James Thomas Donohue (October 31, 1937 – September 9, 2017) was a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

who played for 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 of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

and

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

during and .Pitching Splits and Daily Pitching Logs a
Retrosheet.org
an
Baseball-Reference.com
A right-hander and native of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, he was listed as tall and . Donohue attended

Rockhurst University Rockhurst University is a private Jesuit university in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 as Rockhurst College, Rockhurst University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. It enrolled 2,980 students in 2019. History In 1909, Fr. ...

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

and the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

Career

Minor leagues

Donohue was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals before the 1956 season and assigned to the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

Class D

Gainesville G-Men Gainesville G-Men were a professional minor league baseball team, based in Gainesville, Florida, that played in the then Class D Florida State League. The team won league championships in 1937, 1938 and 1947. The club folded on June 1, 1952, du ...

of the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

. In his first full professional season, he posted a 5–6

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

with a 2.08

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

in 95

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. He received a late-season call to join the AAA Omaha club in October, but did not play. For the 1957 season, Donohue was promoted to the

Winnipeg Goldeyes The Winnipeg Goldeyes are a minor-league baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Goldeyes play in the American Association of Professional Baseball, which they joined in 2011. Previously, the Goldeyes were members of the Norther ...

of the Class C Northern League. He appeared in more games and pitched 141 innings to attain a 7–7 record, but his ERA more than doubled, ballooning to a 4.34 while having a very high mark for

Walks plus hits per inning pitched In baseball statistics, walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) is a sabermetric measurement of the number of baserunners a pitcher has allowed per inning pitched. WHIP is calculated by adding the number of walks and hits allowed and dividi ...

(WHIP) at 1.589. The Cardinals invited Donohue to

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

for spring training in February 1958. He was later optioned to the Class A

York White Roses The York White Roses was the name of a minor league baseball team in the city of York, Pennsylvania, US, that existed from 1894–1969. History Early years The York White Roses began as members of the short-lived Keystone Association in 1884. ...

of the Eastern League. He got off to a very hot start in his 14 games with the team, putting up a perfect 7–0 record with a 1.48 ERA in 10 starts. The exceptional play earned him a mid-season advancement to the Class AA

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

Houston Buffaloes The Houston Buffaloes, Houston Buffalos, or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team, and were the first minor league team to be affiliated with a Major League Baseball, Major League franchise, which was the St. Louis Cardinals. The clu ...

. Donohue started in prime fashion in his first game, throwing a complete game two-hit shutout against Dallas on June 26. He came across some bad luck a few weeks later, however, as he was out for a week after being hit on July 14 by a line drive on his ankle. Overall at Houston he compiled a 3–7 record with a 4.50 ERA and 89

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s in 82 innings of work. After his most successful season yet, Donohue was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals to participate in the Florida West Coast Winter Instructional League. Donohue started the 1959 season in Triple-A with the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

Omaha Cardinals The Omaha Cardinals were a minor league baseball team based in Omaha, Nebraska, from 1947 through 1959. They played in the Class A Western League through 1954 and in the Triple-A American Association from 1955 to 1959 as an affiliate of their m ...

. He pulled double duty as a starter and reliever, starting 18 games and playing the relief role in 16. He put down a 2.43 ERA with 87 strikeouts and a 3–7 record in 132 innings. He also received some brief play around May with the

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Field ...

, striking out 10 in 9 innings. In mid-June 1960, in the midst of a second campaign with Rochester, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers' organization, and finished the campaign with

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, one of the Dodgers' three Triple-A affiliates. That off-season he was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the Rule 5 draft, opening the door for his major league career.

Major leagues

As a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

in 1961, Donohue worked in 14 early-season games, all in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

, splitting two decisions and earning a save. But on June 7, 1961, the pennant-contending Tigers swapped him to the Los Angeles Angels, then in their first season as an

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

, for veteran

Jerry Casale Jerry Joseph Casale (September 27, 1933 – February 9, 2019) was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three teams between 1958 and 1962. Listed at , 200 lb., he batted and threw right-handed. Early life Casale was ...

. The Angels increased Donohue's workload, getting him into 38 games, including seven starts, with Donohue posting a 4–6 won–lost record, with five more saves. He then began 1962 with the Angels, working in a dozen games (11 of them in relief) until, on May 29, he was traded for a veteran hurler yet again, this time in exchange for the Minnesota Twins' Don Lee. But Donohue was ineffective in six appearances in a Minnesota uniform, losing his only decision and allowing eight

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an err ...

s in 10 innings pitched. After his final Twins' outing, on June 22 against the Angels, he was sent to Triple-A

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. He pitched in the high minors in the Twins' organization through 1964 before leaving baseball. In his 70 major league games, which included nine starts, Donohue posted a 6–8 career record with an

of 4.29. He had no

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s and seven saves. In 155

, he permitted 152 hits and 82

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, with 116

s. Jim Donohue died September 9, 2017, at age 79 in St. Louis.James Donohue Obituary
/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donohue, Jim 1937 births 2017 deaths Atlanta Crackers players Baseball players from Minnesota Baseball players from St. Louis Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Dallas Rangers players Detroit Tigers players Gainesville G-Men players Houston Buffaloes players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball pitchers Minnesota Twins players Omaha Cardinals players Rochester Red Wings players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Winnipeg Goldeyes players York White Roses players