John McDonald (infielder)

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John McDonald

McDonald during the 2013 World Series victory parade
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Infielder
Born: (1974-09-24) September 24, 1974
New London, Connecticut
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 4, 1999 for the Cleveland Indians
Career statistics
(through 2013 season)
Batting average .235
Hits 555
Home runs 28
Runs batted in 205
Runs scored 272
Teams

Career highlights and awards

John Joseph McDonald (born September 24, 1974) is an American professional baseball infielder in the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim organization. Primarily a shortstop, he is also a utility infielder, with the ability to also play second base, third base and (in 2009 and 2010) left field. He also appeared in one extra inning game in 2013 as an emergency pitcher. Known for his defensive ability, he has a career fielding percentage of .972 as of the end of the 2013 season. The highlight of his career to the end of the 2013 season was winning a World Series championship with the Boston Red Sox, although he did not play in any post-season games.

Since leaving the Blue Jays in 2011, McDonald has played with 7 different MLB teams.

High School & College

McDonald graduated from East Lyme High School in East Lyme, Connecticut. When he was not drafted by any major league baseball team in his initial draft year, he attended University of Connecticut Avery Point Campus,[1] where he was NJCAA Division II All-American in 1994 as shortstop. He went on to play at Providence College in 1995 and 1996 on a partial scholarship,[1] earning All-New England honors as a member of one of the last baseball teams before the college discontinued its baseball program. After he was drafted in 1996, he left Providence to pursue a career in professional baseball although he was still several courses short of earning a degree.

Professional career

Minor league career

McDonald was drafted in the 12th round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft (363rd overall) by the Cleveland Indians, and entered the Indians' minor league system. In 1996, he played for the Watertown Indians of the Single A New York-Pennsylvania League, then moved to the Kinston Indians of the Single A Carolina League in 1997.[2] In 1998, he was invited to the Indians' spring training camp, and moved up to the Akron Aeros of the Double A Eastern League, where his defensive plays at shortstop made him a popular player with the fans.[1] McDonald split 1999 between Akron and the Buffalo Bisons of the Triple A International League and was also called up to the major leagues for a short stint. McDonald also appeared in a number of games for the Indians in 2000 and 2001, spending the remainder of each season in Buffalo.

Cleveland Indians (1999–2004)

McDonald made his major league debut for Cleveland on July 4, 1999, and appeared in 18 games for the Indians that season. He appeared in 9 games for the Indians in 2000, another 17 games in 2001, and in 2002, he made his move to the Indians' roster, appearing in 93 games. The Indians, taking advantage of McDonald's popularity in Akron, used McDonald in promotions there to draw Aeros fans to Cleveland.[1]

After three full seasons with the Indians, McDonald was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays on December 2, 2004, in exchange for Tom Mastny. In his six full and partial seasons with Cleveland, McDonald batted .231, with a fielding average of .971.[2]

Toronto Blue Jays/Detroit Tigers (2005)

During the first part of the 2005 season with the Blue Jays, McDonald was primarily a backup for Russ Adams at shortstop, and recorded a .290 batting average in 37 games.

He was traded to the Detroit Tigers on July 22 for future considerations. During the remainder of the season with Detroit, McDonald hit .260 with a .308 on-base percentage in 31 games.

Toronto Blue Jays (2006–2011)

On November 10, 2005, the Tigers sent him back to the Toronto Blue Jays for cash considerations, in effect completing the earlier trade by trading John McDonald for himself. Only three other players have been traded for themselves in this manner (Harry Chiti, Dickie Noles, and Brad Gulden).[3]

During the 2006 season, McDonald was the starting shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays. On July 25, 2006, he hit his first career grand slam in a game against the Seattle Mariners and also drove a career high five runs. Although McDonald showed good defensive skills, his offensive hitting skills were weak—he had a .223 batting average, a .271 slugging percentage and a .308 on-base percentage during the 2006 season.

