Bobby Bonilla

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Bobby Bonilla
Third baseman / Right fielder
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 runs287
Runs batted in1,173
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Roberto Martin Antonio "Bobby" Bonilla (Template:PronEng, 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 played from 1984 to 1988 with the Mayaguez Indians of the Puerto Rican Winter League. He was called the $29 million man when he 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.

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.

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. 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 0-8032-7822-5).[1] On another occasion, he called the press box during a game to complain about an error that he was charged with (later attempting to explain by saying he was calling to check up on the PR director's cold.)[2]

Orioles/Marlins/Dodgers

Finally, in 1995, Bonilla was traded by the Mets with a player to be named later to the Baltimore Orioles for Damon Buford and Alex Ochoa.

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 a gut-wrenching eleven inning game while Bonilla reportedly sat in the clubhouse playing cards with teammate Rickey Henderson.

Atlanta Braves

When the New York Mets placed Bonilla on unconditional waivers in 2000, they agreed to pay out the remainder of his contract by deferring the remaining $5.9 million. He spent the 2000 season playing for the Atlanta Braves.

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. (It is erroneously believed that Bonilla's injury was the only reason Pujols made the 2001 Cardinals; in reality, Pujols had an excellent spring training and had already earned a spot before the injury.) He played his final game on October 7th, 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.

Trivia

  • Bonilla hit one of the only thirteen home runs ever hit into the upper deck of Three Rivers Stadium, and one of the six to the right-field side. Willie Stargell is the all-time leader in upper deck shots at the stadium, hitting four of the remaining five right-field blasts; Mark Whiten hit the other. [3]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Klapisch, Bob (2002-02-26). "1992 taught Mets a chemistry lesson".
  2. ^ Edes, Gordon (2007-05-25). "It's a trial of hits and errors".
  3. ^ [1]

External links


Preceded by National League Player of the Month
April & May 1988
April 1990 		Succeeded by

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