He played his entire career in the American League for the California Angels, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics.

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.

[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 League All-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.