McDonald during his tenure with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2007 spring traning

In an attempt to inject some stronger hitting into the shortstop position, the Blue Jays obtained Royce Clayton in the off-season, and McDonald and Clayton started the 2007 season sharing shortstop duties. McDonald also started some games at third base as Troy Glaus's backup. Later in the season, after demonstrating his strong defensive abilities, McDonald replaced Clayton as the everyday starting shortstop, and Clayton was subsequently released. McDonald took the opportunity as starting shortstop to make some exceptional defensive plays (often in conjunction with fellow infielders Aaron Hill and Lyle Overbay). He was considered by some baseball writers to be a Gold Glove contender after leading AL shortstops with a .986 in fielding percentage. (Orlando Cabrera was subsequently chosen.) Due in large part to his defensive abilities, McDonald received a 2-year contract extension from the Blue Jays reportedly worth $3.8 million.

In a poll of viewers on Rogers Sportsnet, McDonald was voted the most popular Blue Jay, narrowly edging out Cy Young-winning pitcher Roy Halladay.[citation needed]

Despite his contract extension, McDonald again started another season, 2008 as the back-up shortstop due to the Blue Jays' off-season acquisition of all-star shortstop David Eckstein. However, when Eckstein was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks on August 31, McDonald once again became the starting shortstop.[citation needed]

At the start of the 2009 season, McDonald again found himself the back-up shortstop, this time behind newly acquired Marco Scutaro. However, McDonald once again became the starting shortstop when Scutaro was injured late in the season.[citation needed]

McDonald had a batting average of .258 in 2009. His slugging percentage of .271, on-base percentage of .384 and 4 home runs were career highs.

On November 25, 2009, the Blue Jays re-signed McDonald to a 2-year $3-million dollar contract.

In the 2010 season, McDonald again began as the back-up shortstop, this time behind Yunel Escobar. McDonald missed much of the month of June to spend time with his ailing father,[4] who would eventually pass away. McDonald returned to the lineup on June 20, Father's Day, hitting a home run in his first at-bat.[5] McDonald hit a career high 6 home runs, passing his previous season high of 4.

McDonald started the 2011 season as a non-starting utility bench player, able to enter the game as a pinch runner, or as a replacement infielder or left fielder. He also occasionally started as an infielder when the manager wants to give the regular starting player a day off. (For example, on July 1, 2011 he started at second base in order to give Aaron Hill a day off, but when shortstop Yunel Escobar left the game in the first inning after being hit by a pitch, McDonald moved to shortstop.)[6]

On April 22, 2011, McDonald came into a game against the Tampa Bay Rays to replace an injured Jayson Nix, and hit his first career walk-off home run, a 2-run homer in the 11th inning.[7]

On May 28, 2011, McDonald was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right groin. Mike McCoy was called up to take his place.[8] McDonald was activated from the DL on June 17, 2011.[9]

Nicknames as a Blue Jay

While in Toronto, McDonald was popularly known in the media and by Blue Jays fans as "Johnny Mac".[1] Due to some of his outstanding defensive plays, local media also dubbed him "Magic Man" (the title of a popular 1976 hit song by Canadian band Heart), and "The Prime Minister of Defence" (a word play on the similarly named first prime minister of Canada, John A. Macdonald).[10]

Arizona Diamondbacks (2011–2012)

On August 23, 2011, McDonald, was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks, along with teammate Aaron Hill, for Kelly Johnson. During his time in Arizona, McDonald served as the Diamondbacks' primary shortstop following the trade in 2011 but shared his duties with Willie Bloomquist and Stephen Drew in 2012.[11]

On November 2, 2011, the Diamondbacks re-signed McDonald to a 2-year $3-million dollar contract.[12]

Pittsburgh Pirates (2013)

On March 20, 2013, McDonald was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates.[13] McDonald was placed on the disabled list on May 15 with a low back strain.[14] On May 27, McDonald started a rehab assignment with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians.

Return to Cleveland Indians (2013)

On June 10, 2013, McDonald was traded to the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later or cash considerations.[15] On June 26, McDonald was designated for assignment when Asdrúbal Cabrera was activated from the disabled list.[16] McDonald was used as a defensive replacement during his short return to Cleveland, and was hitless in 7 at-bats.

