Donnie Sadler
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| Donnie Sadler | |
| Utility — Arizona Diamondbacks — No. NA | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Place of Birth | Date of Birth |
| Gohlson, Texas | June 17, 1975 |
| Height | Weight |
| 5'6" | 175lb |
| College | 2006 Salary |
| NA | NA |
| MLB debut | |
|---|---|
| April 1, 1998 for the Boston Red Sox | |
| Drafted | |
| 1994 amateur draft, 299th pick in the 11th round, by the Boston Red Sox | |
Donnie Lamont Sadler (Born: June 17, 1975 in Gohlson, Texas) is the cousin of Ray Sadler and also a right handed Major League Baseball utility player currently in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. An alumnus of Valley Mills High School in Valley Mills, Texas (where he was an all-state shortstop), Sadler is small in stature, standing at only 5'6" tall and weighing 175 pounds.
Drafted 229th overall by the Boston Red Sox in 1994, Sadler quickly displayed impressive speed in the minor leagues. From 1994 to 1996, for example, he averaged nearly 36 steals per season, while playing in an average of only 95 games each year. He earned a spot on the Midwest League All-Star team in 1995 because he not only stole 41 bases, he batted a respectable .283 with nine home runs and 55 RBI.
Donnie Sadler made his big league debut at the age of 23 in the second game of the 1998 season, April 1st. Although Sadlers' Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 2-0 that game, he really didn't help out much: he went 0 for 3 at the plate.
After starting the season without collecting a single hit in his first 11 at-bats, he was quickly sent down and did not see any Major League action until July of that year. The first hit of his career was quite impressive-it came in his second game after being recalled from Pawtucket in July-off of pitcher Jason Bere on July 3, he smacked a triple in the sixth inning. Although he finished the game one for five, he did help the Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox 15 to 2-he scored one of the Red Sox many runs in that game.
The rest of his career would see him bouncing up and down between the minors and Majors, spending only one season in the Majors for the entire year: 2001.
He has been involved in a couple noteworthy transactions in his career. The first occurred on November 16, 2000, when he and Michael Coleman were sent to the Cincinnati Reds for Chris Stynes. The second came on June 20, 2001, when the Reds traded Sadler to the Kansas City Royals for minor league pitcher Cary Ammons.
So far, his career batting average is only .202, and he hasn't shown the speed he displayed in the minors-the highest total of stolen bases he has had in a season is seven. Oddly, of the six home runs he has hit in his career, three of them came in the first 124 at-bats of his career. He has hit only three more in 643 at-bats since.
His postseason batting average is .500-he has collected one hit (a double) in two at-bats.
His career fielding percentage is .967. Overall, he is most statistically similar to Sammy Esposito. He has spent five professional seasons with Michael Coleman, Brian Barkley, Jared Fernandez and Brian Rose-longer than any other teammates.
