Robert Barry Bonnell (born October 27, 1953) is an American former

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). After playing basketball and baseball for the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

(OSU), he played baseball for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

between 1977 and 1986.

Early life

Bonnell was a star athlete at Milford High School near

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, where he played both varsity

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

on championship teams. Following high school graduation in 1971, Bonnell attended OSU on a full athletic scholarship where he played both baseball and basketball. Bonnell left college during his senior year to play MLB. The

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

made him the first overall pick in the 1975 MLB January Draft – Secondary Phase (for college players who had been previously drafted out of high school).

MLB career

During his 10-year MLB career, Bonnell played for the Atlanta Braves of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

, and the

and

of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

. His major league debut with the Braves was in a game against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

on May 4, . His best year was , when he

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

.318 (10 HR, 54 RBI and 10 SB) for the Blue Jays. Known by his peers as a "money hitter", Bonnell hit four grand slams during his career and led his teams in game-winning hits nearly every year he played. Bonnell was known for his strong and accurate throwing arm. Traded to the Seattle Mariners in , he contracted

Valley fever A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

during spring training, and developed pneumonia. Bonnell struggled to play with the affliction. It took a year to recover and he served his remaining two years as a bit player.

Personal life

Bonnell married his high school sweetheart, Stefnie Stapp. Bonnell is a devout member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

, and he introduced Braves teammate,

Dale Murphy Dale Bryan Murphy (born March 12, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player. During an 18-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) (–), he played as an outfielder, catcher, and first baseman for the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphi ...

, to the faith. Bonnell pursued a career in aviation after exiting MLB during the All-Star Break in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

. He attended Flight Safety International's Airline Transition Program and was hired as a first officer by Northwest Airlink's Express Air One. Bonnell flew the twin engine turboprop SAAB 340-B for a year but decided that with the events of the day, notably, the failure of

Eastern Airlines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...

and, for the second time, the failure of

Braniff Airlines Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that once flew air carrier operations from 1928 un ...

, that there were too many high time furloughed pilots flooding the system for him to have a reasonable opportunity to advance to a job flying jets for a major airline. Bonnell left flying to enter the business world, where he worked in the home medical equipment field for ten years. After that he became an importer, supplying a variety of items to large brick and mortar retail chains. Bonnell then became a writer. He has completed work on his personal memoirs and has published the first book in a series planned for at least three works. Bonnell's first book, ''Enchanted Notions'', is an

urban fantasy Urban fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy which places imaginary and unreal elements in an approximation of a contemporary urban setting. The combination provides the writer with quixotic plot-drivers, unusual character traits, and a platform for cl ...

, published in November 2015.

References

External links

*Barry Bonnell * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonnell, Barry 1953 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Ohio Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Greenwood Braves players Latter Day Saints from Ohio Major League Baseball outfielders Ohio State Buckeyes baseball players Ohio State University alumni People from Clermont County, Ohio People from Milford, Ohio Richmond Braves players Savannah Braves players Seattle Mariners players Spartanburg Phillies players Sun City Rays players Toronto Blue Jays players