Eddie Bonine - Pitcher

This is our Mud Hens starting Pitcher who has an 8-0 record as of 5/17/08! Hope we see him in Detroit Soon!

He was 14-5 last year with Erie

He was Selected by the Detroit Tigers from the San Diego Padres in the Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 8, 2005.

... Named Erie's Pitcher of the Year.
... Finished second in the Eastern League with 14 wins and third with 154.2 innings pitched.
... Led all starters with 1.34 walks per nine innings and was second with 11.29 base runners per nine innings.
... Tied for the league lead among all pitchers with a 1.000 fielding percentage.
... Compiled a 4-1 record and 2.51 ERA (32.1IP/5ER) in five starts in July.
... Tied for the league lead with four wins in July while finishing ninth with a 2.51 ERA.
... Appeared in two games for Peoria in the Arizona Fall League, posting a 9.00 ERA (2.0IP/2ER) and one save.

This guy looks quite sharp and ready! But Leyland even wants to send down (or to the bullpen) Armando in case Dontrelle will come back.... You think there is a chance for Bonine in Detroit?

If he comes here, he will get worse under the current pitching staff.

That is why the other boards are saying we need the Mud Hens coaches up in Detroit!

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

That is why the other boards are saying we need the Mud Hens coaches up in Detroit!

The coaches? Bring up the whole team.

The big switcheroo!

Come on guys, Leave me at least a few players down here!

oops, now we're back to "which ones would you keep!"

I like this kid. I say keep him in the rotation. Even next year.

Eddie is awesome. We should keep him!

Here he goes against Minnesota...not only his first time against an AL team, but his first start in a dome!

And they crushed him

Lets Go Eddie!!!
Get yourself back on track. Show that you deserve that spot more then Don-felle, and hurt his knee.

Bonine top option for No. 5 role
Rookie hurler will likely fill final rotation spot after All-Star break
By Scott McNeish / MLB.com

DETROIT -- The Tigers don't anticipate adding a new pitcher to their rotation after the All-Star break.

According to manager Jim Leyland, the club considers rookie Eddie Bonine the favorite to start for Detroit when his next turn in the rotation comes around July 21 at Kansas City. Leyland sees no stronger candidates either with the Tigers or in the farm system.

"Is it 100 percent? No," Leyland said. "Is it likely? I would say yes. Unless you guys know about someone I don't know about."

The Tigers optioned Bonine to Double-A Erie after Wednesday's game. But team president and general manager Dave Dombrowski insisted the move wasn't a response to the right-hander's consecutive rough outings. Instead, the Tigers want to keep him on a regular pitching schedule.

Detroit and Triple-A Toledo both break for an All-Star Game next week, and Erie offered the highest Minor League affiliate with a game Monday -- when Bonine's turn would normally occur.

The Tigers recalled Mud Hens first baseman Jeff Larish to fill Bonine's roster spot. The move gives Detroit an extra position player -- and left-handed bat -- for its four-game set against Minnesota before the break.

"Then we'll go ahead and we'll make a decision on who's going to start that fifth game after the All-Star break," Dombrowski said.

Bonine, in his first Major League stint, is 2-1 with a 5.40 ERA in five starts. But after notching wins over the Dodgers and Rockies, he hasn't lasted four innings in either of his past two starts.

He surrendered five runs -- two earned -- in 2 2/3 innings against Minnesota last week. In his latest outing Wednesday against the Indians, he allowed five earned runs on nine hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Sure wish Porcello would mature quickly! He is needed, but I also do want Eddie Bonine to get his act together and beat up on the American League teams!

Bonine injured in Double-A start
July 15, 2008

Eddie Bonine's start for the Tigers' Double-A Erie farm club was cut short Monday night soon after he was hit by a line drive.

Bonine left with two outs in the fourth inning. Bonine, who walked off the field under his own power, said he took the line drive flush on the left shin. He said he was OK.

"It swelled up a bit and kind of tightened up," Bonine told the Erie Times-News. "I don't think it's going to be anything that is going to linger."

The Tigers sent Bonine to Erie to keep him from going almost two weeks without a start. His most recent Tigers start was Wednesday, and the Tigers won't need him (or a replacement) until Monday.

