An outfielder and first baseman, he played the last five seasons of his 11-year professional career after being diagnosed with leukemia while serving as a private first class in the United States Army[1][2] in 1962.

Bond died of the disease in the closing weeks of the 1967 baseball season — a year during which he had made the Twins' roster coming out of spring training.

The native of Denmark, Tennessee, attended Lane College; he stood 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) tall and weighed 228 pounds (103 kg), threw right-handed and batted left-handed.

The following year, Bond held onto his starting job, but his production slumped with the team's move into the Astrodome; some teammates later speculated that his leukemia had recurred that season, affecting his play.

[1] Sent to the Twins just before the 1966 season, he returned to Triple-A and batted .316 with 18 home runs in 122 games for the Denver Bears, earning an invitation to spring training for 1967.