2025 Classic Baseball Era Committee Candidate: John Donaldson

The next article is a part of a sequence regarding the 2025 Traditional Baseball Period Committee poll, protecting long-retired gamers, managers, executives, and umpires whose candidacies will probably be voted upon on December 8. For an introduction to the poll, see right here, and for an introduction to JAWS, see right here. A number of profiles on this sequence are tailored from work beforehand revealed at SI.com, Baseball Prospectus, and Futility Infielder. All WAR figures confer with the Baseball-Reference model except in any other case indicated.

“If [John] Donaldson had been a white man or if the unwritten legislation of baseball didn’t bar Negroes from the most important leagues, I’d give $50,000 for him and assume I used to be getting a cut price.” — John McGraw, quoted in numerous newspapers, 1915

The profession totals are staggering — 428 wins, 5,295 strikeouts, 14 no-hitters, and two good video games over a span of 33 years — they usually’ve all been documented by a community of researchers unearthing main sources. However solely a fraction of these are on Seamheads, and a fair smaller fraction on Baseball Reference, protecting his time within the main Negro Leagues. John Donaldson is an enigma. He could have been the best Black baseball pitcher of all time.

A 6-foot-1, 180-pound left-hander who had pace, a large assortment of curveballs, and a very good changeup, Donaldson spent the years from 1908–40 carving out a singular profession in Black baseball. He barnstormed earlier than the most important Negro Leagues had been in place, dominating the competitors, spent 5 seasons (1920-24) with the Kansas Metropolis Monarchs (whom he’s stated to have named) of the primary Negro Nationwide League, primarily as an outfielder quite than a pitcher, after which spent over a decade and a half persevering with his barnstorming odyssey on built-in and Black semiprofessional groups.

Donaldson “drew a blueprint on the way to generate profits in baseball exterior of the most important leagues that Satchel Paige adopted 20 years later,” wrote SABR biographer Brian Flaspohler. “He confirmed Satchel the way in which,” wrote Buck O’Neil. “The actual fact is there are numerous individuals who noticed them each who say John Donaldson was simply pretty much as good as Satchel.”

Corridor of Famer J.L. Wilkinson, who signed Donaldson for his World’s All Nations barnstorming membership and later based the Monarchs, for whom Donaldson and Paige each pitched, stated, “Paige is a superb pitcher, all proper… however Donaldson had extra stuff. There by no means was a pitcher, black or white, who may put extra on the ball than Donaldson.” Main league managers reminiscent of McGraw, Frank Likelihood, and Hughie Jennings coveted him, as did White Sox proprietor Charles Comiskey.

Painstakingly gathered by the Donaldson Community, a diligent group of over 500 researchers led by SABR member Peter Gorton, Donaldson’s profession totals are exceptional, however they’re usually waved off. In The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Leagues, James A. Riley famous that Donaldson spent his prime “enjoying in opposition to white semi-pro ballclubs of doubtful high quality, leading to each inflated statistics and fragmentary data.” Thus, it’s exhausting to straight evaluate Donaldson’s physique of labor in opposition to the likes of Paige, Smokey Joe Williams, Bullet Rogan, Willie Foster, and Dick Redding. Even so, he’s repeatedly positioned within the pantheon alongside these hurlers by the individuals who noticed him.

Donaldson was born on February 20, 1891, in Glasgow, Missouri, a river city the place lynch mobs had been all too frequent. His father labored on the native stone quarry, whereas his mom raised him and his 4 youthful siblings. Blessed with a powerful arm, he pitched for his all-Black Evans grade faculty staff, however by highschool he was enjoying for beginner groups in one other city, primarily the Hannaca Blues, an all-Black staff owned by the city’s mayor, Will Hannaca. He spent a 12 months at George R. Smith Faculty in Sedalia, Missouri, the alma mater of ragtime composer Scott Joplin.

Donaldson started his skilled profession in 1911, enjoying for a staff referred to as Brown’s Tennessee Minstrels (and informally referred to as the Rats); the staff would play a day sport after which placed on minstrel exhibits within the night. In over 60 video games that 12 months in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska, he went 44-3, his staff 184-17. “The Rats have a slab artist on their employees who if he had a coat of white wash could be enjoying huge league ball,” wrote the Ackley Inter-County Journal (Iowa). “He’s actually a chocolate coloured marvel along with his slants.”

