Bobby Bonds Stats & Facts
Bobby Bonds
Position: Rightfielder
Bats: Right • Throws: Right
6-1, 190lb (185cm, 86kg)
Born: March 15, 1946 in Riverside, CA
Died: August 23, 2003 in San Carlos, CA
Buried: Skylawn Memorial Park, San Mateo, CA
High School: Riverside Poly HS (Riverside, CA)
Debut: June 25, 1968 (10,323rd in MLB history)
vs. LAD 3 AB, 1 H, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 0 SB
Last Game: October 4, 1981
vs. PHI 2 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Full Name: Bobby Lee Bonds
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject
Relatives: Father of Barry Bonds
Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1968
Ted Simmons
Al Oliver
Hal McRae
Dusty Baker
Richie Hebner
Bobby Bonds
Rollie Fingers
Andy Messersmith
Freddie Patek
The Bobby Bonds Teammate Team
C: Dave Rader
1B: Willie McCovey
2B: Tito Fuented
3B: Bill Melton
SS: Garry Templeton
LF: George Foster
CF: Willie Mays
RF: Chet Lemon
DH: Dave Kingman
SP: Juan Marichal
SP: Gaylord Perry
SP: Nolan Ryan
SP: Rick Reuschel
SP: Fergie Jenkins
RP: Lee Smith
RP: Jim Kaat
M: Billy Martin
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Notable Events and Chronology for Barry Bonds Career
Several factors, including the long shadow of teammate Willie Mays, have left Bobby Bonds as a footnote in baseball history, but for several seasons he was an exciting player. He was born ahead of his time, blending power and speed the way many players would later. His son became the best player of his generation, proving his father’s bloodlines were much better than those of the Griffey clan.
Best Season: 1973
Bonds had several seasons of very similar value. One could easily argue that his 1970, 1971, or even his 1975 season with the Yankees were his best, but 1973 was very good as well. In his prime at 27 years old, Bonds played in a career-high 160 games and led the league with 131 runs scored. Still used in the leadoff role on occasion (he set a record with 11 leadoff homers), he managed to drive in 96 runs on the strength of 39 home runs – also a career-best. Swiping 43 bases, he just missed becoming baseball’s first 40/40 man. he had 12 assists in the outfield and turned five double plays, winning a Gold Glove. His 341 total bases led the NL, and his 130 runs created ranked third.
Biography:
Bonds was the Southern California Schoolboy Athlete of the Year in 1964, and was quickly signed by the San Francisco Giants. By the middle of the 1968 season he was with the big league club, blasting a grand slam in his first major league game. In 1969, he was the starting right fielder, playing to the left of Willie Mays, who became Bonds’ closest friend.
With his blazing speed, Bonds was the leadoff man for the Giants, and in 1969 he shared the NL lead with 120 runs scored, the first of five consecutive seasons he topped 100 tallies. Bonds stats were unusual: he collected 200 hits in 1970 despite 189 strikeouts; he drove in 90 runs as a leadoff man; he stole 40 bases five times for the Giants while also topping twenty homers six times.
Bonds averaged 34 home runs and 41 stolen bases from 1969-74, and came close to becoming the first player to reach the 40-40 milestone in 1973. He remembered:
“I went into September with 35 home runs, I only had to hit five the whole month and I wound up hitting four… the last day of the season I hit three balls up against the wall.”
Bonds and Mays were a fantastic defensive outfield combination for four seasons and then Bobby combined with Gary Matthews and Garry Maddox for what he believes was “the fastest outfield that’s ever been put on a baseball field.” In addition to speed in right field, Bonds had a great arm and averaged 10 assists in his 14-year career.
For the five-season stretch of 1969-1973, Bonds ranked first in the NL in runs scored, and second in doubles, extra-base hits, and total bases, third in steals, games played, and at-bats, fourth in hits, and fifth in home runs. He was a two-time NL All-Star (MVP of the ’73 contest), and three-time Gold Glove winner. Yet, after the 1974 season he was dealt to the New York Yankees for Bobby Murcer, also an All-Star outfielder. It was a high-profile, controversial transaction, one that failed to deliver desired results to either team.
