San Francisco - Bobby Bonds, the father of baseball great Barry Bonds, has died at the age of 57. Bobby Bonds was one of the first major leaguers to blend home-run power with base-stealing speed. Barry Bonds’ father had been ill for nearly a year with a brain tumor and lung cancer, but he never lost his love for baseball. He was at Pacific Bell Park as recently as Wednesday night, watching his son and the San Francisco Giants.A Giants spokesman says Bobby Bonds died Saturday morning. Barry Bonds will be away from the team indefinitely. In early June, Bobby Bonds spent time in the hospital while fighting pneumonia. He underwent surgery on a brain tumor in April, all while fighting lung cancer. Bonds was a three-time All-Star and the MVP of the 1973 game. He hit 332 home runs and stole 461 bases for the Giants, New York Yankees, California Angels, Chicago White Sox, Texas, Cleveland, St. Louis and the Chicago Cubs. He hit .268, had one-thousand, 24 RBI’s and won three Gold Glove awards as an outfielder. Bonds became the second NL player to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in the same season in 1969 with the Giants. Willie Mays was the first to do it. Bobby Bonds reached the 30-30 mark four more times in his 14-year career. Barry Bonds has also done it five times; no other player has reached the mark more than three times.
Bobby Bonds dies of cancer at 57
Bobby Bonds, the father of baseball great Barry Bonds, has died at the age of 57. Bobby Bonds was one of the first major leaguers to blend home-run power with base-stealing speed.
