- Darnell McDonald
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Darnell McDonald Boston Red Sox — No. 54 Outfielder Born: November 17, 1978 Bats: Right Throws: Right MLB debut April 30, 2004 for the Baltimore Orioles Career statistics
(through 2011 season)Batting average .252 Runs batted in 69 Home runs 17 Teams - Baltimore Orioles (2004)
- Minnesota Twins (2007)
- Cincinnati Reds (2009)
- Boston Red Sox (2010–present)
Darnell Tyrone McDonald (born November 17, 1978 in Fort Collins, Colorado) is an American professional baseball outfielder with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball.
Contents
Professional career
In 1997, McDonald was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles 26th overall in the first round in the amateur entry draft. He began his professional career with Single-A Frederick, but after four games and two stolen bases there, he moved to Single-A Delmarva. In 134 games with Delmarva, he stole 35 bases and hit .261. His 35 stolen bases were a professional career high for him. He stayed with Single-A Frederick for the entire 1999 season, and in 130 games, he stole 26 bases and hit .266. He earned a promotion to Double-A Bowie in 2000, with whom he hit .242 in 116 games, and stealing 11 bases.
In 2001, McDonald played in Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Rochester, where he hit .238 and stole 13 bases in 104 games. He began the 2002 season with Bowie again and hit .292 and stole 9 bases in 37 games. He was again promoted to AAA Rochester, where he hit .289. In 2007, he was traded to the Minnesota Twins and re-united with the Red Wings.
He spent his entire 2003 season with the Ottawa Lynx, who were the Orioles Triple-A team. He played 40 games that year, and hit .296. McDonald's 2004 season was subpar, he hit only .234 with Ottawa. It led to a promotion to the Baltimore Orioles, and while with them, McDonald hit .156 in 32 at bats (17 games).
On January 26, 2005, McDonald was signed by the Cleveland Indians to a minor league contract. He played 26 games with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, and then went over to the Devil Rays Triple-A team, the Durham Bulls.
On 5 June 2005, McDonald was suspended for violating the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.[1]
On June 24, 2007, McDonald was sent to the Minnesota Twins by the Washington Nationals in order for the Nationals to keep Rule 5 draft pick Levale Speigner. Speigner was then outrighted to Triple A Columbus by the Nationals.
On July 20, 2007, McDonald was called up to the Twins when Michael Cuddyer was placed on the disabled list. He became a free agent at the end of the 2008 season and signed with the Cincinnati Reds in December.
On April 6, 2009, he made the opening day roster for the Cincinnati Reds. On August 30, 2009, he hit his first major league home run against the Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.
In 2010, he joined the Boston Red Sox organization. In April, McDonald's contract was purchased by the major-league club from Triple-A Pawtucket after Jacoby Ellsbury went on the disabled list. On April 20, 2010, McDonald pinch hit in the bottom of the 8th inning with the Red Sox against the Texas Rangers, and hit a game tying home run. He became the 9th player to hit a home run for the Red Sox in his first Red Sox at bat. He was only the third person ever to pinch hit for the Red Sox and have his first hit be a home run. His home run over the Green Monster tied the game at 6-6 in the eighth, and in the bottom of the ninth, he added a game winning hit off the Green Monster to lead the Red Sox to a walk-off win against the Rangers, 7–6. He also became the first ever member of the Red Sox to collect a game-ending RBI in his debut with the club, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.[2] He also threw out a runner and hit his second home run as a Red Sox in only his second game.
Prior to joining Boston, McDonald had two home runs in 147 major league at-bats. He hit 9 homers in his first season with the Red Sox. McDonald made the opening day roster for the Red Sox in 2011, and served as utility outfielder.
Honors and awards
- In 1996, he was a First Team High School All-American.
- In 1997, he was a First Team High School All-American and the Baseball America High School Player of the Year.
- In 2008, McDonald was selected to represent the International League in the Triple-A All-Star Game.
