Cam Booser got one out Monday night at Tropicana Field, and it may have been the biggest out of his long, winding baseball life. With the Yankees threatening in the fifth inning of Game 2 of the American League Division Series, the 34-year-old left-hander entered a tied game with the bases full. Cody Bellinger drove Booser’s third pitch deep enough to make everyone hold their breath, but Rays center fielder Jonny DeLuca settled near the wall and made the catch. Tampa Bay went on to beat New York, 5-2, and Booser had his first postseason victory.
One swing, one escape, one postseason win
Booser had only Bellinger to face. The Yankees hitter spoiled the first two pitches, then got a fastball over the plate and sent it toward the outfield. Booser first feared the ball had found open grass, then watched DeLuca drift close to the fence before securing it for the final out of the inning.
“There was definitely some relief when he came down with it,” Booser said.
That brief mound appearance carried a full win in the box score, but its meaning reached far beyond one October decision. Tampa Bay is now a victory away from advancing to the American League Championship Series, with Game 3 set for Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.
- Booser entered in the fifth with the score even and the bases loaded.
- Bellinger’s fly ball to center ended the Yankees’ rally.
- The Rays pulled away for a 5-2 win.
- It was Booser’s postseason debut and his first playoff decision.
Before the Rays, baseball nearly disappeared
Seven years earlier, Booser had walked away from the sport. He was 25, had not climbed beyond High-A, and was working construction alongside his father in the Seattle area. His days were spent installing acoustic ceilings in tall buildings, sometimes with a view toward the Mariners’ ballpark.
He felt unfinished business pulling at him, but first had to confront far more urgent matters. Injuries, alcohol addiction and depression had piled up during his first professional run. Booser described those years as especially dark, saying that his physical setbacks fed struggles away from the field.
His road had been difficult long before he left the game:
- As a high school sophomore, he dislocated a knee and fractured his femur during a football injury.
- He suffered an L5 vertebra fracture while lifting weights two years later.
- Tommy John surgery came during his freshman year at Oregon State in 2011.
- He left Oregon State academically, then continued at Central Arizona College.
- The Twins signed him as an undrafted free agent after he showed enough in the West Coast League during 2013.
- He tore his left labrum in 2015, then broke another bone in his back after being struck by a car while riding a bicycle during shoulder rehab.
- He received a 50-game suspension for a positive marijuana test in 2017.
By the close of that 2017 season, Booser chose retirement. He said he needed to learn how to manage life before attempting baseball again.
Sobriety opened the door to a comeback
Booser said his turning point came at home, when he recognized the pain his drinking was causing his parents, Tim and Debbie. Unable to pinpoint the date, he still remembers getting down on his hands and knees with a bottle of rum nearby and praying for help.
He did not drink that night. The next day became another sober day, then another, until the days became months. Booser said he has now been sober for six years.
His faith became part of the purpose he found in recovery. Booser said he hopes that telling the truth about his own struggles might help someone else who is suffering quietly or is afraid to ask for help.
“I kept it inside for a long time because I thought that was what people were supposed to do,” Booser said. “But trying to handle it by yourself is just too hard.”
A friend later offered him work at a baseball facility in Puyallup, Washington. Booser began giving pitching lessons, though he initially turned down requests to play catch because he worried about his shoulder and remembered the yips that had troubled him late in his earlier career.
Eventually he began throwing in private. There was no pain. He worked into mound sessions, and the fastball soon registered 97 to 98 mph. Trainer Kyle Rogers helped launch the return, and Booser’s parents backed his decision to give baseball another chance.
A second career found its October moment
Booser first resurfaced with the independent Chicago Dogs while waiting for the Twins to release his rights. His velocity drew scouts, including Rays assistant general manager Kevin Ibach, who still has video of Booser throwing in a lightly attended ballpark.
There were more detours before the breakthrough. Arizona signed him in 2022, but he posted a 6.48 ERA at Double-A Amarillo and was released. He returned to independent baseball with the Lancaster Barnstormers, believing that a 30-year-old pitcher without a stop above Double-A might be nearing the end again.
Instead, he moved to the Phoenix area with Jessica, now his wife, rebuilt his delivery at a new gym and signed with the Red Sox. A full 2023 season at Triple-A Worcester led to a non-roster spring invitation in 2024.
On April 18, 2024, then-Worcester manager Chad Tracy asked him if he could pitch in Pittsburgh the following day. Booser made his Major League debut at age 31, working the ninth inning in a Boston win at PNC Park. His parents, sisters and wife were there.
Booser said he broke down almost immediately, overwhelmed by what it took to reach that moment.
After being traded to the White Sox, then struggling to repeat that initial success on a club that lost 102 games, he reached free agency. Tampa Bay offered him a 40-man roster place late in spring camp, though not an Opening Day bullpen job. Booser could have searched for another Major League opportunity, but he chose to remain with the Rays, reported to Triple-A Durham and waited for the May 31 call.
The choice paid off. Booser became a key left-handed option in Tampa Bay’s bullpen, posting a 1.98 ERA over 42 appearances. Among American League relievers with at least 40 innings, his 0.76 WHIP was the best. He also led Major League left-handers with a 3.9 percent walk rate and a 7.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder credited Booser’s routines, preparation and resilience, saying Tampa Bay would not be in this position without what the reliever delivered during the season.
For Booser, the club’s trust has been as important as the opportunity.
“This group is really special,” he said. “It has been an absolute blessing.”
