Roberto Martin Antonio "Bobby" Bonilla was born on February 23, 1963.
Through his 16 years in professional baseball, Bonilla accumulated a .279 batting average, with a .358 OBP and a .472 slugging. He was a 6-time All-Star and a member of the Florida Marlins World Series championship team in 1997. In fact, he hit a big home run in Game 7:
Bonilla was never afraid to speak his mind. This incident in 1992 with a reporter is famous:
From 1992 to 1994, Bonilla was the highest paid player in the league, earning more than $6 million per year. What's crazy is Bonilla is currently being paid approximately $1.19 million by the New York Mets each year. This was part of a deal made when the Mets released Bonilla before the 2000 season while still owing him $5.9 million for the final year of his contract. And get this, the deal doesn't expire until 2035.
Here's to you Bobby Bonilla. Happy birthday.
