Jay Buhner

Jay Buhner, nicknamed 'Bone', plays for the Seattle Mariners baseball club. He played 32 games with the New York Yankees before becoming one of Seattle's best loved players in 1988. During the 2000 season he hit his 300th homerun, an event I was happily present for. He was also the first Seattle Mariner to hit for the cycle (during the 1996 season).

Jay Buhner is well known in Seattle for his shaved head. As a promotion, the Seattle Mariners instated "Buhner Buzz Night" where anyone with a shaved head was admitted for free. In 1996, 3000 people took advantage of the night, including a 72 year-old woman.

In my opinion, Jay Buhner is a great baseball player and a really nice guy in a sport that always seems to be lacking them.

Buhner (pronounced "bYOU-ner") was one of many star prospects my beloved Yankees dealt away in the '80s for essentially nothing (in this case, a journeyman named Ken Phelps). Since then, he's hit many of his longest homeruns on trips to Yankee Stadium.

His hitting for the cycle was particularly noteworthy in that Buhner was never known for his speed (only 19 triples in his career through 2000; and a mere 6 stolen bases), so the triple part was harder to achieve than it would be for someone like Ken Griffey Jr.

Buhner's known for his long homeruns, but also his tendency to strikeout (1397 in 4968 career at-bats through 2000). He's also never been a very good contact hitter as he's never hit above .280 in a season.

His fielding has vastly improved since early in his career, leading Buhner to a Gold Glove Award in 1996.