Bill Monbouquette

Bill Monbouquette
Pitcher
Born: (1936-08-11) August 11, 1936 Medford, Massachusetts
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 18, 1958 for the Boston Red Sox
Last MLB appearance
September 3, 1968 for the San Francisco Giants
Career statistics
Win–Loss record	114–112
Earned run average	3.68
Strikeouts	1,122
Teams
Boston Red Sox (1958–1965) Detroit Tigers (1966–1967) New York Yankees (1967–1968) San Francisco Giants (1968)
Career highlights and awards
4× All-Star selection (1960, 1960², 1962, 1963) Pitched a no-hitter on August 1, 1962

William Charles (Bill) Monbouquette (born August 11, 1936 in Medford, Massachusetts) is an American former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played for the Boston Red Sox (1958–1965), Detroit Tigers (1966–1967), New York Yankees (1967–1968), and the San Francisco Giants (1968).

Professional playing career

During an 11-year career, Monbouquette compiled 114 wins, 1,122 strikeouts, and a 3.68 earned run average.

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.

On September 25, 1965 in a game against the Kansas City A's, Monbouquette was the starting pitcher versus 58-year old Hall of Famer Satchel Paige. Monbouquette threw a complete game for his tenth win of the season, but became the final strikeout victim of Paige's in the 3rd inning.

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 2000. He was a pitching coach for Detroit Single-A affiliate team, Oneonta Tigers. Bill was also once Wayne Muloin's (Pro Hockey) brother-in-law.^{[citation needed]}

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 in hopes of finding a suitable donor for Monbouquette and others suffering from the disease.

In 2010, the Boston rock band, The Remains, released a song, "Monbo Time," as a tribute to Bill Monbouquette. The Remains pledged to donate 50% of the revenues they receive from sales of the song to cancer research. (06880danwoog.com, April 23, 2010; Boston Herald, April 22, 2010; nesn.com, April 14, 2010)

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."

See also

• List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• MLB historical statistics

Preceded by Sandy Koufax	No-hitter pitcher August 1, 1962	Succeeded by Jack Kralick
Preceded by Rube Walker	New York Mets Pitching Coach 1982 - 1983	Succeeded by Mel Stottlemyre