Zeke Bonura (pronounced like Sonora)
Henry J. "Zeke" Bonura. First baseman for the Washington Senators in 1938 and 1940. 1,099 hits and 119 home runs in 7 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .380. He debuted with the Chicago White Sox in 1934. His best season was probably 1936 for the White Sox as he posted a .426 OBP with 120 runs scored and 138 RBI's in 688 plate appearances. His indifferent defense on balls hit to his right gave rise to the "Bonura Salute".
Excerpt from his SABR biography: The next season the White Sox improved to fifth place under Dykes, as Bonura hit .295 with 21 home runs and 92 RBIs. Bonura fit the profile of a lumbering first baseman, yet he stole home in the bottom of the 15th inning to score the winning run against the New York Yankees in the first game of a doubleheader on August 26, 1935. It was only the fourth stolen base of his major-league career. In “his own inimitable manner,” Bonura told how it happened:
“I’m on third. I see [Jimmie] DeShong, which is the New York pitcher for the Yankees on that day, take his windup. He makes the mistake of taking a long windup and I’m off third like a bird. Now you understand there was no signal for to steal. I’m using my head and being alert. DeShong has got himself all wound up like a clock now and here I’m breezin’ home as though carried by some winged horse of some name or other. A newspaperman wrote a swell story about it back home. It sounded like Pegasus. In fact it was Pegasus because I looked it up thinkin’ at first he was ribbin’ me.
“Let’s see, where was I? Oh, yes. I’m breezin’ home like Mercury hisself and I spread out and slide handy right under [Yankees catcher Bill] Dickey. … Well, you ought to seen Dickey. I won’t never forget the expression on his face. He was without a doubt the most surprised man in baseball. That’s really bein’ surprised. And I guess a lot of the other fellows were surprised at old Zeke breezin’ home and theftin’ a sack to win their old fifteen-innin’ ball game. … Funny thing about it though, Mister Dykes looked almost as surprised as Dickey.”
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