Bonine has given up a lot of hits and left early in his past two Tigers starts. The club hasn't guaranteed he'll return to the rotation Monday, but it hasn't announced any candidates to take his place.

Bonine hadn't allowed a run Monday against Altoona when he was hit with two outs and nobody on. Bonine threw a few practice pitches over the catcher's head, allowed an RBI double to the next batter, then hit a batter. He then left the game.

Bonine came up from Triple-A Toledo a month ago to take Dontrelle Willis' spot in the Tigers' rotation. Bonine started for Erie instead of Toledo on Monday because the Mud Hens are on their All-Star break.

--John Lowe

Is that your official injury smily?

02/04/09 2:09 PM EST
Tigers outright Bonine to Triple-A
Righty clears waivers, will be in big league camp this spring

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

DETROIT -- Eddie Bonine will be staying in the Tigers' organization. The team announced Wednesday that Bonine cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Toledo, where his success in 2008 earned him his first call to the Major Leagues last summer.

The Tigers designated Bonine's contract for assignment a week and a half ago in order to make room on the 40-man roster for reliever Brandon Lyon, who had just signed. Teams could've claimed Bonine off waivers, but he would've had to stay on their 40-man roster. At this stage of the offseason, many teams already have their rosters set. Those who don't still have their choice of a slew of free agents left on the open market.

The move does not mean Bonine will be left out of Major League camp. As part of the outright assignment, the 27-year-old right-hander will be in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee when pitchers and catchers report next week. It'll be his first spring in a big league camp after a season of firsts last year.

Bonine earned a trip to Detroit by winning each of his first eight starts with the Mud Hens. The Tigers purchased his contract on June 14 to make his big league debut that afternoon, when his 5 1/3 innings and six runs allowed put him in line for the victory. He became the first Tiger to win his Major League debut since Andy Van Hekken on Sept. 3, 2002.

After taking a no-decision for his seven innings of two-run ball June 20 at San Diego, Bonine allowed one run over eight innings for another victory June 27 over the Rockies. He was optioned back to Toledo on July 9 and rejoined the Hens' rotation for a month before a right shoulder strain sidelined him for the rest of the season. Bonine is back at full strength and able to pitch without restriction this spring.

The Bonine move likely completes the Tigers' Spring Training roster. Detroit had a standing offer for a Minor League contract out to left-hander John Parrish, who would've been a candidate for a spot in the bullpen, but the free agent is headed elsewhere. He's close to accepting a similar offer from Baltimore to compete for a rotation spot.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Monday, March 30, 2009
Pitcher Bonine expected to make Tigers' roster
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

Viera, Fla.. -- It looks like Tigers right-hander Eddie Bonine has an excellence chance of making the club.

"He's been tremendous," manager Jim Leyland said. "He's a different pitcher out of the bullpen than he is starting."

Bonine allowed a run in his first spring appearance, but has pitched 13 1/3 scoreless innings since.

"He's done very, very well," Leyland said. "He's had a tremendous spring training. One of the big things is that he knows he won't be out there as long (as when he started), so he throws harder out of the bullpen."

But the best indicator that Bonine is going to make it that he will pitch the first two innings of the Tigers' game on Thursday, said Leyland.

Thursday happens to be leaving day for the Tigers. They'll fly to Atlanta after the game. Bonine probably wouldn't be pitching in the last game, then staying in Florida.

"I told Rick Knapp no more than two, however," said Leyland.

Sounds to me like he's made it.

Bonine on staff, gets strength from mom
Her struggles with cancer an inspiration

BY JOHN LOWE • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • April 2, 2009

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Tigers right-hander Eddie Bonine drove from Arizona to Florida for spring training with his mom. They cherished their time together.

Bonine's mom has cancer.

On Wednesday morning, the two had another conversation. Bonine called his mom, Danelle Eckman, and woke her up at home in Arizona to tell her he'd made the Tigers' Opening Day roster.

"She seemed really excited," Bonine said.

Bonine hopes he'll see her on the West Coast when the Tigers visit there in a few weeks.

"Just a shower and going to get treatments is a chore for her," Bonine said. "I know if there is any strength in her body to get on a plane and possibly get to our games on the West Coast, she might be able to do that."

