View source for Patsy Donovan

{{Short description|Irish baseball player and manager (1865–1953)}}
{{For|the football player|Pat Donovan}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Patsy Donovan
|position=[[Right fielder]] / [[Manager (baseball)|Manager]]
|image=Patsy Donovan 1910.jpg
|caption=Donovan in 1910
|bats=Left
|throws=Left
|birth_date={{Birth date|1865|3|16}}
|birth_place=[[Queenstown, Ireland]]
|death_date={{death date and age|1953|12|25|1865|3|16}}
|death_place=[[Lawrence, Massachusetts]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate= April 19 
|debutyear= 1890
|debutteam= Boston Beaneaters
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate= October 5
|finalyear= 1907
|finalteam= Brooklyn Superbas
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.301
|stat2label=[[Hit (baseball)|Hits]]
|stat2value=2,256
|stat3label=[[Home run]]s
|stat3value=16
|stat4label=[[Runs batted in]]
|stat4value=738
|stat5label=[[Stolen base]]s
|stat5value=518
|stat6label=Managerial record
|stat6value=684–879
|teams=
;As player
* [[Boston Beaneaters]] ({{Baseball year|1890}})
* [[Brooklyn Bridegrooms]] ({{Baseball year|1890}})
* [[Louisville Colonels]] ({{Baseball year|1891}})
* [[Washington Senators (1891–99)|Washington Statesmen / Senators (NL)]] ({{Baseball year|1891}}–{{Baseball year|1892}})
* [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] ({{Baseball year|1892}}–{{Baseball year|1899}})
* [[St. Louis Cardinals]] ({{Baseball year|1900}}–{{Baseball year|1903}})
* [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators (AL)]] ({{Baseball year|1904}})
* [[Brooklyn Superbas]] ({{Baseball year|1906}}–{{Baseball year|1907}})
;As manager
* [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] ({{Baseball year|1897}}, {{Baseball year|1899}})
* [[St. Louis Cardinals]] ({{Baseball year|1901}}–{{Baseball year|1903}})
* [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] ({{Baseball year|1904}})
* [[Brooklyn Superbas]] ({{Baseball year|1906}}–{{Baseball year|1908}})
* [[Boston Red Sox]] ({{Baseball year|1910}}–{{Baseball year|1911}})
|highlights=
*[[List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders|NL stolen base leader]] (1900)
}}
'''Patrick Joseph Donovan''' (March 16, 1865 – December 25, 1953) was an Irish born [[right fielder]] and [[manager (baseball)|manager]] in [[Major League Baseball]] who played for several teams from {{Baseball year|1890}} to {{Baseball year|1907}}, most notably the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]].

He [[batting average (baseball)|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), [[assist (baseball)|assists]] (9th, 264) and [[double play]]s (5th, 69) as an outfielder. Donovan batted and threw left-handed.

==Early years==
Born in [[Cobh|Queenstown]], [[County Cork]], Donovan established himself as the most successful Irish-born major leaguer. He broke into organized baseball in {{Baseball year|1886}} with the [[Lawrence, Massachusetts]] team in the [[New England League]].

==Minor league career==
In {{Baseball year|1888}} and {{Baseball year|1889}}, Donovan played outfield for the [[London Tecumsehs]] of the [[International Association for Professional Base Ball Players|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 [[hit (baseball)|hits]], scored 103 [[run (baseball)|runs]] and [[stolen base|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 [[National League (baseball)|National League]] (NL) with the [[Boston Beaneaters]], and moved to the [[Brooklyn Bridegrooms]] in midseason; it would be the only time in his career he played for a league champion.

