It's time to celebrate baseball's best holiday: Bobby Bonilla Day

Mike Oz

Bobby Bonilla doesn’t get the credit he deserves. But I’m not talking about his baseball legacy or his stats. Bobby Bonilla doesn’t get enough props because every year, we don’t all look at July 1 as a holiday in his honor. We don’t see Bonilla for what he is — an American Hero.

This Saturday is the day Bonilla gets his annual payday from the New York Mets, who are still paying Bobby Bonilla $1,193,248.20 every year from a contract he was due almost 20 years ago.

You see, when the Mets wanted to get rid of Bonilla and his $5.9 million salary in 2000, his agent struck a deal that was a bit different: They didn’t have to pay him right away. Instead they could pay him $1.19 million for 25 years starting in 2011.

So now every July 1, Bobby Bo gets a nice paycheck worth over a mill. Must be nice! It’s the topic of my Open Mike video this week on Yahoo Sports — where I give Bobby Bonilla the credit he deserves. He’s not a punchline. He’s a hero!

(Yahoo Sports illustration/Getty Images)
(Yahoo Sports illustration/Getty Images)

We as Americans value capitalism over almost anything else — we love money. And that’s why Bobby Bo doesn’t get enough credit. July 1 should be a holiday across the game. The winners that day should get Million Dollar Belts. Players should wear dollar signs on their jerseys instead of numbers.

And it should all be in honor of Bobby Bonilla, American Hero.

PREVIOUSLY ON OPEN MIKE:
• If you think Bryce Harper is a “losing player,” you’re crazy
• Some MLB players who deserve your All-Star vote
• If MLB contenders were rappers
• No, legal sports betting doesn’t mean Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame
• Tanking isn’t as bad as you say it is
• Pace-of-play isn’t killing baseball — the Fun Police are
• Free baseball for everyone

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Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports. Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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