Bonine, who broke into the majors with a brief Tigers stint last season, wasn't a favorite to make the Opening Day staff. Then he allowed one run this exhibition season in 10 outings.

He didn't try to block out his mom's condition when he pitched this spring. Instead, he used it as inspiration.

"She's been real strong," Bonine said. "I've obviously pulled a lot of my strength in this spring training and the past few years through her. I realize that what I'm doing out here on the field is nothing compared to what she's battling with and what we're battling with as a family.

"Baseball is a release. I'm out here, and I can compete. I know if I'm doing great, it's making her smile."

He said his mom's illness "is something that's on my heart and in my mind every day, and I pray about it."

Eckman was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. She underwent surgery. "It was successful, and she did a lot of the chemo and radiation, and they felt like they got most of the cancer taken care of," Bonine said.

Then the cancer spread to her shoulder. One treatment involved heat being applied to her skin.

"She got second-degree burns from that on most of her shoulder and on her arm and in her chest," Bonine said. "That was kind of a rough time. That was about the middle of this past off-season.

"Right now she's got ulcerated skin that is creating a lot of pain. They recently put her on a pain pump. She has good days and bad days. They're still trying chemo treatments and everything they can to see results."

She summoned the strength for that long drive from Arizona to Florida.

"It was a fun three days it took to drive out here," Bonine said. "We talked about some things that were comforting to her. She wanted to let me know how she felt about certain things. It was good. It was fun."

After the long drive, Bonine's mom flew back to Arizona. It's too bad she couldn't stay and watch her son pitch so well in spring training. But on the phone Wednesday morning, she learned that he'd made the team.

"It allowed her to wake up happy," Bonine said. "Maybe she won't have to use the pain pump today."

Contact JOHN LOWE: 313-223-4053 or jlowe@freepress.com.


Free Press columnist Drew Sharp will chat with fans for an hour Friday, starting at 2 p.m. at freep.com/sports. MSU, Lions, Tigers … it’s all fair game. See you Friday!

Bonine gains strength from his mom
Mother of Tigers right-hander dealing with cancer

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

05/08/09 10:00 AM ET

DETROIT -- Eddie Bonine had every reason to be excited to make the Tigers out of Spring Training. He played six Minor League seasons without being invited to a big league camp, five-plus years before getting a midseason call or even being on the 40-man roster.

If anyone deserved to be happy, it was Bonine. But as soon as he got the message from manager Jim Leland, Bonine was thinking of his mom, whose battle with cancer has been a tougher struggle than anything he has gone through.

And when he made the early morning call to her in Arizona, they looked down the Tigers' schedule.

"She was very excited, very excited," Bonine recalled. "I think it was one of those things where she realized there was a better chance I'd be out in the West a few more times. So I think that was good. It was a sigh of relief on my part, too, as well as her, that with a shorter day's worth of travel, she was possibly going to see me play again."

Not long ago, that used to be a no-brainer. When the Tigers purchased Bonine's contract last summer and put him in their rotation, Danelle Eckman traveled to see her son's starts. She's a baseball fanatic who roots for her son.

She's also a breast cancer survivor. But for the last six months or so, the fight has been a lot more difficult.

"It kind of resurfaced," Bonine said. "It's gotten a lot worse. She did a lot of the treatments, and [doctors] were pretty happy with it. And then about six, seven months ago, it came back. It's progressed pretty quick since then."

They knew it was a possibility. Though she was doing well since her diagnosis in 2006, the cancer was advanced when they discovered it. A regular mammogram didn't show it, Bonine said, but she still complained of pain.

Doctors tried to find the cause until a followup ultrasound and MRI exam revealed their worst fears. The tumor was there, and it already was significant.

"It was pretty late," Bonine said, "and it was a pretty aggressive cancer. There's a chance it could've been detected, possibly earlier if it would've been more of a mandatory thing with ultrasound or MRIs."

An aggressive series of treatments seemingly had it in remission. Last fall, however, it came back. Worse, it had spread. The tumor they found was in her shoulder, near the skin surface.