Bonds was an All-Star for the Yankees in 1975, hitting 32 homers and stealing 30 bases. But New York sent him to the Angels in the off-season for Mickey Rivers and Ed Figueroa – a deal that helped deliver three straight pennants to the Yankees. In the meantime, Bonds played for six teams over the next six years and retired.
For the Angels, Bonds had one of his best seasons in 1977 at the age of 32. He played in 158 games, scored 103 runs, belted 37 homers, drove in a career-best 115 runs, and stole 41 bases. Yet Bobby was again traded at the end of the 1977 campaign, this time to the Chicago White Sox, where he never quite fit in. The ChiSox dealt him to the Texas Rangers in 1978, where Bonds hit 29 homers and drove in 82 runs in 130 games. In 1979 he had a typical year – 25 more homers, 34 more steals, 85 RBI, and 135 strikeouts.
Bonds played sparingly in 1980 and 1981 without much success. He retired in 1981 with 332 career homers, 461 steals, and 1,757 whiffs. His 189 strikeouts in 1970 and 187 K’s in 1969 were the top two single-season totals in baseball history when he retired. At the time he left the game, only Willie Stargell and Reggie Jackson had struck out more.
Several seasons after his retirement, Bobby Bonds joined the Giants coaching staff the same year his son, Barry, joined the team (1993). At the close of the 2000 season, the Bonds’ were the only two men to have five 30-home run, 30-steal seasons.
Together on the Giants, Bobby and Barry grew closer, and in 2002, Bobby finally got to the World Series (in a way), when Barry and the Giants advanced to meet the Anaheim Angels. Despite the loss in the Fall Classic, Barry’s phenomenal exploits on the field helped rekindle interest in Bobby’s forgotten career. Barry, wearing his father’s #25, hit home runs to win two of the first three games he played in after spending time with his ailing father in August 2003. A few days later, Bobby died.
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Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts
Played For
San Francisco Giants (1968-1974)
New York Yankees (1975)
California Angels (1976-1977)
Chicago White Sox (1978)
Texas Rangers (1978)
Cleveland Indians (1979)
St. Louis Cardinals (1980)
Chicago Cubs (1981)
Similar: Tommy Harper, Barry Bonds, Eric Davis
Linked: Bobby Murcer, Barry Bonds, Willie Mays
Best Season, 1973
Bonds had several seasons of very similar value. One could easily argue that his 1970, 1971, or even his 1975 season with the Yankees were his best, but 1973 was very good as well. In his prime at 27 years old, Bonds played in a career high 160 games and led the league with 131 runs scored. Still used in the leadoff role on occasion (he set a record with 11 leadoff homers), he managed to drive in 96 runs on the strength of 39 home runs – also a career best. Swiping 43 bases, he just missed becoming baseball’s first 40/40 man. he had 12 assists in the outfield and turned five double plays, winning a Gold Glove. His 341 total bases led the NL, and his 130 runs created ranked third.
Awards and Honors
1971 NL Gold Glove
1973 ML AS MVP
1973 NL Gold Glove
1974 NL Gold Glove
Post-Season Appearances
1971 National League Championship Series
Where He Played: Right field. Bonds played about 80% of his OF games in right field. Like his son, Barry, Bobby was a gifted defensive player, who could have been a center fielder. Since the Giants had Willie Mays in center, Bobby was used in right field, where his speed and arm were invaluable. He consistently posted range factors above the league average, and his career mark (2.18) is about 11% above the norm. He won three Gold Glove Awards.
Big League Debut: June 25, 1968
Bonds blasted a grand slam, becoming the first player in the 20th century to hit a bases-loaded home run in his first ML game. The only other player to hit a grand slam in his first game was William Duggleby of the 1898 Philadelphia Nationals.
Post-Season Notes
In his only post-season appearance, Bonds gathered two hits and two walks as the Giants were swept in three straight by the Pirates in the ’71 NLCS.
Feats: First man to have six seasons with at least 30 steals and homers, a record matched later by his son… Bobby set a ML record with 185 strikeouts in 1969, and set a new mark the following season, with 189… In 1973, Bonds set a ML-record with 11 leadoff homers… On June 20, 1973, Bonds hit his 22nd career leadoff homer, breaking Lou Brock’s record… He and son Barry hold the all-time record for home runs hit by a father/son duo. In fact, they hold the record for most homers hit by any combination of family members.
