There are not many ‘National Holidays’ went it comes to the sports world aside from Super Bowl Sunday, the MLB Homerun Derby, and the First Round of the NFL Draft, but there is an event that happens once a year that sports fans tend to ‘celebrate’ and its a holiday that wont be going away any time soon.
Fans in the MLB are celebrating “Bobby Bonilla Day” today which is a day, that former Mets player Bobby Bonilla, will collect his annual salary of 1.1 Million Dollars from the New York Mets, despite not playing for the team since, 1999.
In 2000, Bonilla and the Mets agreed to a contract buyout that would rid the Mets of Bonilla’s services but still have to pay him. Instead of paying Bonilla the $5.9 million he was owed at the time, the Mets agreed to make annual payments of nearly $1.2 million for 25 years starting July 1, 2011, that was part of a negotiated 8% interest. Mets ownership invested in a Bernie Madoff account that promised returns, and the Mets poised to make a significant profit if the Madoff account delivered in the end did not work out. Linking the Mets and Bonilla together until the year 2035.
Other deals similar to Bonilla’s include, Ken Griffey Jr. who has received 3.59 Million a year from the Cincinnati Reds up to this year, lasting from a contact he signed in 2000, Manny Ramirez will receive a total of 24.2 million dollars from the Boston Red Sox through 2026, and Max Scherzer will get a total of 105 Million from the Nationals paid out through the year 2028.
So every July 1st until the year 2035, Mets and baseball fans will have a reason to celebrate before the fireworks start hitting the sky to celebrate a real National Holiday.
Photo Credit: ESPN
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