At Home Plate - At Home Plate Remembers Bobby Bonds

Written by Laura K. Nist (Contact & Archive) on August 23, 2003

Bobby Bonds’ main claim to fame for many people is that he is the father of Barry but he was also a pretty good ball player in his own right. A native of Riverside, California, he signed with the Giants in 1964 out of high school. He played seven seasons with San Francisco and then seven seasons with various other teams including the Yankees, Angels, Indians, White Sox and Cubs during his 14 year career. He remained with the Giants after retiring from the playing field; he served as the team’s hitting coach from 1993-96 and since then he had been a special assistant to general manager Brian Sabean.

As a player Bobby was a three-time All Star and the MVP of the 1973 All Star game. During his career he hit 332 home runs and stole 461 bases, his batting average was .268, he had 1,024 RBIs and won three Gold Glove awards as an outfielder.

Bobby Bonds became the second National League player to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season in 1969 with the San Francisco Giants. (Willie Mays, his close friend and godfather of Barry, was the first to do it.) Bobby Bonds repeated the feat four more times in his 14 year career. Barry Bonds has also done it five times while no other player has been able to achieve the feat more than three times. Bobby Bonds is also a member of the 300-300 club, joined once again by son, Barry and close friend, Willie Mays. (Andre Dawson is also a member of the club)

Over the past year he suffered from a variety of illnesses such as lung cancer, brain and kidney tumors and heart disease. He passed away this morning at the age of 57.

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