FAQ
Who is Bobby Bonilla?
Bobby Bonilla is our fiscally responsible king. He played for the New York Mets in the early and late 90’s. He was a positive influence in the clubhouse and loved reporters.
What is Bobby Bonilla Day?
The 1.12 million dollar question.
Every July 1st, the New York Mets drop a bag on former slugger and current AirBNB-hawker Bobby Bonilla, who signed a 5-year, $29 million dollar contract in 1991. That’s not a typo. This contract was signed before Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” was released, and only a few weeks older than Nirvana’s “Nevermind.”
“Bobby Bo” had a colorful stint with the Mets and I couldn’t be understating that more. The Mets brass didn’t want to pay him out in the final year of his deal and fans were (justifiably) miffed that he and Ricky Henderson were playing cards in the clubhouse. What the team saved on deferring his final $5.9 million last year they spent to rent ace Mike Hampton for one year.
Yes, they went to the World Series.
Yes, Mike Hampton ultimately became the David Wright pick.
Yes, I am absolutely defending this contract.
The biggest reason the deal happened in the first place wasn’t even baseball-related. Fred Wilpon was a (the?) main character in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. The Mets’ owner assumed that if he deferred Bonilla’s salary for ten years at 8% year-over-year, the 10% (suspiciously consistent) returns he was pocketing from Madoff would cover what the Mets owed Bonilla. Win-win right?
You know the rest: The most notorious Ponzi scheme in history, one Jason Bay contract, an Oliver Perez deal, and several lawsuits later, we reached the shelf life of the Wilpon era.
All of this has a happy ending: Fred Wilpon and his son sold their stake in the Mets, Bobby Bonilla’s enjoying a revival of sorts with the Mets faithful, and millions of baseball fans get to root for the Bronx native to “home run trot” to the bank every July 1st. Tax free.
We don’t put enough respect on Dennis Gilbert’s name, so let’s give this king the honor he deserves: The guy managed to negotiate two annuities for Bonilla: one from the Mets and one from the Orioles. Legend.
Why does a Mets fan want to build an annual celebration to remember Bobby Bonilla’s contract?
Despite that Bonilla’s contract is now a meme, it’s ininitely better than all of the Jason Bay, Kaz Matsui, Vince Coleman, and Oliver Perez deals.
So yes — I’d rather honor Bobby Bonilla and his life insurance king agent negotiating a shrewd contract than acknowledge we signed Jason Bay at all.
This fan site wants to be the center of a movement: The celebration of a fiscally responsible, compound-interest-understanding legend. The Mets are trying to reclaim the most glorious day of the year, but they’re simply not going hard enough.
Why do you care about Bobby Bonilla?
I’m a geriatric millennial. While Bonilla had a rough go of it in New York, he was one of the first Mets sluggers I was old enough to watch hit home runs. That stays with you. I think even Bonilla himself would tell you the target on his back matched a contract that size in the early 1990’s.
There’s something else though: Bonilla became somewhat of a symbol for the Mets less-than-optimal contractual decisions throughout the past three decades. But going back only to 2000, he’s not even in the bottom five of those decisions.
OK, but still – Bobby Bonilla’s contract deserves its own day?
Absolutely. I took issue with the Wilpon’s ownership of the Mets, and I don’t think they were good for the fan base.
The small joy of knowing Fred was scammed by Bernie Madoff pales in comparison to all of us being annually reminded of this on July 1st.
What was the fallout from the Madoff case for the Wilpons?
Though it was initially reported Wilpon lost $700 million (what would have been $939 million in 2022 dollars), he was actually up $300 million from the scam. It didn’t protect him from lawsuits and victim claims, so Wilpon had to continue to cut checks to Bobby Bo while mired in lawsuits from the victims.
What does new Mets owner Steve Cohen think about the deal?
According to ESPN, he’s into an annually remembering this deal, but we think he could be going further than AirBNB partnerships. It should be bigger.
Our proposal: Before every July 1st home game, introduce Bonilla to throw out the first pitch. Then personally hand him the check in front of the Mets faithful for him to deposit on the Citi App while at Citi Field. Fans who book their tickets with a Citi card receive a limited edition Bobby Bonilla bobblehead with the current year on it.
What is Bobby Bonilla doing now?
I have no idea, but I think that’s how we likes it. Part of me hopes it involves teaching children the magic of compound interest. And maybe telling Skip Bayless or someone to shove a microphone up his ass.