MLB History: Bob Bailey, the Forgotten “First Bonus Baby”
By Rick Soisson
Bob Bailey, the Player
However, let’s return to the moment of the signing of Bob Bailey, can’t-miss prospect. About that, SABR is quite definitive. Since the player had to have been a high school graduate, the earliest he could have been signed was 12:01 a.m., June 16, 1961, the day after his graduation.
This, it is asserted, was exactly when Bailey was signed by Pirate scouts Bob Hughes and Jerry Gardiner.
This we’re sure about. Just not the money.
In any event, the player’s history would be written out in definitive figures after that, many of which likely led to that grim look on Bob Bailey’s face as he squinted at a Topps photographer in early 1975 from under his Montreal Expos cap.
The Expos were Bailey’s third of five MLB teams. The ride had been a bit rough for a player rated by Pirates staff as “excellent” in terms of “speed, power and arm” – scout Rosy Gilhousen’s evaluation, according to SABR.
In 1961, the recent high school grad batted only .220 for the Asheville Tourists at the Single-A level, but his nine home runs and 36 RBI in 75 games were good enough to launch him to the Triple-A Columbus Jets for his age-19 season in 1962 and onto the Pirates roster for 14 games at the end of the season.
He hit .167, but he did have two doubles and a triple among his seven hits.
What was going on there? Later, Bailey would recall the pressure that never seemed to let up from his signing bonus. In his last years, he allowed that his bonus was “a great deal,” but his precise description of the stress it afforded him, as recorded by SABR, said something else: “Every ground ball became kind of like a litmus test and every at-bat had that same feel. I always seemed to have something to prove.”
Bailey never matched the 108 RBI he booked in Columbus at the MLB-level, but he was good enough to stay at baseball’s highest level for parts of 17 seasons. Statistically, his best year was his ninth, when he drove in 84 runs for the Expos and posted an OPS of 1.004.
Next. Pirates match 19th century mark. dark
One hopes he enjoyed at least that campaign. Bob Bailey passed away in 2018 at the age of 75.