Whatever happened to Jeremy Bonderman?

[Dusty]

Did he officially retire? Is he still thinking he can pitch? I haven't heard much about him since the Indians decided not to sign him to a minor league contract last year.

[xmartyx]

He's offically living off the ridiculous contract we gave him. Never have to work another day in his life.

[tigerjoe]

I was watching Game 4 of the 2006 ALCS which Jeremy started and was wondering the same thing. I guess he's probably fishing in the Pacific Northwest somewhere. Too bad he got hurt. He was improving every year and could have really been a good one. Remember he was something like 10-1 that final year before he got hurt? There was a big controversy because he should have been picked to start the All Star game but wasn't.

[Jeff6851]

He's offically living off the ridiculous contract we gave him. Never have to work another day in his life.

At least he's not being one of those athletes that manages to run out of $40 mil. I believe he lives in Washington state and fishes with his dad

[TigersFan81371]

Probably not working on his changeup anymore.

[Antrat]

Seal Team 6.
Didn't you notice that they didn't get Osama until JB left baseball?

[shauntacular]

Jeremy tried to catch on with someone last year and worked out for teams but wasn't offered a contract, which leads me to believe that he never regained his velocity. A promising career cut short by a freak disorder. Our own Rocco Baldelli.

Hey he's the last tiger I remember in a while to play his entire career as a Tiger though! ;)

[DaYooperASBDT]

Currently conducting seminars on the fine art of giving riveting interviews.

[Dirk Diggler]

Jeremy tried to catch on with someone last year and worked out for teams but wasn't offered a contract, which leads me to believe that he never regained his velocity. A promising career cut short by a freak disorder. Our own Rocco Baldelli.

Hey he's the last tiger I remember in a while to play his entire career as a Tiger though! ;)

He was offered contracts, just not a major league contract. If I remember correctly, the last team he worked out for was the Indians, but they wanted a minor leaue deal and he refused.

[Titus Tiger]

Probably not working on his changeup anymore.

Record time for "Changeup" Bravo TF81371

[shauntacular]

...that's right - no one would offer him a ML contract and he decided that he wanted to just fish instead. I think he really really hates the minors or something. I also remember reading an interview with him at one point and he indicated that he wasn't much interesting in pitching for a long time. He's rich and happy and that's ultimately what is important in life ;)

He is the only Tiger pitcher I can think of in my lifetime to have his picture appear as a drawing on the WSJ in an article about early performance jitters.

Now I'm going to say -- sorry -- that the thing is you can say all you want about how great Dombrowski is, and I agree he is a good president and general manager for my home team. However, he is not perfect. And the mishandling of Bonderman early in his career is probably the blackest mark on Dombrowski's Detroit legacy. He shouldn't have been anywhere near the MLB club in 2003.

[C03BRA]

I'll never forget this...thankfully he was ok...but hilarious!

[Dino]

I'll never forget this...thankfully he was ok...but hilarious!

That totally caused a bloodclot.

[The Truman Show]

Now I'm going to say -- sorry -- that the thing is you can say all you want about how great Dombrowski is, and I agree he is a good president and general manager for my home team. However, he is not perfect. And the mishandling of Bonderman early in his career is probably the blackest mark on Dombrowski's Detroit legacy. He shouldn't have been anywhere near the MLB club in 2003.

What did he screw up, exactly?

[shauntacular]

He should not have seen the majors until 2006. 2005 at the earliest.

[iholly]

I posted this several months ago in another thread but Jeremy is enjoying his retirement trying to find ways to spend the interest off his savings according to his dad. I have a picture of a house on the Columbia River he is renovating but don't know how to attach it to this post. My friend has done a little work on the house and talked to his dad. Thats how I found out what he is doing.

[hail2mich]

I'll never forget his balk at the Metrodome. That game was a classic!

[alwaysthrowheat]

Bonderman had 8 years to learn a third pitch and never did. That had absolutely nothing to do with Dave Dombrowski.

[The Truman Show]

He should not have seen the majors until 2006. 2005 at the earliest.

Yeah, but what would have been any different?

[Yoda]

Bonderman had 8 years to learn a third pitch and never did. That had absolutely nothing to do with Dave Dombrowski.

This.

[hueytaxi]

Someone mentioned Jeremy fishing. Possibly, but this time of yesr his love of hunting kept him in the NW woods until mandatory reporting dates (normaly).

[The Truman Show]

The one thing that would have been different is that Bonderman's service time wouldn't have been advanced enough to necessitate a large extension. Aside from that, I don't think his production would have been any different.

[shauntacular]

oh yeah I see your guys' point now and he totally wasn't rushed. He was 20 years old in 2003. Who needs development time in the minors at all really? Heck - I thought the Tigers needed a third baseman but I guess they'll have that covered in 2012 with Nick. I'll also be anxious to see Turner win 20 games this year. Give me a break - the kid lost 19 games in 2003. 19, and he threw 162 innings in the big leagues. Crappy mismanagement.

[Gehringer_2]

Bonderman had 8 years to learn a third pitch and never did. That had absolutely nothing to do with Dave Dombrowski.

