Entering his first full season, Geren hopes to improve on his .288 season-ending average from '89. The 28-year-old carries all the prerequisites to become a bona fide major league catcher. His leadership behind the plate has earned the respect of the Yankee pitching staff, and American League baserunners have taken notice of his strong arm. Yankee fans have also taken notice of a job well done."
-The New York Yankees Official 1990 Yearbook
"Geren enjoyed a fine 1989 season both behind the plate and with the bat. He hit .288 with nine home runs and 27 RBIs in 205 at-bats.
He was recalled from Columbus on May 16 and stayed with the Yankees for good; Geren had hit .253 with two home runs and 13 RBIs over 27 games for the Clippers. He made an immediate impact with the Yankees, going 5-for-12 in his first three games with two homers and four RBIs. On May 20 at Seattle he hit his first major league home run, a solo blast off Mike Dunne, and the following night had a career-high three-hit game (one of three in '89), again homering in the Kingdome (off Mike Jackson), the first of two back-to-back games with a homer in '89. On May 24 against the Angels in New York, Bob slightly pulled an abdominal muscle and was removed in the sixth inning; listed as day-to-day he did not appear again until June 3.
Bob ended May going 6-for-14 (.417) and continued to swing the bat well through June, going 6-for-21 (.286). He caught 12 games in May and June, throwing out five of nine runners (56%) with the club going 7-5 in his starts.
July was his best month offensively, hitting .444 (16-for-36), raising his average from .343 to .394. After hitting in four straight from July 1-4 (5-for-11), Bob went hitless in a pinch at-bat (July 7) before hitting in seven straight to close out the month (10-for-24, .417). Included in that streak was a 3-for-3 effort on July 29 against the Blue Jays. The club was 6-4 in July when he started, 13-9 through his first three months with the Yanks. At the break he was hitting .389; from July 8-August 3 he hit in a season-best 10 straight games, going 14-for-37 (.378).
Bob became a regular in August, starting 23 of 31 games during the month. He hit .244 (21-for-86) with five home runs and 16 RBIs, his monthly best for homers and RBIs. On August 26 and 27, Geren had his second back-to-back homer nights, off Baltimore's Dave Johnson and Bob Milacki.
September was his slowest month with the bat (10-for-48, .208) as Bob's average dropped from .312 to a season-ending .288. On September 6, he hit a two-run homer off Brian Holton in the 7th inning to tie the score at 4-4 after the Yankees had trailed 4-0. He hit safely in eight of 16 games over September/October and ended the season striking out in eight of sixteen at-bats. Geren hit .252 after the break.
The club was 29-29 when he started behind the plate. He threw out 13 of 33 runners (39%), committed three errors and allowed three passed balls. In his 58 starts, Bob caught three shutouts, eight games with one run allowed and five when two runs were allowed.
Geren had a .454 slugging percentage, third on the club for those appearing in at least 50 games. He hit .324 in day games and .269 in night games. He hit .284 with two homers against left-handed pitching and .290 with seven homers against righties. He hit .311 at home and .263 on the road. Geren hit .244 with runners in scoring position.
He signed a contract for the 1990 season.
Geren began the 1988 season with the Columbus Clippers and had his contract purchased by the Yankees on May 15 when Don Slaught was placed on the 15-day disabled list with an injured left groin. At the time his contract was purchased, he was hitting .366 in 32 games for the Clippers with three home runs, 13 RBIs and a slugging percentage of .464.
He made his major league debut on May 17 against Seattle, appearing as a defensive replacement at catcher. His first major league at-bat came on May 20 against Oakland, striking out against Eric Plunk. Bob appeared in a total of four games, going 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout, before being optioned back to Columbus on June 20.
Bob was recalled by the Yankees on September 2. At that point, he was hitting .271 with the Clippers with eight home runs and 35 RBIs in 95 games; he was named as the catcher on the postseason International League All-Star team. He made his first major league start on October 1 at Detroit and recorded his first major league hit, a single off Doyle Alexander in the 2nd inning, going 1-for-4 in that game. He made another start the next day in the season finale at Detroit, going 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
Overall in his two stints with the Yankees, Geren played in 10 games and batted .100 (1-for-10) with two walks and three strikeouts. He was 0-for-2 throwing out baserunners, giving up stolen bases to Jose Canseco (May 20 against Oakland) and Jim Walewander (October 2 at Detroit).
Geren began the 1987 season at AA Albany-Colonie and was hitting .219 in 31 games with three home runs and 11 runs batted in when he was promoted to AAA Columbus on May 29. He played in five games with the Clippers, hitting .150 with a home run and three RBIs, before being outrighted back to Albany on June 12.
He finished the season with Albany, and in the 47 games he played there, following his return, batted .222 with eight home runs and 20 RBIs. Overall in his two stints with Albany, Bob hit a combined .221 with 11 home runs and 31 RBIs; his 11 homers ranked second on the club, and his five game-winning RBIs ranked fourth. He led all Eastern League catchers in fielding with a .994 percentage (two errors in 358 chances). In 1986, his first year in the Yankee organization, he batted .254 at Columbus, with seven homers and 25 RBIs, and .148 [in 11 games] at Albany-Colonie.
Geren was selected by the San Diego Padres in the first round (24th choice overall) in the regular phase of the June 1979 free agent draft. That choice was awarded to the Padres as compensation for the Los Angeles Dodgers' signing of [free agent] Derrel Thomas. In his first professional season, Bob hit .172 in 54 games at Walla Walla.
He split his time in 1980 between Reno, where he hit .159 in 48 games with four homers and 23 RBIs, and Walla Walla, where he hit .254 in 51 games. Geren was acquired by the Cardinals organization in December 1980 along with pitchers Rollie Fingers and Bob Shirley and catcher Gene Tenace for catchers Terry Kennedy and Steve Swisher, infielder Mike Phillips, and pitchers Al Olmstead, John Urrea, Kim Seaman and John Littlefield. Geren hit .222 in 64 games at St. Petersburg in 1981.
In 1982, his second consecutive season at St. Petersburgh, he batted .244 in 110 games. He led Florida State League catchers in games (96) and assists (72). Bob spent the entire 1983 season at Springfield, where he tied for third in the Midwest League in home runs with 24, his professional high. He batted .265 and set another personal pro best with 73 runs batted in. Bob led Midwest League catchers in total chances (939), putouts (826) and assists (102).
He spent most of 1984 at Arkansas, batting .247 with 15 home runs and 40 RBIs, and in 15 games at Louisville hit .175. In 1985, Bob's final year as a member of the Cardinals organization, he hit .225 at Arkansas, where he spent most of the season, and in five games at Louisville batted .357. Recommended to New York by scout Stan Saleski, he signed with the Yankees in November of 1985 as a six-year minor league free agent."
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
Led Florida State League catchers in assists (72), 1982.
Led Midwest League catchers in putouts (826), assists (102), and total chances (939), 1983.
Led Texas League catchers in fielding percentage (.996), 1985.
Led Eastern League catchers in fielding percentage (.994), 1987.
Named to Topps Rookie All-Star team, 1989.
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
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