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Walter Franklin Bond
Houston Astros
First Base-Outfield
Born: October 19, 1937, Denmark, TN
Signed: Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1957 season
Major League Teams: Cleveland Indians 1960-1962; Houston Colt .45s 1964; Houston Astros 1965; Minnesota Twins 1967
Died: September 14, 1967, Houston, TX (age 29)
Walt Bond played the final five seasons of his professional baseball career after being diagnosed with leukemia in 1962. Bond passed away from the disease in 1967 following his final season in baseball.
Bond appeared in a career high 148 games with the Colt .45s in 1964, starting 76 games at first base, 28 games in left field and 41 games in right field. He batted .254 that season reaching career highs in both home runs with 20 and RBIs with 85. He appeared in 117 games during the team's inaugural year as the Astros in 1965, and was the club's opening day first baseman. Bond was dealt to the Twins in April 1966, spending the entire season in the minor leagues. He made the Twins' opening day roster in 1967, but was released by the club after only 10 games. He signed with the Mets' organization and appeared in three games for the Triple-A Jacksonville Suns before his declining health forced him from the game.
Building the Set
May 13, 2021 from Marco Island, FL - Card #265
After adding a number of star cards in April, I decided I should focus on a group of commons for our set in May. I set out specifically to add reasonably priced cards from the set's second series and I found a few eBay sellers running specials on recent set breaks. In total, I added 23 cards over three-day period with this Bond card coming from Super Bowl Auctions located in Marco Island, Florida for $2.75. As of this writing, and after adding a few star cards late in May, I'm one elusive card away from having a complete second series.
The Card / Astros Team Set
Bond is the last Astros card in the set to feature the "Houston" pennant with the mocked-up Texas logo in the corner. He's also the last Astros card in the set featuring the now defunct .45s logo on the front of his hat. His team-leading home run and RBI totals from 1964 are highlighted on the back of the card. Bond, at card #50, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of three Astros in the set. He's also in the harder to find 1965 Topps Transfers insert set.
1965 Season
With the re-branded Astros, Bond started the season as the team's everyday first baseman, but lost playing time throughout the year to a number of players. Bond started 68 games at first, with Jim Gentile getting 62 starts and five other Astros starting the remaining games. In 117 games, Bond batted .263 with seven home runs and 47 RBIs. Bond was dealt to the Twins on April 10, 1966 for catcher Ken Retzer.
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First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #552
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1960-1961, 1963-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1967 Topps #224
24 - Bond non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/24/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
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