| Patsy Donovan | |
|---|---|
 Donovan in 1910 | |
| Right fielder /Manager | |
| Born:(1865-03-16)March 16, 1865 Queenstown, Ireland | |
| Died: December 25, 1953(1953-12-25) (aged 88) Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 19, 1890, for the Boston Beaneaters | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 5, 1907, for the Brooklyn Superbas | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .301 |
| Hits | 2,256 |
| Home runs | 16 |
| Runs batted in | 738 |
| Stolen bases | 518 |
| Managerial record | 684–879 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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Patrick Joseph Donovan (March 16, 1865 – December 25, 1953) was an Irish bornright fielder andmanager inMajor League Baseball who played for several teams from1890 to1907, most notably thePittsburgh Pirates.
Hebatted .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) anddouble plays (5th, 69) as an outfielder. Donovan batted and threw left-handed.
Born inQueenstown,County Cork, Donovan established himself as the most successful Irish-born major leaguer. He broke into organized baseball in1886 with theLawrence, Massachusetts team in theNew England League.
In1888 and1889, Donovan played outfield for theLondon Tecumsehs of theInternational Association at Tecumseh Park (today'sLabatt Park) inLondon, 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 ofThe London Advertiser, cited Donovan's 1888 batting average as .398), had 201hits, scored 103runs andstole 80 bases. His second season with the Tecumsehs was less successful due to a leg injury.
In 1890 he made his major league debut in theNational League (NL) with theBoston Beaneaters, and moved to theBrooklyn Bridegrooms in midseason; it would be the only time in his career he played for a league champion.
In1891 he played in theAmerican Association (AA) for theLouisville Colonels andWashington Statesmen; he then returned to the NL in1892, 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 from1893 through1899, notching six consecutive seasons batting .300 and serving asplayer-manager in1897 and1899. The team was sold late in 1899, during a time when the league was contracting from twelve teams to eight; new ownerBarney Dreyfuss brought inFred Clarke to be manager, with Donovan being sent to the Cardinals. He played for St. Louis from1900–1903, sharing the league lead instolen 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 andat bats, though he would drop from among the leaders before his playing career ended. His 64 careerdouble plays in the NL ranked one behindJimmy Ryan's league record. He then served as player-manager for theAmerican League'sWashington Senators in 1904, his last season as a regular.
In 1903, he brokeSam Thompson's major league record of 1401 games in right field; however,Willie Keeler passed him in 1906, before Donovan played his last several games and retired with a total of 1620. In1906, he became manager of theBrooklyn Superbas, and made his last few playing appearances that year, along with one more game at the end of the1907 season.
In a 17-season playing career, Donovan had 2256 hits, 1321 runs, 16home runs and 738runs batted in in 1824games, along with 208doubles and 75triples. Donovan collected 302 stolen bases from 1890 to 1897, and 216 more after the statistic was revised to its modern definition in 1898.
Donovan joined theBoston Red Sox as ascout in1909, and managed the team in1910 and1911. As a major league manager, he compiled a 684–879 record (.438) in 11 seasons. He was also instrumental in bringingBabe Ruth to the Sox in1914 through his acquaintance with one of theXaverian Brothers whocoached Ruth at aBaltimore orphans' home. Later he went to theInternational League, where he led Buffalo to pennants in1915 and1916, and also managed Jersey City in 1921–22 and 1925–26.
In 1929 and 1930, Donovan managed theOrleans town team in theCape Cod Baseball League. In 1930 one of his charges at Orleans was futureNew York Yankees legendRed Rolfe.[1][2][3]
In a 1930 old-timers' game atBraves Field in Boston, Donovan had apinch hit single, at the age of 65.[4] He finished out his career coaching High School baseball atPhillips Academy in Andover, where he coached the future 41st President,George H. W. Bush. Donovan died at the age of 88 inLawrence, Massachusetts, onChristmas Day 1953, and is interred at St. Mary Cemetery in Lawrence.
In theIrish Baseball League, the annual award for best batter is named "The Patsy Donovan Batting Champion Award". In 2023, Donovan was inducted into the "Irish American Hall of Fame" in Chicago, some seventy years after his death.
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | – | |||
