Boof Bonser

Encyclopedia : B : BO : BOO : Boof Bonser

Boof Bonser (born John Paul Bonser) was born on October 14, 1981 in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. Bonser is a right-handed pitcher in the Minnesota Twins farm system who pitched briefly in the Twins starting rotation in mid-2006.

Contents

1 High school career
2 Minor league career
3 Major league career
4 Trivia
5 External links

High school career

Boof attended Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg, Florida. In four years he compiled a record of 24-9 and a 1.99 ERA. In his senior year, he went 7-3, 1.88 and hit .523 with 11 home runs. He was named the 2000 Pinellas County (FL) High School Player of the Year and played in the 2000 Florida State All-Star game.

Minor league career

Team History
Year	Level	Team	Uniform Number
2000	A	Salem-Keizer Volcanoes	34
2001	A	Hagerstown Suns	16
2002	AA	Shreveport Swamp Dragons	?
2002	A	San Jose Giants	50
2003	AA	Norwich Navigators	16
2003	AAA	Fresno Grizzlies	?
2004	AA	New Britain Rock Cats	26
2004	AAA	Rochester Red Wings	26
2005	AAA	Rochester Red Wings	35
2006	AAA	Rochester Red Wings	35
2006	MLB	Minnesota Twins	26

Bonser was selected out of high school by the San Francisco Giants in the first round (21st overall) of the 2000 amateur draft and was subsequently signed by Alan Marr. Bonser made his professional baseball debut at age 18 for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. In 2001 he had a breakout season for the Hagerstown Suns, leading the South Atlantic League league in wins (16), and finishing second in the league in strikeouts (178). This stellar performance earned Bonser South Atlantic League Most Valuable Pitcher and Post-Season All-Star honors, as well as the distinction of being one of baseball's best prospects.

From 2002 to 2003 Bonser cooled down, but nonetheless progressed steadily through the Giants' system, reaching the AAA level at the end of the 2003 season with the Fresno Grizzlies.

On November 14, 2003, Boof was traded to the Minnesota Twins organization along with pitchers Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano for catcher A.J. Pierzynski and cash. Boof was assigned to AA New Britain for 2004, and was promoted to AAA Rochester for a spot start at the end of the season.

In 2005 Boof spent the entire season at Rochester, where he led the International League in strikeouts (168) and tied for the league lead in games started (28).

As Boof continued to pitch in the minors without any further breakout seasons, his status as an elite prospect faded. But after a fast start at Rochester in 2006 in which he posted an ERA of 2.01, Boof was promoted to the majors.

Major league career

On May 17, 2006, Boof was called up to the Twins to replace struggling starter Kyle Lohse in the rotation, with Lohse going to AAA. Bonser made his major league debut on May 21, 2006, as the starting pitcher for the Twins against the Milwaukee Brewers. In six innings, Boof allowed one run and struck out eight.

On May 27, 2006, Boof earned his first Major League victory in his second start, getting the win in a 9-5 Minnesota Twins victory. Bonser pitched just five innings, giving up eight hits and four runs, including a home run to Raul Ibanez.

On June 1, 2006, Boof recorded his first Major League loss to the Oakland Athletics, allowing four earned runs in seven innings, recording five strikeouts and no walks.

After a disappointing start against the Kansas City Royals on July 4, 2006, Boof was demoted back to AAA Rochester. He made seven starts and went 2-2 with a 5.30 ERA.

Trivia

After the 2001 season, he legally changed his name from John Paul to Boof, a nickname he had had since childhood.

External links

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.