Milestones
Hit his 300th homer on May 3, 1979, against Moose Haas of the Milwaukee Brewers. In so doing, Bonds became the second player (with friend Willie Mays), to reach 300 homers and have at least 300 stolen bases. At the time, Bobby had 413 steals.
Notes
In 1971, Bonds finished fourth in National League Most Valuable Player voting, and in 1973 he was third, behind Pete Rose and Willie Stargell.
Hitting Streaks
17 games (1970)
Transactions
Signed as an amateur free agent by San Francisco Giants (August 4, 1964); Traded by San Francisco Giants to New York Yankees in exchange for Bobby Murcer (October 22, 1974); Traded by New York Yankees to California Angels in exchange for Mickey Rivers and Ed Figueroa (December 11, 1975); Traded by California Angels with Thad Bosley and Richard Dotson to Chicago White Sox in exchange for Brian Downing, Chris Knapp and Dave Frost (December 5, 1977); Traded by Chicago White Sox to Texas Rangers in exchange for Claudell Washington and Rusty Torres (May 16, 1978); Traded by Texas Rangers with Len Barker to Cleveland Indians in exchange for Jim Kern and Larvell Blanks (October 3, 1978); Traded by Cleveland Indians to St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Jerry Mumphrey and John Denny (December 7, 1979); Released by St. Louis Cardinals (December 22, 1980); Signed by Texas Rangers (April 17, 1981); Sold by Texas Rangers to Chicago Cubs (June 4, 1981); Released by Chicago Cubs (October 23, 1981); Signed by New York Yankees (May 18, 1982); Released by New York Yankees (June 21, 1982).
Most Leadoff Home Runs, One Season
Brady Anderson, 1996 Orioles, 12
Bobby Bonds, 1973 Giants, 11
Rickey Henderson, 1986 Yankees, 9
Craig Biggio, 2001 Astros, 8
Barry Bonds, 1988 Pirates, 8
Kal Daniels, 1987 Reds, 8
Rickey Henderson, 1993 A’s-Blue Jays, 8
Rick Monday, 1976 Cubs, 8
Chuck Knoblauch, 1999 Yankees, 8
Major League Leaders (1968-1981)
Home Runs
Reggie Jackson… 424
Johnny Bench… 363
Willie Stargell… 360
Lee May… 337
Bobby Bonds… 332
Stolen Bases
Lou Brock… 666
Joe Morgan… 578
Cesar Cedeno… 487
Bert Campaneris… 475
Bobby Bonds… 461
Runs Created
Pete Rose… 1446
Reggie Jackson… 1267
Tony Perez… 1244
Carl Yastrzemski… 1217
Rod Carew… 1185
…(10th) Bobby Bonds… 1097
*Power/Speed #
Bobby Bonds… 386
Joe Morgan… 305
Reggie Jackson… 282
Cesar Cedeno… 244
Amos Otis… 231
*Power/Speed # is a tool devised by Bill James – it combines home runs and steals in one stat.
All-Star Selections
1971 NL
1973 NL
1975 AL
Replaced
Jesus Alou, in the midst of the 1968 season. Alou’s lack of power (105 extra-base hits in 2,242 at-bats as a Giant) was his unduing.
Replaced By
Bonds never really lost his jobs as much as he was traded away. In 1980, with the Cardinals, Bonds played himself into a part-time role, which resulted in Leon Durham getting playing time. The following season, at the age of 35, despite his creaky legs, the Chicago Cubs acquired Bonds in June to be their center fielder. In his frist game for the Cubs, Bonds tripped on a seam in the Three Rivers Stadium outfield in Pittsburgh and broke his his throwing hand. He went on the 21-day disabled list, not to return to action until August 10th. Except for an occasional rest, he was the Cubs starting center fielder for the remainder of the year. Unfortunately, the broken hand nagged him and he hit just .215 with six homers and 19 RBI in 45 games. He was released by Chicago in October, and despite a brief free agent minor league contract with the Yankees in 1982, he wads done as a professional ballplayer.
Best Strength as a Player
Speed. Bonds was the fastest player in the National League from 1968-1974.
Largest Weakness as a Player
That hole in his bat, which resulted in 1,757 K’s. He averaged 154 whiffs per 162 games played. It’s tempting to list his knees and ankles as his greatest weakness, but despite the injuries, Bobby put up some great numbers.
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