In {{Baseball year|1891}} he played in the [[American Association (19th century)|American Association]] (AA) for the [[Louisville Colonels]] and [[Washington Statesmen (1891)|Washington Statesmen]]; he then returned to the NL in {{Baseball year|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 {{Baseball year|1893}} through {{Baseball year|1899}}, notching six consecutive seasons batting .300 and serving as [[player-manager]] in {{Baseball year|1897}} and {{Baseball year|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 {{Baseball year|1900}}&ndash;{{Baseball year|1903}}, sharing the league lead in [[stolen base]]s (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 [[at bat]]s, though he would drop from among the leaders before his playing career ended. His 64 career [[double play]]s in the NL ranked one behind [[Jimmy Ryan (baseball)|Jimmy Ryan]]'s league record. He then served as player-manager for the [[American League]]'s [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] in 1904, his last season as a regular.

In 1903, he broke [[Sam Thompson (outfielder)|Sam 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. In {{Baseball year|1906}}, he became manager of the [[Brooklyn Superbas]], and made his last few playing appearances that year, along with one more game at the end of the {{Baseball year|1907}} season.

In a 17-season playing career, Donovan had 2256 hits, 1321 runs, 16 [[home run]]s and 738 [[run batted in|runs batted in]] in 1824 [[games played|games]], along with 208 [[double (baseball)|doubles]] and 75 [[triple (baseball)|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 [[Boston Red Sox]] as a [[scout (sport)|scout]] in {{Baseball year|1909}}, and managed the team in {{Baseball year|1910}} and {{Baseball year|1911}}. As a major league manager, he compiled a 684–879 record (.438) in 11 seasons. He was also instrumental in bringing [[Babe Ruth]] to the Sox in {{Baseball year|1914}} through his acquaintance with one of the [[Xaverian Brothers]] who [[coach (baseball)|coached]] Ruth at a [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]] orphans' home. Later he went to the [[International League]], where he led Buffalo to pennants in {{Baseball year|1915}} and {{Baseball year|1916}}, and also managed Jersey City in 1921–22 and 1925–26.

In 1929 and 1930, Donovan managed the [[Orleans Firebirds|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]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Cort Vitty |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/f388510d |title=Red Rolfe |publisher=sabr.org |access-date=August 30, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = Patsy Donovan, Former Brave, Orleans Manager | pages = 1 | newspaper = Hyannis Patriot | location = Hyannis, MA | date = August 1, 1929 | url = http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/APA/Yarmouth/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=HYP%2F1929%2F08%2F01&id=Ar00104&sk=2ED3FC17&viewMode=image }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = Judge Otis Heads League | pages = 6 | newspaper = Yarmouth Register | location = Yarmouth, MA | date = May 3, 1930 | url = http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/APA/Yarmouth/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=SYR%2F1930%2F05%2F03&id=Ar00611&sk=D9EDC632&viewMode=image }}</ref>

In a 1930 old-timers' game at [[Braves Field]] in Boston, Donovan had a [[Pinch hitter|pinch hit]] single, at the age of 65.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://admin.goterriers.com/sports/2016/6/13/braves-nickerson-100-moments-html.aspx|title=Boston University}}</ref> He finished out his career coaching High School baseball at [[Phillips Academy]] in Andover, where he coached the future 41st President, [[George H. W. Bush]]. Donovan died at the age of 88 in [[Lawrence, Massachusetts]], on [[Christmas Day]] 1953, and is interred at St. Mary Cemetery in Lawrence.

==Honors==
In the [[Irish Baseball League#Other awards|Irish 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.