Personal
His brother is former outfielder Donzell McDonald and his cousin is Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher James McDonald.[3]
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ Boston Globe – A star is born in stunning Red Sox win
- ^ Darnell McDonald, Baseball Reference
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube
Gatorade High School Baseball Player of the Year Award 1986: Sheffield | 1987: Banks | 1988: Lewis | 1989: Jackson | 1990: Van Poppel | 1991: Barber | 1992: Hinch | 1993: Rodriguez | 1994: Million | 1995: Hutchinson | 1996: White | 1997: McDonald | 1998: Henson | 1999: Garbe | 2000: Stokes | 2001: Kotchman | 2002: Greinke | 2003: Lubanski | 2004: Rogers | 2005: Upton | 2006: Kershaw | 2007: Porcello | 2008: Skipworth | 2009: Hobgood | 2010: Cowart | 2011: BundyBaltimore Orioles first-round draft picks 1965: McDonald | 1966: Parks | 1967: Grich | 1968: Kennedy | 1969: Hood | 1970: West | 1971: Stein | 1972: Thomas | 1973: Parrott | 1974: Dauer | 1975: Ford | 1976: D. Williams | 1977: Hazewood | 1978: Boyce | 1979: No first round pick | 1980: J. Williams | 1981: No first round pick | 1982: Kucharski | 1983: Wilson | 1984: Hoover | 1985: No first round pick | 1986: No first round pick | 1987: Myers, DuVall, Harnisch | 1988: Olson, Gutiérrez | 1989: B. McDonald | 1990: Mussina | 1991: M. Smith | 1992: Hammonds | 1993: Powell | 1994: No first round pick | 1995: Shepherd | 1996: No first round pick | 1997: Werth, D. McDonald, Ndungidi | 1998: Elder, Tucker | 1999: Paradis, Stahl, Bigbie, Reed, Cenate, Rice, Roberts | 2000: Hale, Johnson | 2001: C. Smith, Fontenot, Bass | 2002: Loewen | 2003: Markakis | 2004: Townsend | 2005: Snyder, Olson | 2006: Rowell, Beato | 2007: Wieters | 2008: Matusz | 2009: Hobgood | 2010: Machado | 2011: BundyBoston Red Sox current roster Active roster 2 Jacoby Ellsbury | 10 Marco Scutaro | 11 Clay Buchholz | 12 Jed Lowrie | 13 Carl Crawford | 15 Dustin Pedroia | 16 Josh Reddick | 18 Daisuke Matsuzaka | 19 Josh Beckett | 20 Kevin Youkilis | 28 Adrian Gonzalez | 30 Andrew Miller | 31 Jon Lester | 32 Matt Albers | 33 Jason Varitek | 36 Conor Jackson | 39 Jarrod Saltalamacchia | 41 John Lackey | 46 Franklin Morales | 48 Scott Atchison | 49 Tim Wakefield | 51 Daniel Bard | 52 Bobby Jenks | 53 Rich Hill | 54 Darnell McDonald | 56 Trever Miller | 60 Ryan Lavarnway | 61 Félix Doubront | 62 Lars Anderson | 63 Junichi Tazawa | 64 Michael Bowden | 70 Kyle Weiland | 74 Stolmy Pimentel | 76 José Iglesias | 84 Óscar Tejeda | 91 Alfredo Aceves | -- Luis Exposito | -- Ryan Kalish
Coaching Staff Manager -- Vacant | Bench Coach 22 DeMarlo Hale | 1st Base Coach 50 Ron Johnson | 3rd Base Coach 17 Tim Bogar | Hitting Coach 29 Dave Magadan | Pitching Coach -- Vacant | Bullpen Coach 57 Gary Tuck
Categories:- 1978 births
- Living people
- Baltimore Orioles players
- Minnesota Twins players
- Cincinnati Reds players
- Boston Red Sox players
- African American baseball players
- American sportspeople in doping cases
- Baseball players from Colorado
- Baseball players suspended for drug offenses
- Major League Baseball outfielders
- People from Fort Collins, Colorado
- Delmarva Shorebirds players
- Frederick Keys players
- Bowie Baysox players
- Rochester Red Wings players
- Ottawa Lynx players
- Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players
- Durham Bulls players
- Columbus Clippers players
- Louisville Bats players
- Pawtucket Red Sox players
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