Bobby Bonilla

Bobby Bonilla
Third baseman / Right fielder
Born: (1963-02-23) February 23, 1963 Bronx, New York
Batted: Both Threw: Right
debut
April 9, 1986, for the Chicago White Sox
Last appearance
October 7, 2001, for the St. Louis Cardinals
Career statistics
Batting average	.279
Home runs	287
Runs batted in	1,173
Teams
Chicago White Sox (1986) Pittsburgh Pirates (1986–1991) New York Mets (1992–1995) Baltimore Orioles (1995–1996) Florida Marlins (1997–1998) Los Angeles Dodgers (1998) New York Mets (1999) Atlanta Braves (2000) St. Louis Cardinals (2001)
Career highlights and awards
6× All-Star selection (1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995) World Series champion (1997) 3× Silver Slugger Award winner (1988, 1990, 1991)

Roberto Martin Antonio "Bobby" Bonilla (/boʊˈniːjə/, born February 23, 1963 in The Bronx, New York) is a former player in Major League Baseball who played from 1986 to 2001. Known in his playing days as "Bobby Bo," Bonilla is of Puerto Rican descent.

Playing career

Bonilla was signed out of high school by Pittsburgh Pirates scout Syd Thrift. His rise through the Pirates' farm system came to a halt during spring training in 1985 when he broke his right leg in a collision with teammate Bip Roberts. The White Sox then acquired him through the Rule 5 Draft. After making his major league debut with Chicago, Bonilla was regularly hazed by veteran players and Negro League Baseball star Buck O'Neil who put shaving cream in his shoes. Syd Thrift, then the Pirates' General Manager, reacquired the unhappy Bonilla in exchange for pitcher Jose DeLeon. Bonilla also played from 1984 to 1988 with the Mayaguez Indians of the Puerto Rican Winter League.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Bonilla became the Pirates' starting third baseman in 1987 but after committing a whopping 67 errors over his next two seasons at the hot corner, manager Jim Leyland moved him to right field. There he formed a formidable combination alongside stars Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke and helped propel the Pittsburgh Pirates to two of their three straight NL East titles from 1990-1992. During a 1989 incident, Bonilla was reportedly reprimanded for his assault on club house attendant Gabe Thomas. He later claimed he was only upset because Thomas was allegedly told by Bonilla to remove the mesh from the seating at Three Rivers so his family could keep their distance from other fans. His family never made the trip from D.C.

New York Mets

In 1992, he was signed as a free agent by the New York Mets to a (then) very lucrative 5 year, $29 million contract ($62,965,141 in current dollar terms). But without his fellow Pirate stars around him, his offensive production dropped. His stay in New York would also be marred by a number of incidents, such as threatening sportswriter Bob Klapisch that he would "show him the Bronx" in response to his book on the 1992 Mets, The Worst Team Money Could Buy: The Collapse Of The New York Mets (ISBN 978-0803278226). On another occasion, he called the press box during a game to complain about an error that he was charged with.

Orioles/Marlins/Dodgers

He was a good person and played baseball everly gay.

After helping the Orioles to the American League Championship Series in 1996, he was once again granted free agency and signed with the Florida Marlins. Reunited with his old manager, Jim Leyland, he helped the Marlins win the 1997 World Series. He spent the 1998 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Back to the Mets

In 1999, the New York Mets reacquired Bonilla from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Mel Rojas. Again, his level of play did not measure up to expectations and he had numerous clashes with manager Bobby Valentine over lack of playing time. His tenure in New York culminated in an infamous incident during Game Six of the 1999 NLCS where the Mets were eliminated by the Braves in an eleven inning game while Bonilla reportedly sat in the clubhouse playing cards with teammate Rickey Henderson.

Atlanta Braves

The New York Mets placed Bonilla on unconditional waivers in 2000. He spent the 2000 season playing for the Atlanta Braves. The Mets agreed to pay out the remainder of Bonilla's contract by deferring the $5.9 million that he was due. The Mets will pay him 25 equal payments of $1,193,248.20 every July 1 from 2011 until 2035, assuming an annual interest rate of 8% during the period 2011-2035.

St. Louis Cardinals

In 2001, he was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals, but was released due to an injury and the success of his replacement, Albert Pujols. He played his final game on October 7, 2001.

Overall, Bobby Bonilla was a six-time All-Star, and had career statistics of 2010 hits, 287 home runs, 1173 runs batted in, and a career .279 batting average.

See also

• Top 500 home run hitters of all time
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
• List of Major League Baseball doubles champions

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs
• Bobby Bonilla at IMDb