Bill_Monbouquette

Bill Monbouquette

William Charles (Bill) Monbouquette (born August 11 1936 in Medford, Massachusetts) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox (1958 -65), Detroit Tigers (1966-67), New York Yankees (1967-68) and San Francisco Giants (1968). He batted and threw right-handed.

Professional playing career

In an 11-season career, Monbouquette posted a 114-112 record with 1122 strikeouts and a 3.68 ERA in 1961.2 Innings.

A finesse pitcher who relied on changing speeds and a superb control, Monbouquette was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 1955 and started his majors career on July 18, 1958. He became the ace of a weak Boston pitching rotation in the early 1960s, winning at least 14 games from 1960-63, with a career-high 20 victories in 1963. A four-time All-Star, he pitched a no-hitter in 1962 against the Chicago White Sox; collected three one-hit games, and set a club record with a 17 strikeout-game against the Washington Senators in 1961.

After going 96-91 with Boston, Monbouquette was sent to the Detroit Tigers before the 1966 season. He also pitched for the Yankees and finished his career with the Giants on September 3, 1968. He never made the postseason.

Monbouquette was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in . He is currently a pitching coach for Detroit Single-A affiliate team, Oneonta Tigers.

Illness

In May 2008, the Boston Globe reported that Monbouquette was suffering from acute myelogenous leukemia. The chemotherapy and drug treatment he has received has the disease currently in remission, but he needs a bone marrow and stem cell transplant for a cure to be possible. To date no suitable match has been found for a transplant. The Red Sox in conjunction with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute encouraged fans to participate in a National Marrow Donor Registry on June 7, 2008 at Tufts University's in hopes of finding a suitable donor for Monbouquette and others suffering from the disease.

Quotes

"I got there when I was 21 years old and it was the greatest experience I've ever had. My big league debut was against the Tigers and I remember Billy Martin stole home on me."
After his no-hitter: "That was something very special because I hadn't won a game in close to two months. I was struggling."
"Those were my most enjoyable years. I loved pitching at Fenway and loved pitching for the Red Sox."