==Managerial record==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="5"|Regular season !! colspan="4"|Postseason
|-
!Games!!Won!!Lost!!Win %!!Finish!! Won !! Lost !! Win % !! Result
|-
|-
![[1897 Pittsburgh Pirates season|PIT]]|| {{mlby|1897}}
||131||60||71||{{Winning percentage|60|71}}|| 8th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1899 Pittsburgh Pirates season|PIT]]|| {{mlby|1899}}
||127||69||58||{{Winning percentage|69|58}}|| 7th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|PIT total || 258 || 129 || 129 || {{Winning percentage|129|129}} || || 0 || 0 || – ||
|-
![[1901 St. Louis Cardinals season|STL]]|| {{mlby|1901}}
||140||76||64||{{Winning percentage|76|64}}|| 4th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1902 St. Louis Cardinals season|STL]]|| {{mlby|1902}}
||134||56||78||{{Winning percentage|56|78}}|| 6th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1903 St. Louis Cardinals season|STL]]|| {{mlby|1903}}
||137||43||94||{{Winning percentage|43|94}}|| 8th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|STL total || 411 || 175 || 236 || {{Winning percentage|175|236}} || || 0 || 0 || – ||
|-
![[1904 Washington Senators season|WSH]]|| {{mlby|1904}}
||134||37||97||{{Winning percentage|37|97}}|| 8th in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|WSH total || 134 || 37 || 97 || {{Winning percentage|37|97}} || || 0 || 0 || – ||
|-
![[1906 Brooklyn Superbas season|BKN]]|| {{mlby|1906}}
||152||66||86||{{Winning percentage|66|86}}|| 5th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1907 Brooklyn Superbas season|BKN]]|| {{mlby|1907}}
||148||65||83||{{Winning percentage|65|83}}|| 5th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1908 Brooklyn Superbas season|BKN]]|| {{mlby|1908}}
||154||53||101||{{Winning percentage|53|101}}|| 7th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|BKN total || 454 || 184 || 270 || {{Winning percentage|184|270}} || || 0 || 0 || – ||
|-
![[1910 Boston Red Sox season|BOS]]|| {{mlby|1910}}
||153||81||72||{{Winning percentage|81|72}}|| 4th in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1911 Boston Red Sox season|BOS]]|| {{mlby|1911}}
||153||78||75||{{Winning percentage|78|75}}|| 5th in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|BOS total || 306 || 159 || 147 || {{Winning percentage|159|147}} || || 0 || 0 || – ||
|-
! colspan="2"|Total || 1563 || 684 || 879 || {{Winning percentage|684|879}} || || 0 || 0 || – || 
|}

==See also==
*[[List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball player-managers]]
*[[List of players from Ireland in Major League Baseball]]

==References==
*James Reaney, [http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/Columnists/Reaney_James/2006/08/13/1752190-sun.htm "Patsy Donovan is remembered for a stellar season with the Tecumsehs"] ''The London Free Press'', August 13, 2006
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060517024535/http://www.lawrencehistorycenter.org/lawrencestories/Spr03news.pdf ''Baseball Star!'' by Brian Sheehy, ''Lawrence History News'', Spring 2003]
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
{{baseballstats|br=d/donovpa01|brm=donova001pat}}

{{1890 Brooklyn Bridegrooms}}
{{NL stolen base champions}}
{{Pittsburgh Pirates managers}}
{{St. Louis Cardinals managers}}
{{TwinsManagers}}
{{Los Angeles Dodgers managers}}
{{Boston Red Sox managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, Patsy}}
[[Category:1865 births]]
[[Category:1953 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century baseball players]]
[[Category:Baseball managers]]
[[Category:Boston Beaneaters players]]
[[Category:Boston Red Sox managers]]
[[Category:Brooklyn Bridegrooms players]]
[[Category:Brooklyn Superbas managers]]
[[Category:Brooklyn Superbas players]]
[[Category:Buffalo Bisons (minor league) managers]]
[[Category:Cape Cod Baseball League coaches]]
[[Category:Irish emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball players from Ireland]]
[[Category:Irish baseball players]]
[[Category:Louisville Colonels players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball right fielders]]
[[Category:Minor league baseball managers]]
[[Category:National League stolen base champions]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Cobh]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Lawrence, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh Pirates managers]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh Pirates players]]
[[Category:St. Louis Cardinals managers]]
[[Category:St. Louis Cardinals players]]
[[Category:Washington Senators (1901–1960) managers]]
[[Category:Washington Senators (1891–1899) players]]
[[Category:Washington Senators (1901–1960) players]]
[[Category:Washington Statesmen players]]
[[Category:Lawrence (minor league baseball) players]]
[[Category:Salem (minor league baseball) players]]
[[Category:London Tecumsehs (baseball) players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball player-managers]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from County Cork]]
[[Category:Attleboro Burros players]]
[[Category:Boston Red Sox scouts]]