I don't know if this is even meaningful, but if we remember I guess it was his last year he came to camp talking about throwing the split finger, and there was discussion that the team didn't really like the idea. At any rate in the course of one of his interviews about it, he said he was hoping to learn the split anyway because the change caused him discomfort when he threw it. Cover? Rationalization? Who knows? I suppose a guy that missed parts of two seasons with elbow trouble and then a whole season due to other injuries might get a little leeway about feeling paranoid about how things felt - or then again given what he was being paid to suck it up - maybe not.

[The Truman Show]

oh yeah I see your guys' point now and he totally wasn't rushed. He was 20 years old in 2003. Who needs development time in the minors at all really? Heck - I thought the Tigers needed a third baseman but I guess they'll have that covered in 2012 with Nick. I'll also be anxious to see Turner win 20 games this year. Give me a break - the kid lost 19 games in 2003. 19, and he threw 162 innings in the big leagues. Crappy mismanagement.

Who cares how ****** he was in 2003? The team was garbage, and by the time the team was any good, he was good. Again I ask, how would the organization have been better off if he had spent 2003-2005 in the minors?

[alwaysthrowheat]

Who cares how ****** he was in 2003? The team was garbage, and by the time the team was any good, he was good. Again I ask, how would the organization have been better off if he had spent 2003-2005 in the minors?

In addition, how does rushing him in '03-'05 explain a subsequent inability to learn a pitch besides the fastball and slider?

[Nolan]

I believe the theory is that if he was given more time in the minors he would have had more time to polish the change up in game situations. It seems reasonable that he could throw a change up in practice, but learning to throw it confidently against major league hitters is a different animal.

[TigerFan1984]

speaking of Bonderman's first year, I just looked up that 2003 Tigers team. How did they win 43 games?



2003 Detroit Tigers Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com

[DaYooperASBDT]

Bonderman is likely doing this at the moment:

[Charles Liston]

He's a good kid. If he's renovating a house on a river, somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, and he's set for life...well, good for him.

[alwaysthrowheat]

I believe the theory is that if he was given more time in the minors he would have had more time to polish the change up in game situations. It seems reasonable that he could throw a change up in practice, but learning to throw it confidently against major league hitters is a different animal.

No. Other way around. Practice is thousands and thousands of repetitions. That's where you hone your craft.

[Nolan]

No. Other way around. Practice is thousands and thousands of repetitions. That's where you hone your craft.

Repetition could have happened in the minors. I would think that he would have been able to throw his change up much more often in the minors, don't you?

[alwaysthrowheat]

Repetition could have happened in the minors. I would think that he would have been able to throw his change up much more often in the minors, don't you?

No. Reps could happen anywhere. The point is that pitches are honed in the thousands of repetitions in side sessions and simulated games. Not on the mound in front of thousands of people. If I had to bet, he threw a change up on more than half his pitches in those opportunities, especially in the back fields in the spring, and between games even. He had the opportunity to look at film with the best possible people analyzing it with him. If it were an arm slot problem, ball pressure problem, release problem, pronation problem, what have you, he'd know. He was unable to make his arm do what his brain was telling him.

[Corky]

He shows up here in Spokane every so often.

[Eric Cioe]

He shows up here in Spokane every so often.

Doing what?

Bonderman's got it made. I'm not jealous of many people's situations, but I am very jealous of his.

[Nolan]

No. Reps could happen anywhere. The point is that pitches are honed in the thousands of repetitions in side sessions and simulated games. Not on the mound in front of thousands of people. If I had to bet, he threw a change up on more than half his pitches in those opportunities, especially in the back fields in the spring, and between games even. He had the opportunity to look at film with the best possible people analyzing it with him. If it were an arm slot problem, ball pressure problem, release problem, pronation problem, what have you, he'd know. He was unable to make his arm do what his brain was telling him.

I am not arguing that he should have spent more time in the minors. I am just throwing out some reasons that seem plausible to me.

I realize that reps can happen anywhere, but do you think the reps during the game don't matter at all? Perhaps in the minors he could have learned how to use it effectively against players he was actually trying to strike out, as opposed to side sessions. Maybe he would have learned how to set up hitters and get a feel for when to use it, instead of just relying on the slider whenever he needed a strike out in the majors. It seems to me there could be merit in that.

[Corky]

Doing what?

Bonderman's got it made. I'm not jealous of many people's situations, but I am very jealous of his.

I have seen him downtown here shopping several times over the past five or six years. I really did a double-take the first time. I have a couple of pals who are good acquaintances of his and they get together every few months. Affeldt comes back here fairly often in the off-season also.

[Sports_Freak]

Doing what?

Bonderman's got it made. I'm not jealous of many people's situations, but I am very jealous of his.

Yes, he does have everything in life he craves. But if he still wanted to pitch (and make mega-money) and it was injuries that derailed his career, it's too bad.

[TigersFan81371]

Record time for "Changeup" Bravo TF81371

Nah, I'm disappointed that it took so long to get to it. Before clicking on the thread, I figured I'd see the changeup joke in posts 2, 3 or 4.

[Eric Cioe]

Yes, he does have everything in life he craves. But if he still wanted to pitch (and make mega-money) and it was injuries that derailed his career, it's too bad.

I think if Bondo still felt like pitching he could do it.