John Augustine Donahue (July 13, 1879 – July 19, 1913) was an American 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 ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

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 ...

. 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 ...

(MLB) with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

, Milwaukee Brewers / St. Louis Browns,

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

and Washington Senators between 1900 and 1909. He batted and threw left-handed.

Career

Donahue first played professionally in 1897, for teams minor-league teams located in

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in Ohio County, West Virginia, Ohio and Marshall County, West Virginia, Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The county seat of Ohio County, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mo ...

, and

Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in Washington County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in Appalachian Ohio, southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum River, Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia ...

. He played at the Class B level through 1900, primarily in the Interstate League. JiggsDonahue

Donahue first played in the major leagues in 1900, appearing in three games for the

, while also playing in the minor leagues in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

. In 1901, Donahue split time between the Minneapolis Millers, a Class A minor-league team, the Pirates of 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 ...

(2 games), and the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

in the debut season of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

(37 games). The Brewers relocated after the season, becoming the St. Louis Browns, whom Donahue played 30 games for in 1902, while also playing in 40 games for the minor-league

of the American Association. He spent 1903 exclusively playing for the minor-league Brewers, recording a .342

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 ...

in 123 games. Records of the era, while incomplete, show Donahue played as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

, and

before 1903; in 1903 and later, he exclusively played as a first baseman. Donahue had his greatest success from 1904 to 1908, with the

. His defensive skills were a key to the team's 1906 championship, and he led American League first basemen in

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

, assists, and putouts for three consecutive seasons, from 1905 to 1907. In 1907, Donahue had 1,846 putouts, which remains the single-seasons record for most putouts by any major-league player at any position. Donahue also holds the major-league single-season record for range factor, averaging 12.65 chances accepted per game in 1907. Though known mostly for his fielding, Donahue was also an effective hitter from 1905 to 1907. In 1905, he was among the American League leaders in batting average (.287),

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

(.346),

runs 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 ...

(RBIs) (76), and

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s (32). In 1906, Donahue was among the league leaders in stolen bases (36) and

sacrifice hit In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, a ...

s (36), and was one of only three White Sox starters to bat over .250 for that season's major-league champions, nicknamed the "Hitless Wonders." In 1907, Donahue led the league in games played (157) and

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s (609) and was among the leaders in hits (158) and RBIs (68). In the 1906 World Series, Donahue hit for a .278 average (5-for-18) with 2 doubles, 1 triple and 4 RBIs. In Game 2 on October 10, Donahue broke up a no-hit bid by Cubs pitcher

Ed Reulbach Edward Marvin "Big Ed" Reulbach (December 1, 1882 – July 17, 1961) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball. He helped the Chicago Cubs win the 1907 and 1908 World Series. Career Reulbach played college baseball at the University ...

with a single in the seventh inning, the only hit of the game by a member of the White Sox. Against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

on May 31, 1908, Donahue recorded 21 putouts in a nine-inning game; one short of the major-league record. Donahue's final major-league season was 1909, when he played two games for the White Sox and 84 games with the Washington Senators, batting .233 for the season. In a nine-season major-league career, Donahue played in 813 games with 731 hits, 319 runs scored, 327 RBIs, 143 stolen bases, 90 doubles, 31 triples, 4

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, and a .255 batting average. After not playing in 1910, Donahue served as

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 ...

of the minor-league Galveston Sand Crabs for part of the 1911 season, while also playing in 14 games for the team. He was also manager of the minor-league

Cleburne Railroaders The Cleburne Railroaders are a professional baseball team based in Cleburne, Texas, that plays in the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball. The team, which began play in 2017, plays i ...

for part of the season.

Personal life

Donahue was born in 1879 in

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in Clark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in southwestern Ohio along the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, about west of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and northeast of ...

. A younger brother, Pat Donahue, was a major-league catcher during 1908–1910. Another younger brother, Frank, played in the minor leagues during 1905–1912. Donahue and his wife, Alice, who married in August 1905, were divorced in December 1911; they were living in

Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County, Arkansas, Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs ...

, at the time of their divorce. News reports in July 1912 stated that Donahue had been moved to a "state hospital for the insane" after suffering from "a nervous trouble",

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

. He died in July 1913 at age 34; his passing was front-page news in his hometown of Springfield.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donahue, Jiggs 1913 deaths 1879 births Baseball players from Springfield, Ohio 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Major League Baseball first basemen Pittsburgh Pirates players Milwaukee Brewers (1901) players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Chicago White Sox players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Minor league baseball managers Wheeling Nailers (baseball) players Dayton Old Soldiers players Grand Rapids Cabinet Makers players Dayton Veterans players Wheeling Stogies players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Galveston Sand Crabs players Deaths from syphilis