It should've been a pretty good time in their lives. Bonine survived an injury scare, and Detroit kept him on the 40-man roster over the offseason until the very end. Even so, they outrighted him with the guarantee that he'd be in Major League camp.

At any other time, she might have made the trip from their Arizona home to Lakeland, Fla. But with her latest round of treatment, she just couldn't do it.

"That was actually during some of the tougher times for her," Bonine said. "Some of it now is more pain management kind of stuff, and they've got a good grasp on that. But during Spring Training, she was going through a lot. She was getting zapped. She didn't have the energy. She didn't have the tolerance to really be able to travel out to Florida for any of Spring Training."

So while Bonine tried to keep his focus in Florida and his goal on Detroit, an unlikely chance for a roster spot that grew stronger with each game, his mind was in Arizona. While she made it through her treatment, he made it through roster cuts.

She left him, however, with a message.

"Prior to leaving him in Lakeland, I just told him to fight for what he wanted," Eckman said in an email. "No matter what happened in baseball, I was so proud of the man he had become. Baseball was really a great bonus in his life."

Once he got the nod, once he called his mom with the news, their minds were on a West Coast trip in mid-April. With Joel Zumaya, Jeremy Bonderman and Dontrelle Willis all rehabbing their way back from injuries toward possible returns, nothing guaranteed Bonine still would be on the team then.

Still, he was in the bullpen when the Tigers flew out to Seattle in mid-April. His mom, stepfather and their family flew from Arizona to join them for the series.

She didn't get to see him pitch in any of the three games, but it didn't really matter.

"When I left Eddie at the airport in February, I really wasn't sure if I would ever see him on this earth again," Eckman said. "That is a huge, gut-wrenching possibility for a loving family. ... Unfortunately, Eddie didn't get to pitch during the Seattle series. However, this was never the real reason we went there in the first place. Time together was the reason."

Bonine made one more appearance against the Angels before he was optioned to Triple-A Toledo. Still, when he pitches, his thoughts of his mom aren't far. He has a pink ribbon embroidered onto the back of his glove, courtesy of Nike.

He's back with the Mud Hens, fighting for another call to the big leagues. But as tough as that can be, it's all relative for him.

"You pull a lot of strength from it," Bonine said. "It puts life in perspective. This is definitely serious business, and we're out there trying to win ballgames and be professional on the field, but there are bigger things in life. If you feel like you have a bad day in the field, obviously, it doesn't compare at all."

Eckman is going through chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Bonine said, but the pain is being managed well. Traveling out east to see her son pitch still would be tough, but the chance for a return to the Majors gives hope.

"I have been one of the luckiest people on earth," Eckman said, "especially over the past three years. I have been physically, emotionally and spiritually supported by my husband of nearly 20 years, my kids and their spouses/significant others, my siblings and their extended families, my father, my wonderful friends of over 18 years and so many others that continue to help me battle this disease. With their love and support, I will continue to fight for one more phone call, one more baseball game, one more family outing."

Understandably, Bonine is far from any high-profile position to be a spokesperson, but he and his family try to get the message out to friends, teammates and their families. Early diagnosis is critical, and sometimes a mammogram is just the start. Fortunately, Bonine said, MRI exams and ultrasounds have become important parts of the process.

That's his message.

"Don't take anything lightly," Bonine said. "She had to really push to get to the point where she could get an ultrasound or an MRI, just being adamant about it."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

='[ That's really sad. I hope she gets better, cancer isn't even cool at all. =[ It makes bad things happen to good people.

Bonine coping with mother's passing
Pitcher mourning loss of biggest fan while at Triple-A Toledo

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

07/20/09 8:05 PM ET

TOLEDO -- Eddie Bonine came into this season pitching for his mom, his biggest fan. He knew the time would come soon, likely this season, when he would have to do so without her. He also knew she would want him pitching anyway, doing what he loved.

He drew from her strength, and in many ways, still does. That didn't make the call he received near the end of May any easier.

The call came from Bonine's wife. The breast cancer that his mom, Danelle Eckman, had been battling for the better part of three years was starting to take more and more of a toll. She probably didn't have much time, something they expected when she was told last fall that the cancer had returned.

"[We knew] it might be a few days or a few weeks," Bonine said, "but it wasn't going to be too long."

