Player Profile: Bruce Bochte

I have 21 cards of Bruce Bochte. This one is from 1985 Topps. 

Playing career: First baseman Bruce Bochte was a high-average, low-power first baseman for the Angels and Mariners in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His best season was 1979, when he was an AL All-Star for Seattle, hitting .316 with 16 HR and 100 RBI. He quit baseball after the 1982 season in disgust with what he saw as the increasing influence of money in the game of baseball. He did return in 1984 to spend three seasons with the Oakland A’s. You can learn more about his playing career at the 1975, 1976, 1980, 1983 and 1986 Topps blogs. One thing I learned from the 1975 Topps blog that I hadn’t noticed before is that he signs his name all in lowercase. You can see this on the facsimile signature on his 1980 and 1982 cards as well.

Where he is now: During and after his playing career Bochte has been a staunch environmental advocate. Since 1990 he has been Executive Director of the Center for the Story of the Universe, which was founded by Bochte’s college classmate, world-famous cosmologist Brian Swimme. Bochte and Swimme’s cosmology is based on the belief that plants, stars and humans all consist of the same elements and are all deeply connected. In a 2001 interview, Bochte explained, "In traditional religion, the understanding is that God put the human on Earth and that the human is here to glorify God. I don't think that way anymore. We know that the human came out of the Earth and the universe. We're the descendants of a long, long journey of life on the planet. We came into the planet out of the planet itself. I don't think we were imported here. How do we fit in in a way that does not lead to destruction of ourselves? If you see yourself as coming out of the natural world, your perspective changes. I want to enhance the world while I'm here. We need to put ourselves in a position to have a chance to flourish in the future. The human species needs to come up with a 5,000- or 500,000- or 5 million-year survival plan on Earth." Bochte worked with the Adopt-A-Stream organization in Whidbey Island, WA to restore a coho run.  "I consider that my crowning achievement, the fish coming back," Bochte said.

My memories: Only know him from his card.

Google Autocomplete results: He is second when you type Bruce Boc, between Bruce Bochy, manager of the Giants, and Bruce Bocina, owner of Bocina Homes. There do not appear to be any other prominent Bruce Bochtes.

Coming up next: The next profile will be Doug Bochtler.