Greg Booker, a reliever on the Padres’ 1984 World Series team and a coach with the team from 1997 to 2003, died Saturday in Burlington, N.C., after a long fight with melanoma, according to a funeral home obituary. He was 58.
The Padres’ 10th-round pick out of Elon University in 1981, Booker debuted with the big league club in 1983 and posted a 3.30 ERA in 57 1/3 innings the next year as the Padres advanced to the postseason and the World Series for the first time in franchise history.
The son in law of manager/general manager Jack McKeon, Booker pitched for the Padres until he was traded in June 1989 to the Twins for Freddie Toliver.