# Walt Bond > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Walt_Bond > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Walt_Bond.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Bond > Source revision: 1349734811 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American baseball player (1937–1967)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Walt Bond |position=[Outfielder](/source/Outfielder) / [First baseman](/source/First_baseman) |image=Walt Bond Colts.jpg |bats=Left |throws=Right |birth_date={{Birth date|1937|10|19}} |birth_place=[Denmark, Tennessee](/source/Denmark%2C_Tennessee), U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|1967|9|14|1937|10|19}} |death_place=[Houston, Texas](/source/Houston%2C_Texas), U.S. |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=April 19 |debutyear=1960 |debutteam=Cleveland Indians |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=May 7 |finalyear=1967 |finalteam=Minnesota Twins |statleague = MLB |stat1label=[Batting average](/source/Batting_average_(baseball)) |stat1value=.256 |stat2label=[Home run](/source/Home_run)s |stat2value=41 |stat3label=[Runs batted in](/source/Runs_batted_in) |stat3value=179 |teams= *[Cleveland Indians](/source/Cleveland_Indians) ({{mlby|1960}}–{{mlby|1962}}) *[Houston Colt .45s/Astros](/source/Houston_Astros) ({{mlby|1964}}–{{mlby|1965}}) *[Minnesota Twins](/source/Minnesota_Twins) ({{mlby|1967}}) }}'''Walter Franklin Bond''' (October 19, 1937 – September 14, 1967) was an American professional [baseball](/source/baseball) player who appeared in 365 [games](/source/games_played) over six [Major League Baseball](/source/Major_League_Baseball) seasons between {{baseball year|1960}} and {{baseball year|1967}} for the [Cleveland Indians](/source/Cleveland_Indians), [Houston Colt .45s/Astros](/source/Houston_Astros) and [Minnesota Twins](/source/Minnesota_Twins). An [outfielder](/source/outfielder) and [first baseman](/source/first_baseman), he played the last five seasons of his 11-year professional career after being diagnosed with [leukemia](/source/leukemia) while serving as a private first class in the [United States Army](/source/United_States_Army){{Cite web |url=http://www.tbhof.org/features/feature-20071007.htm |title=Anderson, James, ''Walter Bond'', The Texas Baseball Hall of Fame (tbhof.com) |access-date=2009-06-10 |archive-date=2016-04-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430160337/http://www.tbhof.org/features/feature-20071007.htm |url-status=dead }} in 1962. Bond died of the disease in the closing weeks of the {{baseball year|1967}} baseball season — a year during which he had made the [Twins' roster](/source/1967_Minnesota_Twins_season) coming out of [spring training](/source/spring_training). The native of [Denmark, Tennessee](/source/Denmark%2C_Tennessee), attended [Lane College](/source/Lane_College); he stood {{convert|6|ft|7|in}} tall and weighed {{convert|228|lb}}, threw right-handed and batted left-handed. With his imposing size, he was an effective power hitter who also batted for [average](/source/batting_average_(baseball)) (.299) during his minor league career, and brief [Negro leagues](/source/Negro_leagues) career with the [Kansas City Monarchs](/source/Kansas_City_Monarchs).{{cite web|author=John McGrath |url=https://www.astrosdaily.com/players/obits/Bond_Walt.html |title=Take away the 's' and you've got a hero |publisher=Tacoma News Tribune |date=March 12, 2006 |accessdate=August 4, 2020}} In 1962, the year of his diagnosis, Bond batted .320 in 132 games for the [Salt Lake City Bees](/source/Salt_Lake_City_Bees) of the Triple-A [Pacific Coast League](/source/Pacific_Coast_League).{{Cite web |title=Walt Bond Minor Leagues Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=bond--001wal |access-date=2026-04-18 |website=[Baseball Reference](/source/Baseball_Reference) |language=en}} Then, in a 12-game September stint with the Indians, Bond hit six [home runs](/source/home_runs) in only 50 [at bats](/source/at_bats), drove in 17 [runs](/source/runs_batted_in), batted .380 and [slugged](/source/slugging_percentage) .800. Yet he could not make the 1963 Indians roster and spent that campaign in Triple-A. On December 19, 1963, he was acquired by Houston. The Colt .45s' [general manager](/source/general_manager_(baseball)), [Paul