BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Kevin Bootay

Kevin Wayne Bootay

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lb.

School Cerritos College

Born June 4, 1964

Biographical Information

Outfielder Kevin Bootay peaked at AAA as a player then became a scout.

Bootay was taken in the first round of the January 1984 draft by the Texas Rangers, immediately following Jeff Blauser, Tim Fortugno and Greg Litton. He showed off a lot of speed in his pro debut that year with the Tri-Cities Triplets, hitting .264/.368/.336 with 45 steals in 38 tries and 66 runs in 68 games. He led the Northwest League in runs (3 ahead of Sam Haley), was second in steals (13 behind Haley), was caught stealing the most (one ahead of Dan Jennings) and tied Lindsay Meggs for the lead with 7 times hit by pitch. He was named a NWL All-Star outfielder alongside Haley and Brad Hill.

With the Salem Redbirds in 1985, he batted .253/.327/.335 and stole 40 bases in 60 tries. He had 12 outfield assists but 14 errors. He was 5th in the Carolina League in steals (between Dave Martinez and Glenallen Hill) and second in caught stealing (behind Eric Yelding). In '86, Kevin played for Salem (.304/.369/.443 in 34 G) and the Tulsa Drillers (.231/.270/.290 in 97 G), with 47 steals in 66 tries. Only Bob Brower had more steals in the Texas chain.

Bootay saw limited action for Tulsa in 1987 (.229/.289/.286 in 29 G, 6 SB, 5 CS). In 1988, he played for Tulsa (.274/.322/.363 in 83 G, 23 SB) and the Oklahoma City 89ers (.280/.319/.303, 7 SB in 39 G). He finished up in 1989 with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons, going 7 for 53 with a double, four steals in nine tries and two walks.

Overall, Bootay had batted .255/.319/.328 in 503 minor league games, with 293 runs and 161 RBI. He stole 172 bases in 248 tries and fielded .959.

He later scouted for the Minnesota Twins, Rangers and Chicago White Sox. He signed Matt Garza and Tyler Robertson.