Who Is Cam Booser, Red Sox Pitcher Making His Rookie Debut at 31?

“How can you not be romantic about baseball?” – Baseball is where dreams come true. More importantly, it’s where the impossible becomes possible. Weirdly the Boston Red Sox has been in the center of some of the most important moments of this beautiful sport. From the “curse” to the East Coast’s most heated rivalry, this is a historical team. They’ve done it again by giving the 31-year-old Cam Booser a major league debut! But then Booser’s story isn’t any less interesting. 

This is more than a dream come true for Booser, this is the universe giving him another opportunity. The pitcher had long given up on his dream to be a pitcher. For years the pitcher battled with injuries, heartbreaks, mistakes, and shattered dreams. But Booser never knew that in his bid to give back to baseball, the sport would give him back something too. This is the story of Cam Booser – the 31-year-old rookie of the Boston Red Sox.

Cam Booser – Early career struggles and changes in the profession

Cam Booser’s journey began in 2013. The Minnesota Twins took him in and things looked bright for the young pitcher. He was a talented young man who could throw wicked fastballs but things never clicked for him. One after the other Booser saw his colleagues get called to major leagues or double-As and triple-As. But here he was stuck in High-A ball with no scope for growth.

As MLB.com revealed part of the reason for this was Booser’s bad luck. His development kept getting obstacles like a Tommy John surgery, labrum surgery, and a broken back following a bike accident. While this was tough, Booser didn’t make things easier for himself. He got a 50-game suspension for testing positive for marijuana and also admitted to having some attitude problems.

All of this took its toll on Booser and he called it quits in 2017. The former pitcher joined the Northwest Carpenters Union in the area, Local 41, and started building acoustical ceilings. From a pitcher, Booser had become a carpenter. However, his dream of baseball never died. “Every day I was working in construction, I thought about the game,” Booser said.

So how did Booser find himself back in baseball? It was because he wanted to give children some baseball lessons. It was here that he discovered that he could throw 90mph+ pitches without any pain. That was the sign he needed and suddenly Booser felt the doors of luck once again opening for him.

Major League comes calling as the dream becomes a reality

Despite noticing his pain-free pitching Cam Booser still felt quite nervous. But then his friend pushed him to get a trainer and that brought him to Kyle Rogers, a former instructor at Driveline Baseball. Together with Rogers, Booser began working on his pitching techniques and slowly things started clicking. Rogers posted videos of Booser’s sessions on various social media platforms and that brought him attention from The Chicago Dogs of the American Association.

Booser’s work with Chicago in 2021 caught the Arizona Diamondbacks’ attention who immediately signed him to a minor-league deal. That changed his life but Booser was in for a bigger surprise. In just one and a half years, he became a Boston Red Sox player and was called up to make his major league debut.

“It was the most adrenaline I’ve ever experienced, but it was great. It was all excitement,” Booser said about his debut. The pitcher closed the game for the Red Sox against the Pittsburgh Pirates and got his first strikeout. In the process, he became the oldest Red Sox player to make his Majors debut (excluding players who played in Japan). 

But this is just the beginning, better things are waiting for Cam Booser. Now that he has realized his first dream of playing in the major leagues, it’s time for dream no.2. Excelling in the major leagues!