasoning in Triple-A, at Buffalo and Winnipeg, he was recalled by the Expos in 1970, hitting .269 in 41 games; and played the next three-plus seasons as Montreal's platoon center fielder.

In 1971, his best major league season, he reached career highs in hits (105), home runs (4), RBI (33), and batting average (.283) in 122 games played. He was tied for second in the league in sacrifice hits (16).{{Cite web |title=1971 National League Batting Leaders |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1971-batting-leaders.shtml |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}} Although he only played in 118 games in center field, he tied for the league lead in assists by a center fielder (9), with Cito Gaston{{Cite web |title=1971 National League Fielding Leaders |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1971-fielding-leaders.shtml |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}} who played 125 games in center field that year. {{Cite web |title=Cito Gaston Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gastoci01.shtml |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}} Day was also second in fielding percentage (.983).

After slumping in 1972 where he hit .233 in 128 games (though he was second in the league in double plays by a center fielder{{Cite web |title=1972 National League Fielding Leaders |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1972-fielding-leaders.shtml |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}), he returned to form the following season, batting .275 in 1973, with 13 pinch hits, but in only 207 at bats and 101 games.

The Expos were in the division championship race until the last week of the 1973 season. Before the 1974 season, the Expos acquired veteran center fielder Willie Davis in an offseason blockbuster trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers for star relief pitcher Mike Marshall (who would win the Cy Young award for the Dodgers in 1974).{{Cite web |title=Willie Davis Trades and Transactions by Baseball Almanac |url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/trades.php?p=daviswi02 |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=www.baseball-almanac.com}}{{Cite web |title=Mike Marshall Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/marshmi01.shtml |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}} Day lost his semi-regular job. After only 52 games and 72 at-bats in 1974, he returned to the minor leagues for the remainder of his playing career.

His #8 uniform was then issued to rookie catcher Gary Carter in 1975;{{Cite web |title=Montreal Expos Uniform Numbers |url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/baseball_uniform_numbers.php?t=MON |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=www.baseball-almanac.com}} Carter went on to a Baseball Hall of Fame career and the Expos retired the number in his honor.{{Cite web |title=Carter, Gary {{!}} Baseball Hall of Fame |url=https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/carter-gary |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=baseballhall.org}}{{Cite web |title=Nats' and Expos' all-time retired numbers |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/nationals-and-expos-retired-numbers-c300042640 |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=MLB.com |language=en}}

Day appeared in 471 MLB games (449 of them with Montreal), and batted .256 with 295 hits, 28 doubles, eight home runs and 98 runs batted in, in 1,151 at-bats.

Return to minor leagues

Day finished the 1974 season playing for the Memphis Blues of the Triple-A International League.{{Cite web |title=1974 Memphis Blues Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?id=dfc71d94 |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}} He played four years for the Detroit Tiger affiliate Triple-A Evansville Triplets (1975-78), never hitting above .266 or having more than 314 at bats. Other than one at bat at age 74 for the Evansville Otters in 2021, he finished his professional career at age 32, in 1980, playing sparingly for the Triplets and the Single-A Lakeland Tigers. He began the 1980 season as Lakeland's hitting coach, before finishing his playing career in Evansville.

Coaching career

After finishing his playing career, the Tigers kept him in their organization. From 1981-83, he was an assistant coach and then manager of the Bristol Tigers. From 1984-89, he worked as an advance scout for the Tigers; the Tigers winning the World Series in 1984.{{Cite web |title=1984 World Series - Detroit Tigers over San Diego Padres (4-1) |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1984_WS.shtml |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}} He worked in the New York Yankees system (1990-91), and scouted for the Kansas City Royals (1992-94).

He became the first ever manager for the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League in 1995.{{Cite web |title=Charles "Boots" Day, Bench Coach, Evansville Otters |url=https://www.evansvilleotters.com/charles-boots-day |website=evansvilleotters.com}} In 1996, he became hitting coach for a newer incarnation of the Buffalo Bisons, a Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians in the American Association; and in 1997 was the hitting coach for Cleveland's Single-A affiliate, the Kinston Indians.{{Cite web |title=Boots Day MLB, Minor League, Independent Baseball Statistics {{!}} The Baseball Cube |url=https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/player/10579/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=www.thebaseballcube.com}}

From 1998-2003, Day coached in the Cardinals organization, serving as a hitting coach for the Single-A Prince Williams Cannons and the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, and assistant coach for the Cardinals. One of the players he coached was Albert Pujols, a member of the 2000 Redbirds championship team.{{Cite web |title=2000 Memphis Redbirds Statistics and Roster {{!}} The Baseball Cube |url=https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/stats_minor/2000~10291/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=www.thebaseballcube.com}} He spent 2002-03 as an assistant coach under Hall of fame manager Tony La Russa{{Cite web |title=La Russa, Tony {{!}} Baseball Hall of Fame |url=https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/la-russa-tony |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=baseballhall.org}} with the Cardinals before returning to the minor leagues as a hitting coach from 2004-14 with various teams.

In 2010, he was the hitting coach of the Calgary Vipers of the Golden Baseball League and in 2011 he held the same position with the Normal CornBelters of the Frontier League. In 2012, Day returned to the Otters as a hitting coach, and he won the Frontier League’s Darren Bush Coach of the Year Award for excellence in player development. Day later becoming the Otters bench coach in 2015, and remained with the club through the 2021 season.

Day retired from coaching on September 13, 2021, age 74, after a winning game with the Evansville Otters against the Lake Erie Crushers with a final score of 3–1. Day was lead off batter for the game. At retirement, he had been in professional baseball for 55 years.{{Cite web |last=Sher |first=Tamar |date=2021-09-13 |title=Otters finish season with 57th victory |url=https://www.14news.com/2021/09/13/otters-finish-season-with-57th-victory/?outputType=amp |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=www.14news.com |language=en}}