In 1912, Wilkinson, a semipro ballplayer from Algona, Iowa, shaped the multiethnic World’s All Nations, and signed Donaldson, who would pitch each third sport and play the outfield for the opposite two. The staff traveled by non-public Pullman automotive, carrying their very own transportable bleachers and gasoline-powered lights. From 1912 to ’15, Donaldson struck out greater than 400 hitters a 12 months, with superhuman performances — 27 in a 12-inning one-hitter in Marshall, Minnesota, in 1913; 22 in a one-hitter in Storm Lake, Iowa, in ’14; 30 in an 18-inning 1-0 loss in Sioux Falls in ’15 — seemingly routine. In 1913 and ’14, he had scoreless innings streaks of 100 innings. In 1915, he tossed 30 consecutive hitless innings. He pitched seven documented no-hitters from 1912-17, the interval when he was at his finest when it comes to uncooked capability. He additionally pitched for different groups, most notably the Los Angeles White Sox, a Black staff competing in opposition to each Black and white groups within the California Winter League within the winter of 1916-1917.

Seamheads has solely a small trickle of knowledge from this era, by which I imply knowledge reconstructed utilizing field scores from video games in opposition to different main Black groups, and moreover audited and balanced. For 1917, he’s credited with a 3-4 report in seven begins and one reduction look totaling 60 innings, with 45 strikeouts and a 1.95 ERA; he additionally hit .260/.362/.300 in 60 PA based on this knowledge.

The All Nations staff was worthwhile, however in June 1917, with the navy draft looming, Wilkinson referred to as it quits. Donaldson continued as supervisor, assembly as most of the staff’s earlier commitments as he may. When he married Eleanor Watson in November of that 12 months, the Kansas Metropolis Solar introduced, “The Race’s Biggest Base Ball Pitcher and one in all its most charming younger ladies to be married.” The couple remained collectively for 53 years; they by no means had kids.

Donaldson started navy service and did a tour of obligation with the 365th Infantry in France in 1918. He additionally pitched briefly for the Indianapolis ABCs, a staff that featured Corridor of Famers Oscar Charleston (middle fielder) and Ben Taylor (first baseman), earlier than heading east and becoming a member of the Brooklyn Royal Giants, the place he was teammates with Redding and Corridor of Famers John Henry Lloyd (supervisor and shortstop) and Louis Santop (catcher). Seamheads credit Donaldson with a 7-6 report and a 2.13 ERA with 57 strikeouts in 114 1/3 innings with the 2 groups. Donaldson spent 1919 with the Rube Foster-organized Detroit Stars, going 5-5 with a 2.33 ERA in 85 innings based on Seamheads; in these two seasons, he accomplished 20 of twenty-two begins.

In 1920, when Foster based the primary Negro Nationwide League, the 29-year-old Donaldson reunited with Wilkinson, the founder and proprietor of the Monarchs. He went 6-6 with a 3.78 ERA (94 ERA+) and 54 strikeouts in 95 1/3 innings, and hit .294/.335/.403 (120 OPS+) with 5 homers and 10 steals in 330 PA, with 63 video games as a middle fielder. Primarily based upon the accessible knowledge, he was much less profitable on each side of the ball in 1921, hitting for an 88 OPS+ and getting knocked for a 4.97 ERA in 41 2/3 innings; it’s believed he was affected by harm or arm fatigue, however that hasn’t been documented.

In 1922, Donaldson continued to play the outfield for the Monarchs and hit .337/.384/.478 in 103 PA. He didn’t pitch for them, however served as pitcher and supervisor for a reconstituted, all-Black All Nations staff. It was extra worthwhile for the pitcher and the proprietor for him to work exterior the league than inside it, because the NNL’s groups had a revenue-sharing settlement. The association, which helped the Monarchs make paydays, additionally served as a expertise pipeline. Donaldson continued on this highway in 1923, enjoying solely a handful of video games for the Monarchs.

Donaldson left the Monarchs previous to their first league sport in 1924 and joined the Bertha Fishermen, an built-in semipro staff from central Minnesota, comparatively near his spouse’s household within the Twin Cities. Keen to place their city on the map, the native enterprise leaders of Bertha had spent three years saving up cash to afford his $325 per thirty days wage, which was greater than the Negro Leaguers had been making. For Donaldson, the enchantment was getting off the highway; as a substitute of enjoying seven video games per week in numerous cities, he may now play three or 4 video games per week with restricted journey. He often employed himself out to pitch for different groups, which may draw huge numbers by selling his presence. In accordance with Gorton, he went 20-3 with a 1.11 ERA and 320 strikeouts in 212 innings for Bertha in 1924, and 18-5 with a 1.60 ERA and 244 strikeouts in 202 2/3 innings in ’25.

Remarkably, there exists a 39-second snippet of footage of Donaldson pitching in 1925. It was taken by a person named W.T. Oxley utilizing a Kodak Mannequin 16-mm digicam and exhibits Donaldson throwing three pitches to one of many 18 batters he struck out that afternoon.

