Walt Bond

From BR Bullpen

Walter Franklin Bond

Bats Left, Throws Right
Height 6' 7", Weight 228 lb.
School Lane College
Debut April 19, 1960
Final Game May 7, 1967
Born October 19, 1937 in Denmark, TN USA
Died September 14, 1967 in Houston, TX USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Walt Bond, who died young, had one of the all-time best cups of coffee when he slugged .800 in 50 at-bats for the 1962 Cleveland Indians. His performance was particularly noteworthy since the team as a whole slugged .388.

Bond, who was huge for the time - 6 ' 7 " - was signed by the Indians in 1957, and had 131 at-bats with the Indians in 1960 at age 22. It was a tough time to try to break into the outfield, as the Indians had Harvey Kuenn at age 29, Jim Piersall at age 30, and Tito Francona at age 26. He had another 52 at-bats in 1961 with the Indians before the terrific cup of coffee in 1962.

He played in Jacksonville during much of the 1962 season.

He was not in the majors in 1963, but Houston bought him and made him a regular outfielder in 1964. He responded by hitting .254 with 20 home runs. His 20 home runs were by far the highest on the team (the next best was 12 and after that 8), and his 85 RBI led the team as well. His 7 triples tied for the team lead. His .254 batting average was much higher than the .229 team average. At age 26, he was six years older than youngsters Joe Morgan and Rusty Staub, who were struggling to find places on a team that had oldsters such as Nellie Fox at age 36.

In 1964, his batting average went up to .263, twenty-six points higher than the team average. His power dropped, although his .366 slugging percentage was also twenty-six points higher than the team slugging percentage.

He did not play in the majors in 1966 (he played in Denver), but finished up with another great cup of coffee with the Minnesota Twins in 1967 when he slugged .562 in 16 at-bats. His leukemia, which recurred early in the 1967 season, cut his season short and also his life. Harmon Killebrew slugged .558 that year for the Twins, and it was also the Rookie of the Year season for Rod Carew.

He died of leukemia at age 29.