The Greatest Pitcher You've Never Heard Of

Tedw9 · March 28, 2011 6:57AM

Found this article and thought you all would enjoy it. Some great reading!

Greatest Pitcher You've Never Heard Of

BunchOBull · March 28, 2011 7:15AM

Great read; sounds like his scouting skills were pretty spot on as well.

zep33 · March 28, 2011 7:17AM

Great story!! Thanks for sharing

YogiBerraFan · March 28, 2011 7:18AM

Very cool

gemint · March 28, 2011 8:32AM

Nice. I assume no cards exist of him?

divecchia · March 28, 2011 9:33AM

Amazing story, thanks for sharing the link.

Donato

HoofHearted · March 28, 2011 9:43AM

A heart-warming story. Thanks!!

Probstein123 · March 28, 2011 10:37AM

great article...
thanks for sharing...

WinPitcher · March 28, 2011 10:56AM

Steve, thanks for sharing that.

gemmy, I believe he is in the negro league tribute set (1985-86)

I'd ask over at net 54 if he is in that same set that Josh Gibson is in (1954)?

Steve

scashaggy · March 28, 2011 11:49AM

Goo read.

judgebuck · March 28, 2011 12:44PM

Thanks for posting this.

cpamike · March 28, 2011 12:47PM

You are right, this is a great article indeed Steve. Thanks very much for bringing it to our attention!!!

scooperqpr · March 31, 2011 10:37AM

wow

lucasj · March 31, 2011 1:14PM

I am actually from Bertha, MN - population 500 - the town where Gorton found the original information at the historical society. I know we knew/were taught about Donaldson as kids and the legend went that he pitched many times in Bertha in the early 1900s. Its been years since I have heard the name, great story. Thank you for sharing.

Luke

cone10 · April 1, 2011 1:25AM

Gorton’s network discovered that Donaldson was the first fulltime black scout in baseball history when the White Sox hired him in 1949. When the White Sox learned that Donaldson had been one of their own, they paid $2,000 for the headstone.

Donaldson signed Negro Leaguer veterans Sam Hairston, Bob Boyd and Connie Johnson for the White Sox, but he couldn’t get the front office to commit to signing Birmingham Black Barons outfielder Willie Mays in 1950. Donaldson also knew about Henry Aaron and Ernie Banks when they were rookie Negro Leaguers, but couldn’t get the White Sox to let him sign younger black players. Frustrated, he resigned, and worked for the Post Office until his death in Chicago in 1970.

Can you imagine if Mays, Aaron or Banks would of signed with the White Sox!

Great article

The Greatest Pitcher You've Never Heard Of

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