Bret Boone was a productive player for awhile, and then he fell off a cliff and retired in a surprise announcement in Spring Training 2006. No explanation.
Yesterday he revealed that the problem was alcohol. He's clean now, and all that stuff, and trying to make a comeback. We'll see.
What struck me about the story on MLB.com was this sentence: "Boone's problems started in a more subtle matter[sic], but it got to a point where he would drink 12 to 15 beers after a game."
Twelve to 15 beers? Maybe it's just me, but that seems like a lot of beer. That's a party.
Was it a lot for Bret? According to baseballreference.com, Boone's playing weight was 180 pounds, which is about 81,647 grams (using Google's conversion feature). Fifteen beers at 12 ounces per beer, is 180 ounces, or about 5,103 grams.
So, bathroom breaks aside, Boone may have added another 6.25% to his body weight after games. He may have weighed as much as 11 pounds more leaving the bar than when he arrived. I think I know why he lost some bat speed.
The sciences always have names for their formulae, so I'm going to refer to this as the Boone Factor. The Boone Factor has many applications. For instance, how many beers would that be for, say, Tony Siragusa? Football reference.com reports his weight at 330 pounds. The exchange rate would be 27 beers.
To do your own calculations of the Boone Factor:
Step One: Multiply the player's weight (in pounds) times 453.59 to find his weight in grams
Step Two: Multiply the figure in Step One by .0625 (or 6.25%) -- call this the Boone Intake Parameter
Step Three: Divide the figure in Step Two by 28.35 to find the number of beer ounces imbibed
Step Four: Divide the figure in Step Three by 12 to derive the number of beers. (Substitute for the 12 if you are calculating tall boys, cans of malt liquor, or appropriately, Boone's Farm).