Donaldson continued within the barnstorming vein, spending 1926 primarily with the Lismore (Minnesota) Gophers, returning to Bertha once more in ’27, and pitching for Melrose (Minnesota) in ’28, the Coloured Home of David in ’29, and St. Cloud, Minnesota, in ’30. His wage grew, topping $450 per thirty days in 1926, and later reaching $750 per thirty days.

The 40-year-old Donaldson made a short return to the Monarchs in 1931, enjoying the outfield as they barnstormed by means of the Midwest. However he was hardly finished with pitching, not to mention barnstorming. He spent the Nineteen Thirties pitching for Black semipro groups together with the Chicago Giants (to not be confused with the NNL’s Chicago American Giants), and pitched competitively as late as ’40, when he was 49.

In 1932, Donaldson opened up in describing his profession and the exhausting highway he traveled. As quoted within the Ironwood Day by day Globe (Michigan), June 10, 1932:

I’m not ashamed of my colour. There is no such thing as a girl whom I like greater than my mom, I’m mild sufficient in order that baseball males informed me earlier than I turned recognized that I could possibly be handed off as a Cuban. One outstanding baseball man actually supplied me a pleasant sum [$10,000 in 1917] if I’d go to Cuba, change my title and let him take me into this nation as a Cuban. It could have meant renouncing my household. One of many agreements was that I used to be by no means once more to go to my mom or to have something to do with coloured folks. I refused. I’m clear morally and bodily. I’m going to my church and contribute my share. I maintain my physique and thoughts clear. And but once I go on the market to play baseball it’s not uncommon to listen to some fan cry out: ‘Hit the soiled n*****.’ That hurts. For I’ve no recourse. I get paid, I suppose, to take that. However why ought to followers turn out to be private? If I act the a part of a gentleman, am I not entitled to just a little respect?”

In 1949, the Chicago White Sox employed Donaldson to scout, making him the primary Black scout employed by a serious league staff, or at the very least the primary brazenly acknowledged one. He established relationships with traditionally Black schools and universities, and signed at the very least 13 gamers, together with Negro League veterans Sam Hairston, Bob Boyd, and Connie Johnson. Hairston turned the primary Black American participant to play for the White Sox in 1951 (Minnie Miñoso had built-in the staff earlier that 12 months), and although he performed solely 5 video games for them, his two sons (Jerry and John) and two grandsons (Jerry Hairston Jr. and Scott Hairston) made for a powerful legacy. Boyd and Johnson each spent a number of seasons with the White Sox and Orioles. However Donaldson couldn’t curiosity the White Sox in Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, or Ernie Banks, the final of whom signed with the crosstown Cubs. In accordance with O’Neil, Donaldson informed the White Sox, “If you happen to don’t need good gamers, I don’t need your job.”

Donaldson left the group in 1955, and later labored for the U.S. Submit Workplace. He died from bronchial pneumonia on April 14, 1970, and was buried in an unmarked grave. In 2004, the Negro League Baseball Grave Marker Mission positioned a gravestone donated by the White Sox on his grave. “A person earlier than his time,” reads the inscription.

Lots of Donaldson’s friends have considered him as an all-time nice, as do many historians. In accordance with Steven R. Greenes, the creator of Negro Leaguers and the Corridor of Fame: The Case for Inducting 24 Missed Ballplayers, Corridor of Famers Lloyd, Invoice Foster, Monte Irvin, and Ben Taylor are amongst those that included Donaldson on their all-time groups. Historian Robert Peterson, whose 1970 e-book Solely the Ball Was White helped to jump-start curiosity in Negro Leagues baseball, included Donaldson as a first-teamer alongside Corridor of Famer Smokey Joe Williams on his all-time staff. Invoice James positioned Donaldson and Williams as Black baseball’s two finest pitchers for the 1914-16 interval. John B. Holway, creator of The Full E-book of Baseball’s Negro Leagues, awarded him his George Stovey award as Black baseball’s finest pitcher for 1916. The oft-cited 1952 Pittsburgh Courier consultants ballot of 31 Negro League gamers, managers, executives, and writers acknowledged him as a first-team pitcher alongside Williams, Paige, Rogan, and Foster, all of whom are Corridor of Famers.

Consideration for the Corridor eluded Donaldson till 2006, when the Particular Committee on the Negro Leagues included him on its 94-candidate preliminary poll and its 39-candidate last one. Like a number of different candidates who ended up alongside him on the 2022 Early Baseball Period Committee poll (O’Neil, Grant “Dwelling Run” Johnson, Redding, and George “Tubby” Scales), he was not among the many 17 elected regardless of non-voting chairman Fay Vincent telling the New York Occasions’ Murray Chass that he believed Donaldson could be elected. Committee member James Overmeyer informed him that Donaldson’s choice to go away the Negro Leagues and return to semipro ball was a significant factor mentioned earlier than he was voted upon, based on Greenes, who identified that the info on the time confirmed Donaldson solely with 146 documented wins and a pair of,245 strikeouts.

