After claiming an Athletic Hall of Fame award as a member of the1964 MIAA champion football team, Bob Bonacci is earning anindividual induction to the Athletic Hall of Fame in recognition ofhis accomplishments on the baseball and football fields.
Bob played an integral role in the Britons’worst-to-first turnaround on the diamond. After finishing last inthe league in 1967 and getting off to a 2-10 start in 1968, theteam surged to a 9-3 record in league play, thanks to Bob’s.500 hitting which won him the MIAA’s batting title. Inaddition to being named the Britons’ most improved and mostvaluable player, Bob was rewarded with All-America, MIAA mostvaluable player, and all-league first-team awards.
“Bob was an excellent receiver, especially good atkeeping our pitching staff (including me) cool in toughsituations,” recalled Kirk Heinze, ’70. “Withouthis grace under pressure behind the plate and his torrid bat, wewould not have won the title.”
After graduating from Albion, Bob turned down a contractoffer from the Detroit Tigers to pursue a career teaching healthand physical education in the Detroit Public Schools where heworked for 33 years. He spent his summers as a baseball instructorfor the Detroit Parks and Recreation Department, and was selectedto be the Tigers’ bullpen catcher in 1981. He continued hisrelationship with the Tigers in 1998 when he started as theteam’s scoreboard operator, a position he continues tohold.
Bob has remained active in competitive athletics byserving as a varsity baseball umpire in southeastern Detroit. Hehas worked as an official at some of the state’s biggestevents, umpiring the East-West All-Star baseball game four times,and the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s baseballfinals twice. He has also served as a referee during theMHSAA’s football finals on two occasions.
Bob and his wife, Shari Beitelshees Bonacci, ’69,reside in Fraser. The couple has two daughters, Lori and Suzanne,and two sons, Michael and Jeffrey.
