Bobby Bonilla, 1996 Donruss #225

Last weekend, the Orioles picked up some familiar names in the MLB amateur draft. In the seventh round, they spent the 211th overall pick on North Carolina State University first baseman Preston Palmeiro, the younger son of former O's All-Star Rafael Palmeiro. Yes, he bats lefty. In 59 games as a junior, Preston batted .337 with 20 doubles, nine homers, and 55 RBI. Scouts like his contact hitting ability but question his power potential; sounds a lot like the early outlook for his father. Back in spring training, Preston's big brother Patrick was in the Birds' minor league camp, but was released before long.

On Saturday the O's used their 13th round selection on lefty reliever Brandon Bonilla, the progeny of slugging third baseman-outfielder Bobby Bonilla. Bobby Bo spent parts of two seasons in Baltimore in the mid-1990s, and his kid saved a dozen games as a senior for the Hawaii Pacific University Sharks. He reportedly throws 97 mph, and allowed just one run in 25.1 innings this season, striking out 38 and walking 15 while giving up nine hits.

As always, there's no telling whether either second-generation player will ever make it to the big leagues. But it certainly seems like they have some good tools.

Bobby Bonilla, 1996 Fleer Flair #3

On Sunday, September 1, 1996, the Orioles lost at Seattle by a 5-1 score. Bobby Bonilla's solo home run off of Terry Mulholland produced the lone run for the O's offense. However, it wasn't a lost day for Charm City, as the Ravens beat the Raiders 19-14 in the first NFL game in Baltimore in 13 years. That game was also notable as the NFL debut for linebacker Ray Lewis.

Today, Lewis played his last home game in an illustrious 17-season career. Number 52 went out on top, as the Ravens exorcised a few demons by beating the Colts 24-9 in a wild card playoff game. Next week, he'll try to keep things going a little while longer in a divisional round game in Denver. Though baseball and the Orioles are my first sports love, I've had the benefit of watching and rooting for one of the best defensive players in NFL history for more than half of my life. I would have to say that Ray is calling it a career at the right time, but it's still going to be strange to watch the Ravens next fall without seeing him on the field or the sidelines. So for one day only, I'm turning this blog over to football cards so that I can pay proper tribute to Ray Lewis. Thanks for everything, 52.

Bobby Bonilla, 1996 Leaf #120

If any of you ever become a general manager for a Major League Baseball team, here's a free bit of advice: don't ever agree to defer money in a player contract. Case in point: Bobby Bonilla.

The first union between the New York Mets and Bonilla was an unhappy one, as they signed him to a five-year, $29 million contract prior to the 1992 season and did not receive the production they were expecting. On the field, he hit .270 with 95 home runs in three and one-half years, good but not great. The team tanked, and he clashed with the media and team officials. When the Orioles came calling in the summer of 1995 and were willing to part with five-tool outfield prospect Alex Ochoa, the Mets gladly washed their hands of Bobby Bo.

Removed from the glare of the Big Apple, Bobby picked up the pace a bit. He batted .300 and drove in 162 runs in one and one-half years in Baltimore, then went to Florida as a free agent and collected 96 RBI for the Marlins, who won the World Series in 1997. The Fish dumped him the following May in their post-championship fire sale, and he showed significant signs of decline: .249 AVG, 11 HR, 45 RBI in 100 games with the Marlins and Dodgers. So that offseason, Los Angeles unloaded him to...the Mets?

Yep, New York welcomed back the same player who'd dissatisfied them earlier in the decade, only now he was 36, on the downhill slope, and he was still making $6 million a year. While the Mets made it to the postseason in 1999, it had very little to do with Bonilla, who hit .160 in 60 games, feuded with manager Bobby Valentine, and openly quit on the team in the NLCS, famously playing cards with Rickey Henderson in the clubhouse during an 11-inning loss in Game Six. The Mets were so desperate to be rid of Bobby a second time that they waived him the following spring and agreed to eat the $5.9 million left on his contract via deferred payments over a 25-year period. What's the big deal?

The first payment is due next year, and there's this little thing called interest. The math involved is out of my pay grade, but essentially Bobby and the Mets front office agreed on an eight percent rate. It's been a decade since the settlement, and that interest is nothing to sneeze at. The Wall Street Journal reports that his annual salary will be $1,193,248.20. He'll receive these payments right on through 2035, and will be 72 years old when he finally comes off the Mets' payroll. The total damage is $29,831,205, which makes $5.9 million sound reasonable.

Just who could have been short-sighted and oblivious enough to sign off on such a deal? If you guessed former Mets GM and disgraced ESPN bobblehead Steve Phillips, step to the front of the line.

Bobby Bonilla, 1996 Pinnacle #30

I often feel like I spend an unhealthy amount of time agonizing over the majority of the cards that I feature on this blog. At its best, Orioles Card “O” the Day should be organic, a process of me writing about whatever comes to mind and selecting and scanning a card that just feels right in that context. But I’ve been at this for more than two years, and I’ve used 811 different cards in that time. As the type-A elements of my personality bubble to the surface, I find myself needlessly limiting myself in the nightly search for a subject by rejecting entire categories out of hand. Maybe I’ve gone with position players for four consecutive days, and I fear some sort of cosmic imbalance if the pitchers go neglected for much longer. Or I’ve settled on a player and I rather like his 1994 Score card, but I check my tags and see that I’ve already used seven cards from that set and that’s entirely too many. Occasionally common sense wins out and I go with my first instinct, knowing that these little irregularities likely bother no one besides me and it’s already 10:30 at night and if I keep picking through eight boxes full of Orioles cards trying to find a pitcher that hasn’t been touched upon in 27 months of daily blogging from a card set that hasn’t gotten much love, I won’t be in bed until 12:30 AM…

So here’s my latest, best attempt to make a break with my own idiosyncrasies. I chose this Bobby Bonilla card because I always liked him when he was with the Orioles, and his facial expression in the photo made me laugh. I think it’s a fair bet that this is the only card in the hundred-plus year history of baseball cards to feature that particular contortion of muscles.

There…that wasn’t so bad, was it?(Of course, if anyone is particularly wrenched about the under-representation of 1993 Fleer or photos of players in orange jerseys or you need your Tim Stoddard fix, let me know in the comments and I’ll gladly make arrangements in a future post.)

Bobby Bonilla, 1996 Topps #329

Eventually I'll stop piggybacking off of Brian at 30-Year-Old Cardboard, but his birthday posts are excellent reminders and inspiration on slow days. Much as my offhand reference to Mike Cuellar's age (71) made reader Bob feel a bit old last week, it startled me to learn that Bobby Bo was turning 46 today. I remember Bonilla as the ultimate midseason pickup, a guy whose excellent half-season in Baltimore in 1995 (.333, 10 HR, 46 RBI) seemed to go to waste on Phil Regan's muddled sub-.500 team. Given a full season to bat in the midst of Rafael Palmeiro and Cal Ripken in 1996, the slugger turned in a .287-28-116 stat line for a team that finished three wins short of the World Series. From what I've heard, he was a good teammate as an Oriole, and I remember him and Palmeiro calling a team meeting after Tony LaRussa and the A's got a little too comfortable throwing chin music at the Birds.
Happy Birthday, Bobby. You were one heck of a hitter...but not much of a pitcher!

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.