Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. Wondering why former MLB outfielder Bobby Bonilla is trending on Twitter and everywhere else on July 1? We’re here to help.
[Editor’s note: This post is from 2022 but we’re bringing it back for Bobby Bonilla Day 2023]
Yes, it’s Bobby Bonilla Day, a “holiday” of sorts celebrated everywhere by baseball fans, who use memes and jokes to talk about how the New York Mets (but there’s another team who does this) pay someone who hasn’t been on the field since 2001 over a million dollars every year for a while.
What’s the deal here? Let’s break it down for you:
Let's start with this: Who is Bobby Bonilla?
He’s a former MLB outfielder, third baseman and first baseman who was a six-time All-Star during his career. He won a World Series ring with the Florida Marlins and was a pretty good hitter during a 16-year career that included eight stops.
So why are we celebrating him on July 1?
Because he’s getting a payment of $1,193,248 from the New York Mets today, along with $500,000 from the Baltimore Orioles.
Happy Bobby Bonilla Day!
The 59-year old will collect a check for $1,193,248.20 from the Mets today 💰 pic.twitter.com/FrsHawVsBd
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) July 1, 2022
Why?
Because the Mets bought out a nearly-$6 million contract in 2000. But the deal was that they’d pay him $1.2 million for 25 years from 2011 to 2036, basically the payout with interest.
Whoa. Why pay that when they could have just paid the money right then?
Because of the Wilpons — the previous owners of the Mets — and their involvement with investing in Bernie Madoff, who turns out to have scammed investors with a huge Ponzi scheme.
When it came time to buy out Bobby Bonilla’s player contract, they created an annuity, invested the immediate savings into a Madoff account, and expected to make millions on the transaction for both parties.
“Put it in Bernie,” was how Saul Katz, the former president of the team, used to phrase it to colleagues in an indication of how intertwined the team’s finances were with Madoff, who it was later discovered was running the largest Ponzi scheme in history.
Oh.
Yeah. And that’s why there’s a lot of LOLMETS when it comes to Bobby Bonilla Day. It’s another day to laugh at the franchise.
But you said the Orioles pay him too!
EXACTLY. Not only that — there are former MLB stars and current ones locked up in deals that will pay them deferred salaries. And some are making a lot more than Bonilla.
So it's kind of silly?
Of course it is!
mood#BobbyBonillaDay pic.twitter.com/UrgCgA84JI
— BobbyBonillaNFT | The Contract (@BobbyBonillaNFT) July 1, 2022
