Frederick Maurice Donovan (July 4, 1864 – March 7, 1916) was a professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

for the

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followe ...

in 1895."Fred Donovan Statistics and History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2011.

Career

Donovan was born in

Epping, New Hampshire Epping is a New England town, town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 7,125 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 6,411 at the 2010 census.United States Census ...

, in 1864. He started his professional baseball career in 1894 with the

New England League The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played intermittently in five of the six New England states (Vermont excepted) between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League B ...

's Bangor Millionaires."Fred Donovan Minor League Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2011. The following year, he played for the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

's Cleveland Spiders. In three games, he went 1 for 12 at the plate with 1

run batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

and 1

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an "inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults over ...

. That was the only time Donovan would appear in the major leagues. He returned to the New England League in 1896, played in the

Interstate League The Interstate League was the name of five different American minor baseball leagues that played intermittently from 1896 through 1952. Early leagues Earlier versions of the Interstate League, with years active: *1896–1901: an unclassified ...

from 1897 to 1899, and then went to the

New York State League The New York State League was an independent baseball league that played six seasons between 2007 and 2012 in New York State and the New York City metro area. Over 500 NYSL players have been signed by professional teams. Players from forty-eigh ...

until 1902. He was married to Sarah Criswell Fulkerson in 1897. In 1903, Donovan became the regular catcher for the

Bloomington Bloomers The Bloomington Bloomers were a minor League baseball franchise based in Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census showed the city h ...

of the

Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League The Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League was a Class B level Minor League Baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 seasons, with teams based in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymo ...

. He appeared in over 100 games each year from 1903 to 1905 and posted

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

s of .156, .228, and .236. In 1904, he set his career-high for

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

in a season, with 97. He then played for the Springfield Senators from 1907 to 1909. In 1911, he became a

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for the

Illinois–Missouri League The Illinois–Missouri League was an American minor league baseball league. The Class D (baseball), Class D league began operations in 1908, and continued through 1914 with teams located in Illinois and Missouri. The Lincoln Abes won consecutive ...

's Taylorville Christians. At the ages of 46 and 47, he played 63 games, batted .181, and managed Taylorville to a last-place finish. He also served as the first professional baseball manager of Hall of Famer

Ray Schalk Raymond William Schalk (August 12, 1892 – May 19, 1970) was an American professional baseball player, coach, manager and scout. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox for the majority of his career. Known for ...

.Cooper, Brian E. (2009).
Ray Schalk
'. McFarland. p. 13. Donovan's baseball career ended in 1912. He died in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...

, in 1916 and was buried in

Oak Ridge Cemetery Oak Ridge Cemetery is an American cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. The Lincoln Tomb, where Abraham Lincoln, his wife and all but one of their children lie, is there, as are the graves of other prominent Illinois figures. Opened in 1860, it ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, Fred 1864 births 1916 deaths Major League Baseball catchers Cleveland Spiders players 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from New Hampshire Minor league baseball managers Bangor Millionaires players Oil City Oilers players Fitchburg (minor league baseball) players New Castle Salamanders players Portland (minor league baseball) players New Castle Quakers players Grand Rapids Bob-o-links players Youngstown Puddlers players Youngstown Little Giants players Schenectady Electricians players Ilion Typewriters players Bloomington Bloomers players Springfield Senators players Clinton Champs players Taylorville Christians players