Whereas these numbers have greater than doubled due to the Donaldson Community, they’re bulked up by his semipro video games. In accordance with a desk on the finish of Gorton’s article “John Donaldson: Restoring the Legacy of Segregated Baseball’s Biggest Pitcher,” collected within the 2020 e-book The Negro Leagues Have been Main Leagues: Historians Reappraise Black Baseball (edited by Todd Peterson), 362 of Donaldson’s 408 wins (now as much as 428) got here whereas enjoying for semipro or city groups, and likewise for 4,456 of his strikeouts. His numbers in opposition to main league and even minor league competitors are unremarkable, although it’s price remembering, as Gorton factors out, that his teammates had been additionally semipro. His physique of labor in opposition to Negro Leagues groups and pre-Negro Leagues Black groups (what Gorton calls “huge time black groups”), whereas robust, is restricted; Gorton’s knowledge has over 60% extra innings credited to the latter group than Seamheads does, however it’s nonetheless simply 14% of the overall knowledge collected:

“He was dominating quite a lot of farmers, let’s face it,” Gorton informed MLB.com in 2020. “However you must keep in mind, that is what segregation was. Segregation was push ’em out and get ’em out as far-off as attainable, and that meant some unusual and out-of-the-way locations the place there weren’t Main Leaguers.”

Donaldson was one in all seven Negro Leagues or Black baseball stars included on the 2022 Early Baseball Period Committee poll, from which O’Neil and pioneer Bud Fowler had been elected, with the previous receiving 87.5% of the vote from the 16-member committee, the latter 75%. The 2 next-highest vote recipients, Vic Harris (62.5%) and Donaldson (50%) are the 2 on this poll, which covers a wider time vary (pre-1980 as a substitute of pre-1950) and but accommodates fewer candidates (eight as a substitute of 10).

For as robust as it could be to judge Donaldson’s precise efficiency, to those eyes the load of the proof and the assessments of his friends and historians counsel that he’s worthy of enshrinement on the idea of his pioneering, in serving to to put the groundwork as a barnstormer — “for displaying the way in which,” to make use of O’Neil’s time period. Just like the careers of Fowler and O’Neil himself, Donaldson’s path was a singular one, and appreciating his accomplishments within the midst of the hardships he confronted requires greedy a breadth that goes past simply the efficiency knowledge. He left an enormous mark upon the sport, one which his contemporaries grasped lengthy earlier than the remainder of the baseball world.

Voting for the Corridor of Fame doesn’t occur in a vacuum; every candidate is in competitors with seven others for one of many three treasured spots on every voter’s poll. Having now analyzed and reviewed the circumstances of all eight candidates, I’m a agency sure, with out reservations, on two, particularly Dick Allen and Harris. I’m a agency no on two others, Steve Garvey and Dave Parker. Regardless of being in favor of Ken Boyer’s election, his minimal assist on previous ballots on this format has led me to bypass him this time round. I’ve spent weeks wrestling with a selection between the late Luis Tiant, who has stronger statistical credentials than up to date Tommy John, whose function because the guinea pig in probably the most well-known sports activities drugs process of all time needs to be price one thing that closes the hole between the 2, at the very least to some extent. And into this combine now could be Donaldson.

Although a digital train, this isn’t a straightforward selection, significantly as a result of the comparability isn’t a easy apples-to-apples one even for the 2 contemporaries, and since we’re not simply evaluating performances as soon as we broaden to judge Donaldson. I went into this course of believing that I’d emerge with a poll that included Tiant, however whereas I feel he’s worthy of enshrinement — and significantly chafed that it couldn’t occur earlier than his dying in October — each he and John hail from an period that has already despatched loads of pitchers to Cooperstown (not all the time the correct ones), and that has been pored over endlessly. I’ve by no means been a very agency believer in John’s case on a efficiency foundation, and I’m nonetheless unsure the credit score on a pioneering foundation is his alone to assert as a substitute of being shared with Dr. Frank Jobe. That Donaldson’s case is so completely different from each, and has gotten a lot much less publicity on this context, is compelling. Ultimately, as a result of I feel the Corridor is overdue for the admission of a number of further Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues Black baseball candidates, I’m selecting Donaldson as a step in the correct route. I feel his probabilities for election hinge upon how a lot Negro Leagues and Black baseball experience the committee members have, and whereas I’m not tremendously optimistic, I’m holding out hope.