Bochte was called up to the Angels in 1974 after hitting .355 with nine home runs and 56 RBI in 92 games for the Triple-A Salt Lake City Angels of the Pacific Coast League,[3] and made his major league debut on July 19, 1974. In his first game, Bochte appeared as a pinch runner for Bob Oliver, and scored a run while going 0-for-1 in a 5–4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.[4] He spent the next four seasons with the Angels, hitting .272 during that span.[5] He batted .290 with two home runs and 8 runs batted in (RBI) to begin the 1977 campaign before being traded along with Sid Monge and cash from the Angels to the Indians for Dave LaRoche and Dave Schuler on May 11.[6] After finishing 1977 with Cleveland, he became a free agent and signed with the Seattle Mariners, who he played with for the next five seasons.[5]
Bochte was selected for the American LeagueAll-Star team in 1979 when he hit .316 with 16 home runs and 100 RBI in 150 games and set career highs in virtually every major offensive category.[5] He sat out the entire 1983 season for because he "was fed up with the business of baseball and worried about the state of the world", but returned to play with the Oakland Athletics from 1984–1986.[7]
As of 2001, Bochte was an avowed agnostic, and was studying cosmology and working on environmental conservation. He stated that he has no contact with anyone from his playing days except for Dusty Baker. Bochte married twice, and has two daughters from his first marriage.[9]
