Bill Bonham

Reliever Bonham was converted to starting midway through 1973, and the following season his 22 losses tied for the league lead despite his 7.07 strikeouts-per-nine-innings, third best in the NL. Plagued by wildness and playing for bad Cubs teams, he improved his record only marginally. On July 31, 1974, he struck out four batters in one inning; that season, his eight balks tied what was then the ML record. On August 5, 1975, he set a ML record when he allowed seven consecutive hits to start the game. A trade to the Reds for the 1978 season (for Woodie Fryman and Bill Caudill) turned his career around, and he finally had a winning season as a starter (11-5, 3.54). He contributed a 9-7 record to the 1979 Reds’ division championship.