Boof Bonser

[Al from SoDak]

Jon Paul Bonser was born October 14, 1981, in St. Petersburg, Florida. In late 2001, he legally changed his name to “Boof,” his long-time nickname given by his mother.

Boof was drafted out of high school in the first round of the 2000 Major League Draft by the San Francisco Giants.

In November 2003, Bonser was part of the infamous AJ Pierzynski trade. With Joe Mauer appearing ready in the minor leagues, the Twins traded their all-star catcher Pierzynski for Boof Bonser, Francisco Liriano, and Joe Nathan. That was an all-time great trade for the Twins, but it’s worth mentioning that Pierzynski is the only one of the players involved to have won a World Series.

Bonser made his Major League debut on May 21, 2006, and went on to start 60 games for the Twins over the next three seasons.

After a couple ineffective and injury-filled seasons, the Twins traded Bonser in December 2009 to the Boston Red Sox for Chris Province who never made Major League Baseball. Bonser played briefly for Boston and Oakland in 2010. He later bounced around the minor leagues with the Mets, Giants, and Cleveland.

According to a 2002 Tampa Bay Newspapers article, Bonser was working in Connecticut building submarines. That article has an informative review of Boof’s life and career.

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[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Boof! 

Had some memorable moments in 2006 but fell back to Earth quickly after that season.

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

Boof! 

Had some memorable moments in 2006 but fell back to Earth quickly after that season.

I expected Boof to have a solid career. He obviously did not do that. 

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

1 hour ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I expected Boof to have a solid career. He obviously did not do that. 

Same. Thought he'd be a decent 3/4 starter for a few years. But alas...