Bobby Bonilla, 1997 Donruss Elite #45

Earlier this week, I was pleased to see the return of my friends Patricia and Lucy to the Enchanted Land of Baseball Card Blogging. It sounds like they had quite an eventful July, though there were unfortunately some unwelcome events thrown into the mix. I thought that I should welcome them back, and also encourage them to have a more peaceful and enjoyable August, by finally getting around to posting one of the players with the brightest smiles in my collection*, none other than Bobby Bonilla.

In one of life's great paradoxes, Bobby Bo had a well-earned reputation (particularly during his Mets years) as being one of baseball's biggest malcontents. I find it interesting that his dark side never seemed to bubble to the surface in Baltimore. Perhaps that's because he was only here for a year and a half, or maybe he was on his best behavior around Cal Junior. Perhaps the sweet aroma of Boog's BBQ drifting through Camden Yards put Bobby in a pleasant state of mind. (Incidentally, Bonilla wore Boog's old #26 as an Oriole.) Who knows? All that I know is that he hit the ever-loving snot out of the ball during his brief stay in Charm City, and for that I'll always have a positive opinion of the guy.

* = Patricia and Lucy collect cards with smiling players pictured. If you didn't know that already, you really should be reading their blog.