Ten years ago, Rasheed Wallace said it best about a certain segment of pro athletes: "Long as someone CTC, I'm with 'em. And for those of you don't know what CTC means, it's 'Cut the check.'"

Ahh, the romance of professional sports.

Bobby Bonilla with the Mets in 1999.

In that vein, I enjoyed this blog post by Matt Snyder of cbssports.com's Major League Baseball crew. It's July and time to celebrate the legacy that is MLB's all-time greats. And who better to embody that legacy than a guy who hasn't really played since he helped take down the Pirates' ship two decades ago?



Bobby Bonilla is best known as the Pittsburgh Pirate who best approximated 'Sheed in both his temperament and sheer love of the game and everyone around it. What a gentle spirit he was.

The guys at cbssports.com including associate artist Jarod Valentin assembled a virtual Bonilla bobblehead as a septuagenarian on a walker receiving his annual check of a smidge under $1.2 million from the Mets in 2035. That's right, Bonilla got paid that much yesterday and will get paid that much every July 1 until he's 72.

It's one of the worst contracts ever signed by a club -- and best ever by an overrated player. It was actually written by the Marlins in 1996 and then passed along until the Mets obtained Bonilla in 1999. After he hit .160 that year, the club apparently decided it was better to just get rid of him rather than have him hanging around the clubhouse, picking fights. (Remember "Make ya move."? Another misty watercolor memory of '90s baseball. I'm getting a little Ken Burnsey here, I'm sorry.)

Anyway, that's how the Mets got stuck paying the tab. Rather than pay him $5.9 million right then, they decided on a deferred payment plan of more than four times that amount spread over the years 2011-2035. Hey, I guess it seemed a long way off in 2000. Hilariously, he remains the Mets' highest paid outfielder. But I can't think of a better club to CTC.

DAVID JONES: djones@pennlive.com.