Richards](/source/Paul_Richards_(baseball)), was aware of Bond's illness, but the team doctor examined Bond and determined his leukemia was in remission. Bond then turned in his best major league season as the starting first baseman for the [1964 Colt .45s](/source/1964_Houston_Colt_.45s_season), leading Houston in home runs (20) and runs batted in (85), and appearing in 148 [games](/source/games_played). The following year, Bond held onto his starting job, but his production slumped with the team's move into the [Astrodome](/source/Astrodome); some teammates later speculated that his leukemia had recurred that season, affecting his play. Sent to the Twins just before the {{baseball year|1966}} season, he returned to Triple-A and batted .316 with 18 home runs in 122 games for the [Denver Bears](/source/Denver_Bears), earning an invitation to spring training for 1967. Bond made the team and batted .313 in part-time duty during the season's first month. His five hits included a two-run, [pinch-hit](/source/pinch_hitter) home run against 20-game-winner [Earl Wilson](/source/Earl_Wilson_(baseball)) of the [Detroit Tigers](/source/Detroit_Tigers) on April 23.[https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1967/B04230DET1967.htm "Minnesota Twins 4, Detroit Tigers 2"], [Retrosheet](/source/Retrosheet) [box score](/source/box_score_(baseball)) (23 April 1967) However, the Twins released him on May 15, and although Bond caught on with the Triple-A [Jacksonville Suns](/source/Jacksonville_Suns), his declining health forced him to the sidelines after only three games. He entered a [Houston](/source/Houston%2C_Texas) hospital for treatment, and he died there on September 14, 1967, a month short of turning 30.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mSZIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SgANAAAAIBAJ&pg=3709,1681139&dq=walt+bond+dies&hl=en Walt Bond dies at 29] Said his physician, Dr. Hatch Cummings: "He showed the strength of character and will that only champions possess. It was an exhibition of courage, and in the best tradition of baseball." Bond was interred at [Houston National Cemetery](/source/Houston_National_Cemetery) on September 18, 1967.{{cite web |url=https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov/WALTERFRANKLINBOND/A760E56 |title=Walter Franklin Bond |website=Veterans Legacy Memorial |publisher=U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs |access-date=2024-06-09}} Among Bond's 307 big-league hits were 40 [doubles](/source/double_(baseball)), 11 [triples](/source/triple_(baseball)) and 41 homers. He was credited with 179 runs batted in. ==See also== * [List of baseball players who died during their careers](/source/List_of_baseball_players_who_died_during_their_careers) ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{baseballstats |mlb=111187 |espn=19351 |br=b/bondwa01 |fangraphs=1001159 |brm=bond--001wal |retro=B/Pbondw101}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Bond, Walt}} Category:1937 births Category:1967 deaths Category:People from Madison County, Tennessee Category:Lane College alumni Category:United States Army soldiers Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:African-American baseball players Category:American expatriate baseball players in Canada Category:American expatriate baseball players in Nicaragua Category:Baseball players from Tennessee Category:Burlington Indians players (1958–1964) Category:Cleveland Indians players Category:Cocoa Indians players Category:Denver Bears players Category:Houston Astros players Category:Houston Colt .45s players Category:Jacksonville Suns players Category:Kansas City Monarchs players Category:Major League Baseball first basemen Category:Major League Baseball outfielders Category:Minnesota Twins players Category:Reading Indians players Category:Salt Lake City Bees players Category:Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Category:Vancouver Mounties players Category:Deaths from leukemia in Texas Category:Burials at Houston National Cemetery Category:Leones de Ponce baseball players --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Walt Bond](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Bond) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Bond?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.