“The passion wasn’t there anymore,” a teary eyed Bret Boone said as he left New York Mets Spring Training camp in 2006. Boone had claimed to retire after a mediocre season with the Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins, and an even worse Spring Training with the Mets. After striking out 65 times out of 326 at-bats in 2005, Bret appeared to be merely a shell of his former self.

But now in 2008, he’ll try to find that part of himself with the Washington Nationals in Spring Training.

“My dad being here, and Aaron being here—if I was going to extend my career a year or two, I think it would be pretty cool playing with him,” said Bret, a three-time All-Star who signed a non-guaranteed, minor league contract. “At this stage, I didn’t have 30 teams banging my door down. It’s an opportunity, and I’m very appreciative of it. Everybody doesn’t get to do this.”

Bret Boone’s comeback would be heralded as inspiring if he hadn’t retired previously under such controversial circumstances. From 1998 to 2004, Boone produced at least 20 home runs per year (the exception being in 2000, when with the Padres he hit 19), and then in 2005 hit 7 with a miserable OBP of .290, hit only 37 RBI’s, and his average dropped to .221 (the total average of his previous 7 seasons was .275). All of the sudden Bret Boone forgot how to hit, and was accused of using steroids in Jose Canseco’s book Juiced. Although Bret responded to these claims by saying there was, “No chance,” that Canseco’s accusations were true, he didn’t back up his words in 2005.

So even if Bret has a successful spring with the Nats, who are already stacked at the 2nd base position (also on the Nationals are Ronnie Belliard, Felipe Lopez, Willie Harris, Pete Orr, Antonio Perez, and Ed Rogers), his name will never be mentioned without at least the smallest cloud of suspicion.