What years did Bill Bonham play?

Bill Bonham played in Major League Baseball from 1971 to 1980.

Was Bill Bonham a pitcher?

Yes. Bill Bonham pitched in the major leagues, recording 75 wins and 985 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Bill Bonham hit?

Bill Bonham hit 0 career home runs with 81 hits.

What was Bill Bonham's career batting average?

Bill Bonham batted .172 over his career, with 81 hits in 471 at bats.

How many RBI did Bill Bonham have?

Bill Bonham drove in 24 runs in his career.

What was Bill Bonham's career ERA?

Bill Bonham finished with a 4.01 career ERA, going 75-83 with 985 strikeouts.

Bill Bonham

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1971-1980)

Bill Bonham was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1971 to 1980 for the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds, a span of 10 seasons. Across 300 career appearances, he went 75-83 with a 4.01 ERA and 985 strikeouts. He also batted .172 with 0 home runs. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 8608.1.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated September 9, 2026

W–L 75–83

ERA 4.01

WHIP 1.44

SO 985

Pitcher PIV 8608.1

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'3" / 190 lb
Born: 10/1/1948 in Glendale, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1971-04-07
Last Game: 1980-07-26

Full name: William Gordon Bonham

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Career Pitching Statistics

Bill Bonham — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
75	83	300	214	27	4	11	1487.3	1,512	662	98	636	985	4.01	8608.1

Career ERA 4.01 vs. league average 3.69 across their career seasons — 8.4% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bill Bonham Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1971	CHN	NL	2	1	33	2	0	0	0	60.0	63	31	36	41	4.65	3.47 (-34%)	-1448.6
1972	CHN	NL	1	1	19	4	0	0	4	57.7	56	20	25	49	3.12	3.26 (+4%)	452.3
1973	CHN	NL	7	5	44	15	3	0	6	152.0	126	51	64	121	3.02	3.75 (+19%)	2253.7
1974	CHN	NL	11	22	44	36	10	2	1	242.7	246	104	109	191	3.86	3.63 (-6%)	3217.6
1975	CHN	NL	13	15	38	36	7	2	0	229.3	254	120	109	165	4.71	3.71 (-27%)	1326.8
1976	CHN	NL	9	13	32	31	3	0	0	196.0	215	93	96	110	4.27	3.51 (-22%)	-1105.2
1977	CHN	NL	10	13	34	34	1	0	0	214.7	207	104	82	134	4.36	4.00 (-9%)	2312.4
1978	CIN	NL	11	5	23	23	1	0	0	140.3	151	55	50	83	3.53	3.69 (+4%)	1303.2
1979	CIN	NL	9	7	29	29	2	0	0	175.7	173	74	60	78	3.79	4.00 (+5%)	-173.2
1980	CIN	NL	2	1	4	4	0	0	0	19.0	21	10	5	13	4.74	3.84 (-23%)	469.3
Career · 10 seasons			75	83	300	214	27	4	11	1,487.1	1,512	662	636	985	4.01	—	8,608

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Bill Bonham — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
307	471	37	81	15	1	0	24	0	13	125	.172	.195	.208	.404	-2,355

Career AVG .172 vs. league average .257 across their career seasons — 33.2% below league average.

Career OBP .195 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — 39.6% below league average.

Career SLG .208 vs. league average .377 across their career seasons — 44.9% below league average.

Career OPS .404 vs. league average .701 across their career seasons — 42.4% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bill Bonham Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1971	CHN	NL	33	12	2	2	0	0	0	0	4	.167	—	—	—	—	0.0
1972	CHN	NL	19	14	3	4	0	0	1	2	3	.286	—	—	—	—	0.0
1973	CHN	NL	44	43	1	4	0	0	1	0	17	.093	—	—	—	—	0.0
1974	CHN	NL	48	84	8	12	2	0	4	2	25	.143	.256 (-44%)	.324 (-50%)	.369 (-55%)	.693 (-52%)	-683.1
1975	CHN	NL	40	82	8	15	1	1	6	1	19	.183	.257 (-29%)	.327 (-42%)	.374 (-41%)	.701 (-42%)	-553.0
1976	CHN	NL	32	65	6	13	4	0	2	2	15	.200	.255 (-22%)	.320 (-30%)	.360 (-28%)	.681 (-29%)	-294.3
1977	CHN	NL	35	65	3	15	3	0	3	1	14	.231	.264 (-13%)	.329 (-26%)	.401 (-31%)	.730 (-29%)	-305.4
1978	CIN	NL	23	43	2	8	3	0	5	4	9	.186	—	—	—	—	0.0
1979	CIN	NL	29	57	3	8	2	0	2	0	18	.140	.265 (-47%)	.329 (-57%)	.397 (-56%)	.727 (-57%)	-519.2
1980	CIN	NL	4	6	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 10 seasons			307	471	37	81	15	1	24	13	125	.172	—	—	—	—	-2,355

