Zeke Bonura
| Zeke Bonura | |
|---|---|
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| First baseman | |
| Born: September 20, 1908 New Orleans, Louisiana |
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| Died: March 9, 1987 (aged 78) New Orleans, Louisiana |
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| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| April 17, 1934 for the Chicago White Sox | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 26, 1940 for the Chicago Cubs | |
| Career statistics | |
| Hits | 1099 |
| Batting average | .307 |
| Home runs | 119 |
| Teams | |
Henry John (Zeke) Bonura (September 20, 1908 – March 9, 1987) was a first baseman in Major League Baseball. From 1934 through 1940, he played for the Chicago White Sox (1934–1937), Washington Senators (1938, 1940), New York Giants (1939) and Chicago Cubs (1940). Bonura batted and threw right-handed. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
In a seven-season career, Bonura posted a .307 batting average with 119 home runs and 704 RBI in 917 games played.
One of Zeke Bonura's more noteworthy athletic accomplishments has nothing to do with the sport of baseball. In June 1925, at the age of sixteen, Bonura became the youngest male athlete ever to win an event at the National (AAU) Track and Field Championships. Young Zeke threw the javelin 65.18 meters (213-10) to claim the title. Bonura's winning effort was a meet record by nearly twenty-feet; a prodigious mark that remained on the books until 1930.[1] Bonura received the Legion of Merit award while serving in the US Army during World War 2, for his work as athletic director for the Army in Oran, Algeria in 1943 in 1944.[2]
Highlights
- Hit .300 or more in four of his seven major league seasons, with a career-high .345 in 1937, fourth in the American League, behind Charlie Gehringer (.371), Lou Gehrig (.351) and Joe DiMaggio (.346).
- Averaged 17 home runs per season, with a career-high 27 in his 1934 rookie season, setting a White Sox team record. The record was tied by Joe Kuhel in 1940 and surpassed by Gus Zernial in 1950 with 29.
- Is a member of the Italian American Sports Hall of Fame
References & External links
- ^ http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/USAOutdoorTF/men/mJT.asp
- ^ Wakefield, Wanda Ellen (1997). Playing to Win: Sports and the American Military, 1898-1945. USA: State University of New York Press. p. 216. ISBN 9780791433133.
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Baseball Library
- List of National Champions: Men's Javelin Throw
- Zeke Bonura at Find a Grave
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