He wasn't just losing his mom, or his best friend. He was losing his biggest fan, and in some ways one of his best coaches. He had spent the past few months as a sort of goodbye, bringing her on the road to Seattle in April while he was pitching with the Tigers and she could still travel. After being optioned to Triple-A Toledo days later, he talked about her for a Mother's Day story on MLB.com to raise awareness for breast cancer.

When he saw his mom back at home in Arizona, on the couch, talking with family and friends, he couldn't quite believe it. She looked way too strong to be in her final days. But as doctors explained to him, there's usually some time where the fight in them allows them to stay strong for a while.

"I went back there for two or three days, and she wanted me to go back here and pitch," Bonine said. "That was pretty tough."

He stayed with her nonetheless. He has been back pitching for almost a month now, but it still hasn't been easy.

Pitching runs in the family. Eckman's father, Bonine's grandfather, taught her how to pitch at age eight with the windmill motion, and it took years for opponents to catch up. She dominated youth leagues and into high school. In her final days last month, she and her sister, Janean Farley, were recalling the day she pitched 18 scoreless innings for Mesa Community College.

She married after her college career ended, and soon gave birth to Eddie. From the time he began pitching, his career was in many ways hers, which is what made for such an emotional moment on the phone when he made the Tigers' Opening Day roster.

"Danelle was quite the athlete in her own right," Farley wrote in an email, "but it was Eddie and his well-being and success that were her main focus. Danelle guided Eddie with loving discipline. She so wanted to live to see Eddie's progress and success."

Now, he's had to pitch without those phone calls, without the same cheers. His strength comes from the memories, from the moments he was able to spend with her over the past several months.

As others have observed, he's showing much the same strength that she did, even as she was fighting a battle she knew was a long shot.

He felt bad enough about leaving the team that he stuck around for a couple days after getting the call from his wife, just so he could make his scheduled start. He gave up seven earned runs on eight hits over 1 2/3 innings in that June 1 outing.

"You try to go out there and try to be professional," Bonine said. "I felt fine, but I guess it's one of those things where, in the back of your mind, it's a little bit murky."

Bonine spent about two weeks back home. He was with his mom and the rest of the family when she passed away April 9. She went on her own terms, at home with loved ones.

"Her attitude was just so positive with all that," Bonine said. "She knew that her odds weren't good, but she was so positive. She didn't want to feel that way. They exhausted everything in terms of treatments."

He spent about a week helping his stepfather and siblings plan the services. He returned June 23 and did about as well as he could, allowing four runs on six hits over four innings. Then he gave up 10 hits in each of his next two outings. He was getting used to pitching again, but that was just part of it.

"He went through some time there where he was physically all right, but mentally he wasn't," Mud Hens manager Larry Parrish said.

Parrish certainly understood, as did everyone in the Tiger organization. When he left, they told him to take as much time as he needed. They expected a transition to get back, even if Bonine wasn't quite prepared for it.

To Bonine, this is like a sanctuary for him, a place to help him cope.

"It's still tough, but I feel for my wife, my step-dad, who maybe don't have as much to come back to," Bonine said. "I've had a group of teammates to be around, to provide some sense of normalcy."

Slowly but surely, that normalcy is returning. After entering July with an 0-4 record on the season with the Hens, he has quality starts in each of his last three outings. He pitched an eight-inning gem Sunday at Buffalo, scattering two runs over eight innings.

"It may have taken him this long to mentally get back," Parrish said.

He's back, but his mind will always be on his mom. He still wears the glove with the embroidered pink ribbon that Nike provided him. He has written "MOM" on the bottom of the bill of his cap. Fittingly, his next start here Friday will be on the day that the Mud Hens wear pink jerseys in support of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

"Hopefully," Bonine said, "they can help somebody."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Glad to see Eddie is doing better now.

Tigers option Bonine to Toledo
BECK'S BLOG
Posted on August 18, 2009 at 3:32 PM

The Tigers decided to go a pitcher short in the bullpen for a little while to make room for Aubrey Huff. Detroit optioned Eddie Bonine to Triple-A Toledo. We'll see how they cope.

Well, we didn't use him all that much...