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (607 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Bill Bonham — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	152	209	17	38	0	9	.182
Away	155	262	20	43	0	15	.164

Pitching — Home / Away

Bill Bonham — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	150	719.1	731	299	296	493	3.74
Away	150	768.0	781	363	340	492	4.25

Last 10 Games — Batting

Bill Bonham — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	BB	SO
1980-07-26	CIN	NYN	W	1	1	0	1	0
1980-05-03	CIN	CHC	L	0	0	0	0	0
1980-04-19	CIN	ATL	W	3	0	0	0	0
1980-04-12	CIN	ATL	W	2	0	0	0	1
1979-09-30	CIN	ATL	L	0	0	0	0	0
1979-09-19	CIN	SDP	W	2	0	0	0	1
1979-09-14	CIN	LAD	L	1	0	0	0	1
1979-09-08	CIN	LAD	W	2	1	0	0	0
1979-09-03	CIN	ATL	W	2	1	1	0	0
1979-08-29	CIN	PHI	W	0	0	0	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Bill Bonham — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1980-07-26	CIN	NYN	W	5.0	6	1	1	1	3	0
1980-05-03	CIN	CHC	L	0.1	5	5	5	1	1	0
1980-04-19	CIN	ATL	W	7.0	4	1	1	2	5	1
1980-04-12	CIN	ATL	—	6.2	6	3	3	1	4	0
1979-09-30	CIN	ATL	L	3.0	4	3	3	2	3	1
1979-09-19	CIN	SDP	W	5.1	2	2	2	4	4	0
1979-09-14	CIN	LAD	L	7.0	5	1	1	3	3	0
1979-09-08	CIN	LAD	W	7.1	6	1	1	5	2	0
1979-09-03	CIN	ATL	—	4.1	9	4	3	1	1	0
1979-08-29	CIN	PHI	—	4.0	6	6	5	2	0	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Bill Bonham — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	300	214	103	297	26	18

Season-by-Season Fielding

Bill Bonham — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1971	CHN	P	33	2	5	13	0	1
1972	CHN	P	19	4	3	9	0	0
1973	CHN	P	44	15	10	40	2	2
1974	CHN	P	44	36	20	54	6	4
1975	CHN	P	38	36	15	37	4	3
1976	CHN	P	32	31	8	32	3	2
1977	CHN	P	34	34	20	43	3	4
1978	CIN	P	23	23	13	35	3	2
1979	CIN	P	29	29	9	31	4	0
1980	CIN	P	4	4	0	3	1	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Bill Bonham Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	300

College History

Bill Bonham — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Los Angeles Valley College	Los Angeles	CA	1967, 1968
University of California - Los Angeles	Los Angeles	CA	1969, 1970

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Bill Bonham (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bill Bonham

What years did Bill Bonham play?: Bill Bonham played in Major League Baseball from 1971 to 1980.
Was Bill Bonham a pitcher?: Yes. Bill Bonham pitched in the major leagues, recording 75 wins and 985 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Bill Bonham hit?: Bill Bonham hit 0 career home runs with 81 hits.
What was Bill Bonham's career batting average?: Bill Bonham batted .172 over his career, with 81 hits in 471 at bats.
How many RBI did Bill Bonham have?: Bill Bonham drove in 24 runs in his career.
What was Bill Bonham's career ERA?: Bill Bonham finished with a 4.01 career ERA, going 75-83 with 985 strikeouts.