Bobby Bonds

Bobby Lee Bonds
Born: March 14, 1946 in Riverside, Calif.
Died: August 23, 2003 in San Francisco, Calif.
Debut: 1968 | Pos: OF
H: 6-1 | W: 190 | B: R | T: R

Yrs	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	BA
14	1849	7043	1258	1866	332	1024	461	.268

>> Visit the Bobby Bonds biography on Baseball Almanac for complete statistics.

Bobby Bonds, who hit more than 300 home runs and stole more than 450 bases in his career, died on August 23, 2003, in San Francisco, Calif. He was 57.

Bonds, the father of Barry Bonds, had been battling lung cancer and a brain tumor for nearly a year. He watched his son play at Pacific Bell Park Wednesday night against the Braves.

He had been hospitalized with pneumonia in early June and had surgery on a brain tumor in April.

Bobby Bonds career included 332 home runs and 461 stolen bases. He played for the San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, California Angels, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs.

He followed his close friend, Willie Mays, when he became the second player in the National League to hit 30 HRs and steal 30 bases in the same season in 1969. He reached the 30-30 mark five times in his career. His son, Barry, has also reached the mark five times.

He grew up in Riverside, Calif., and signed with the Giants in 1964 after finishing high school. He played seven seasons with the Giants and spent a total of 23 seasons with the francise as a player, coach, scout or employee.

He was a coach with Cleveland from 1984-1987 and with the Giants from 1993-1996. Since 1996, Bonds has been the special assistant to general manager Brian Sabean.

"There's a man who's been coming into this clubhouse since I've been here," Giants outfielder Marvin Benard was quoted as saying in an Associated Press story. "He was my hitting coach my first two years. He's healthy and everything's great, and then, bam. It's been hard on us. I can't imagine what it's been like for Barry. It's one of those things that's hard to explain. There are no words to describe what people are going through.

Bobby Bonds career included a number of trades. In 1974, the Giants traded Bonds to the Yankees for Bobby Murcer. In 1975, he was sent to the Angels for Mickey Rivers and Ed Figueroa. Two years later, the Angels packaged Bonds with Thad Bosley and Richard Dotson in a deal with the Chicago White Sox for Brian Downing, Chris Knapp and Dave Frost.

In 1978, the White Sox traded him to the Rangers for Claudell Washington and Rusty Torres. Later that year, the Rangers packaged him with Len Barker and sent him to the Indians for Jim Kern and Larvell Blanks. In 1979, the Indians sent him to the Cardinals for Jerry Mumphrey and John Denny.