Philadelphia Phillies (2013)

McDonald was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies on June 27, 2013, in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later.[17] On August 24, McDonald appeared as a pitcher for the first time in his career, and struck out Tuffy Gosewisch in his 1⁄3 of an inning.[18]

Boston Red Sox (2013)

On August 31, 2013, McDonald was traded to Boston Red Sox in exchange for minor league pitcher Nefi Ogando.[19] Because he was acquired before September 1, McDonald was eligible for post-season play and is counted as a member of the 2013 World Series winning team, but did not appear in any post-season games.

Los Angeles Angels (2014)

On January 16, 2014, McDonald signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Angels, with an invitation to attend their spring training camp to try out for a utility infielder position.[20]

Personal life

McDonald met his wife-to-be, Maura, in a freshman English class at Providence College in 1995. They have two children, Jacqueline and Anthony.[1]

When McDonald left Providence College in 1996, he was only six courses shy of earning his degree. Encouraged by his wife to complete his studies while still playing baseball, he enrolled in Providence College School of Continuing Education in 2006, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies in 2010. He was able to accept his degree from the college president on July 13, 2010, during the annual break for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.[21]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Zwolinksi, Mark (2011-07-06). "Johnny Mac: Jays' Other All-Star". Toronto Star (Toronto: Torstar). p. S1. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "John McDonald". Baseball-reference.com. 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2011-07-17. 
  3. ↑ Nicholson-Smith, Ben (2010-08-02). "John McDonald Rumors: Life After the Trade". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved 2011-07-17. 
  4. ↑ "Jays place McDonald on bereavement list; recall Wise". tsn.ca. Retrieved 12 Jan 2014. 
  5. ↑ "San Francisco Giants vs. Toronto Blue Jays - Box Score - June 20, 2010 - ESPN". scores.espn.go.com. Retrieved 12 Jan 2014. 
  6. ↑ John Lott (2011-07-01). "Crimson Jays lose a Heartbreaker". National Post. Retrieved 2011-07-01. 
  7. ↑ "McDonald Hits Two-Run Homerun as Blue Jays Down Rays". The Sports Network. 2011-04-22. Retrieved 2011-04-22. 
  8. ↑ "Jays place McDonald on DL". World News & Observer. 2011-05-28. Retrieved 2011-05-28. 
  9. ↑ "http://www.bluejaysandmore.com/2011/06/john-mcdonaldreturns-to-lineup.html". The Blue Jays and More. 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2011-06-17. 
  10. ↑ "2009 MLB Previews: AL East". Total Pro Sports. 2009-03-12. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
  11. ↑ "Diamondbacks acquire Aaron Hill and John McDonald to help offense". USA Today. August 23, 2011. 
  12. ↑ "McDonald agrees to 2-year, $3M US deal with Arizona". CBC News. November 2, 2011. 
  13. ↑ Snyder, Matt (March 20, 2013). "Diamondbacks trade John McDonald to Pirates". CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 20, 2013. 
  14. ↑ Brink, Bill (May 15, 2013). "Pirates put John McDonald on DL, recall Mercer from Indianapolis". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved May 15, 2013. 
  15. ↑ Hoynes, Paul (June 10, 2013). "Cleveland Indians acquire veteran middle infielder John McDonald from Pittsburgh". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved June 10, 2013. 
  16. ↑ "Indians reinstate Asdrubal Cabrera from DL". Fox Sports Ohio. June 26, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2013. 
  17. ↑ Dierkes, Tim (June 27, 2013). "Phillies Acquire John McDonald". Retrieved June 27, 2013. 
  18. ↑ "McDonald fans Gosewisch in 18th". MLB.com. August 24, 2013. Retrieved August 25, 2013. 
  19. ↑ Steen, Aaron (2013-08-31). "Red Sox Acquire John McDonald". MLB Trade Rumours. Retrieved 2013-08-31. 
  20. ↑ "John McDonald, Shortstop". RotoWorld. 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2014-01-16. 
  21. ↑ "Major League Baseball Player John McDonald Receives Degree from SCE". Providence College. 2010-07-19. Retrieved 2010-07-21. 

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