As a child, I was taught at a very early age to hate the New York Mets. That’s just how it was in our household. This team was a MAJOR THORN in the Chicago Cubs’ side (who’s mine and my Father’s favorite team) back in the ’80s and ’90s, and they created a vat of hatred that has been bubbling for decades. So because of that, whenever a negative story about the ‘Magnificent Mets’ comes about…..I just HAVE TO jump all over it.

Hence……”Bobby Bonilla Day!”

Happy Bobby Bonilla Day: Bonilla is set to collect another $1.193 million from the NY Mets today, as he will each July 1st through the year 2035. pic.twitter.com/cYePtC47qe

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 1, 2025

Bobby Bonilla Day, for those of you who don’t know the story, is a very special day for sports fans all across the country. It is the day where the New York Mets have to pay $1.2 MILLION to former Big-Leaguer Bobby Bonilla, who hasn’t played in the Majors since 2001. (He’s 62 now, for the record.) This is the 14th consecutive year that the club has done this, and they will continue to do this until the year 2035.

The best part about this story? It’s the reason WHY these payments are being made. It’s because that in the year 2000, the New York Mets decided to buyout the remaining $5.9 million on Bonilla’s contract, and create a deferred payment plan starting in 2011. The team would end up agreeing to an 8% interest rate on these payments with Bonilla, ballooning the third baseman’s yearly total up to the $1.2 mill that we all know today.

But why did they do this, you may ask? Well, and this is WILD……it’s because the ‘Mets Brass’ was reportedly investing in a Bernie Madoff account, that was supposed to make them BIG MONEY in the long run. (This, as we all know, did not happen!)

Simply put; Mr. Bonilla basically turned a possible $5.9 million into $30 million, in one of the GREATEST SPORTS DEALS in recorded history!

I, like most sports fans, absolutely LOVE this deal! I LOVE the fact that a 62 year old is still “on the books” for this team, and that Steve Cohen and the Mets have to pay him for another 10 years. I LOVE the fact that this entire situation spawned from a failed financial venture, that ended up becoming one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in American History.

Does this make me a terrible person? Possibly? But you know what? WHO CARES! I LOVE the fact that Bobby hasn’t seen a pitch in over 20 years, and is still raking in the BIG BUCKS from this franchise. The failure and incompetence of these millionaires makes me grin from EAR TO EAR, and continues to give me a GRAND REASON to say “The Mets Keep Metting.” It is a joyous occasion that we should all enjoy, and it is something that will make us sad when it’s over.

But in the end, the final thing I’d like to say is…..congrats to you again, Bobby! Keep collecting those checks, and enjoying your retirement. The thought of raking in that much money, on a YEARLY BASIS, sounds like an absolute DREAM!

But as always, what do I know? I’m just a guy from the Midwest, with a beer and a laptop, trying to make sense of this world!