Patsy Donovan

Patsy Donovan
Patsy Donovan
Runs batted in	738
Stolen bases	518
Managerial record	684–879
Teams
	As player Boston Beaneaters (1890); Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1890); Louisville Colonels (1891); Washington Statesmen / Senators (NL) (1891–1892); Pittsburgh Pirates (1892–1899); St. Louis Cardinals (1900–1903); Washington Senators (AL) (1904); Brooklyn Superbas (1906–1907); As manager Pittsburgh Pirates (1897, 1899); St. Louis Cardinals (1901–1903); Washington Senators (1904); Brooklyn Superbas (1906–1908); Boston Red Sox (1910–1911);
Career highlights and awards
	NL stolen base leader (1900);

Patrick Joseph Donovan (March 16, 1865 – December 25, 1953) was an Irish born right fielder and manager in Major League Baseball who played for several teams from 1890 to 1907, most notably the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He batted .301 lifetime and set a major league record for career games in right field, as well as retiring among the career leaders in total games (5th, 1813), assists (9th, 264) and double plays (5th, 69) as an outfielder. Donovan batted and threw left-handed.

Early years

Born in Queenstown, County Cork, Donovan established himself as the most successful Irish-born major leaguer. He broke into organized baseball in 1886 with the Lawrence, Massachusetts team in the New England League.

Minor league career

In 1888 and 1889, Donovan played outfield for the London Tecumsehs of the International Association at Tecumseh Park (today's Labatt Park) in London, Ontario, Canada, where, in his first season in 1888, he led the league in batting with a .359 batting average (according to the Donovan family Web site; however, the London Tecumsehs' official scorer C. J. Moorehead, in a 1903 copy of The London Advertiser, cited Donovan's 1888 batting average as .398), had 201 hits, scored 103 runs and stole 80 bases. His second season with the Tecumsehs was less successful due to a leg injury.

Major league career

In 1890 he made his major league debut in the

Washington Statesmen; he then returned to the NL in 1892

, first with the Senators (the former Statesmen, who had joined the NL in a league merger) before going to the Pirates for most of the year.

Donovan starred with the Pirates from

player-manager in 1897 and 1899. The team was sold late in 1899, during a time when the league was contracting from twelve teams to eight; new owner Barney Dreyfuss brought in Fred Clarke to be manager, with Donovan being sent to the Cardinals. He played for St. Louis from 1900–1903, sharing the league lead in stolen bases

(45) in his first season, also managing the team in his last three seasons with them.

By the end of the 1903 season he ranked among the NL's top ten career leaders in hits and

Washington Senators

in 1904, his last season as a regular.

In 1903, he broke

Brooklyn Superbas, and made his last few playing appearances that year, along with one more game at the end of the 1907

season.

In a 17-season playing career, Donovan had 2256 hits, 1321 runs, 16 home runs and 738 runs batted in in 1824 games, along with 208 doubles and 75 triples. Donovan collected 302 stolen bases from 1890 to 1897, and 216 more after the statistic was revised to its modern definition in 1898.

Post-playing career

Donovan joined the

Baltimore orphans' home. Later he went to the International League, where he led Buffalo to pennants in 1915 and 1916

, and also managed Jersey City in 1921–22 and 1925–26.

In 1929 and 1930, Donovan managed the Orleans town team in the Cape Cod Baseball League. In 1930 one of his charges at Orleans was future New York Yankees legend Red Rolfe.^[1]^[2]^[3]

In a 1930 old-timers' game at

Christmas Day

1953, and is interred at St. Mary Cemetery in Lawrence.

Honors

In the Irish Baseball League, the annual award for best batter is named "The Patsy Donovan Batting Champion Award".

Managerial record

Team	Year	Regular season					Postseason
Team	Year	Games	Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
PIT	1897	131	60	71	.458	8th in NL	–	–	–	–
PIT	1899	127	69	58	.543	7th in NL	–	–	–	–
PIT total		258	129	129	.500		0	0	–
STL	1901	140	76	64	.543	4th in NL	–	–	–	–
STL	1902	134	56	78	.418	6th in NL	–	–	–	–
STL	1903	137	43	94	.314	8th in NL	–	–	–	–
STL total		411	175	236	.426		0	0	–
WSH	1904	134	37	97	.276	8th in AL	–	–	–	–
WSH total		134	37	97	.276		0	0	–
BKN	1906	152	66	86	.434	5th in NL	–	–	–	–
BKN	1907	148	65	83	.439	5th in NL	–	–	–	–
BKN	1908	154	53	101	.344	7th in NL	–	–	–	–
BKN total		454	184	270	.405		0	0	–
BOS	1910	153	81	72	.529	4th in AL	–	–	–	–
BOS	1911	153	78	75	.510	5th in AL	–	–	–	–
BOS total		306	159	147	.520		0	0	–
Total		1563	684	879	.438		0	0	–

References

James Reaney, "Patsy Donovan is remembered for a stellar season with the Tecumsehs" The London Free Press, August 13, 2006
Baseball Star! by Brian Sheehy, Lawrence History News, Spring 2003

^ Cort Vitty. "Red Rolfe". sabr.org. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
^ "Patsy Donovan, Former Brave, Orleans Manager". Hyannis Patriot. Hyannis, MA. August 1, 1929. p. 1.
^ "Judge Otis Heads League". Yarmouth Register. Yarmouth, MA. May 3, 1930. p. 6.
^ "Boston University".

External links

Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
The Donovan family Web site Archived 2006-08-06 at the Wayback Machine
Patsy Donovan - Baseballbiography.com
Baseball Almanac
obituary The Deadball Era
Baseball Ireland
Brooklyn Baseball Club, 1907 season photo

[1] Cort Vitty. "Red Rolfe". sabr.org. Retrieved August 30, 2019.

[2] "Patsy Donovan, Former Brave, Orleans Manager". Hyannis Patriot. Hyannis, MA. August 1, 1929. p. 1.

[3] "Judge Otis Heads League". Yarmouth Register. Yarmouth, MA. May 3, 1930. p. 6.

[4] "Boston University".

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