Former Colt .45's player Walt Bond

[jamesa46]

I wish to post this link for any of you long time fans in here that go back to the days of the Colt .45's.

It is an article I've written about former Houston Colt .45's slugger Walt Bond who died of leukemia at the young age of 29.

While researching this article I got to know Walt Bond's son Donald Bond and as a result this article and the ensuing research of it, brought us together as friends and I was deeply touched by the warmth and appreciation of the Bond family including Donald's family and Walt's survivng family members.

I don't normally post links in here about any articles I've written in the past but in this case, I wish to share my story of the first Colt .45's slugger Big Walter Franklin Bond.
It answers a lot of questions concerning what happened to Walt - who conceivably could have been the first true great home run hitter for the Astros and one of the great home run hitters in baseball had it not been for this disease that plagued him throughout his career and finally took his life in 1967.

Here's the link:
www.tbhof.org/features/feature-20071007.htm


PS....when you begin reading the article, if you place your mouse over the photos, short descriptions of each photo will appear on the screen.

[vega51]

James, again you are showing you are a great guy and baseball person.

[jbarron]

Thanks for doing this James. I remember Walt Bond very well. His swing reminded me of Willie McCovey.

[crashtest]

James, terrific article. Bill James had been mystified by Cleveland's decision to keep him down on the farm - you explain exactly why it happened. He should have been brought up even earlier, but I don't think there was any way for the fan back then to know what was going on behind the scenes. As an 11 year old southern white boy in 1964, I clearly remember Walt's quiet grace and great strength and I admired him equally for both of those qualities. He seemed to be a guy whom it was impossible not to like. I'm glad he was a part of my childhood and your article added even more to my appreciation and understanding of him both as ballplayer and gentleman.

[jamesa46]

JB and Crash-
There was a lot more that I didn't include. One story about Harry Caray in which he was complaining during the broadcast that it seemed that the "big guy" (Walt) always seemed to come up to the plate against the Cardinals in key situations and it drove Harry nuts because Walt had done quite a bit of damage to the Cardinals pitching.

Another is after having his team physical early in 1965 Dr. Hatch called Walt's home because he needed to talk to him about the disease. Apparently blood tests showed that the disease was full blown active.
Walt had already left for spring training and wouldn't return Dr. Hatch's phone calls - he also sent him a note which I have a copy of but Walt simply would not dwell on his illness. What could anybody do about it anyway in the early and mid 1960's? My mother died of leukemia in 1995 and she had several radical chemotherapy treatments that kept her in the hospital for a month on several occasions but she did have some quality years from the treatment. In 1965, there was not the kind of treatment for the disease that was available in the 1990's.

On another occasion after Walt was with the Twins in 1967 Clark Nealon was at ST with the Astros and at one of the games or exhibitions, he heard somebody yelling at him from right field - "Hey Clark! It's me Walt"! waving his hands as he yelled.
Walt came trotting in from right field with a big smile on his face to talk to Clark and he noticed right away that Walt had lost a lot of weight and was now wearing glasses.
Walt said he had lost the weight so he could he perform better in the outfield.

Walt didn't stay long with Minnesota and at some point after that, he received some interest from the Mets. They wanted to sign him.
He left for New York and shortly after that his wife was preparing to leave for New York with their son but she received a phone call from Walt that he was coming home.
He came home to Houston and went directly into the hospital where he never came out again.

All of the baseball references have Walt Bond being signed initially by the Cleveland Indians but as I found out, that wasn't true.

Now we know why Walt Bond had such a bad year in 1965. Bob Bruce confirmed that. I talked to Bruce myself and he confirmed that Walt was having serious problems in 1965 that dramatically affected his ability to play. They kept it in the clubhouse and it never got to the press.
I'm pretty sure the front office knew about it too but they certainly weren't talking about it either.



By the way, thanks vega for the kind words....from a true baseball man.

[hembo36]

i was just a gleem in the old mans eye when they were the 45's but the article is very nice