Josh Donaldson

Early life

Donaldson was born in Pensacola, Florida, and raised by his mother, Lisa French, while his father, Levon Donaldson, was imprisoned for most of his childhood after a 1992 sentencing for sexual battery, false imprisonment, and aggravated battery. At 18 months old, he appeared on local television demonstrating a golf swing. He grew up an Atlanta Braves fan. Donaldson attended Pace High School in Florida for his sophomore year, then moved to Faith Academy in Alabama, where he played football, basketball, and baseball. As a senior, he was Alabama Gatorade Player of the Year, batting .515 and leading Faith Academy to a state title. He set school single-season records in hits (55), triples (6), doubles (21), and RBIs (54), and in football recorded 11 interceptions in one season.

College career

Josh Donaldson played college ball at Auburn University, splitting time between catcher and third base for the Tigers. As a freshman in 2005, he started 39 games at the hot corner, batting .294 with seven homers while picking up the catching position. The next season he hit .276 and led the squad with ten home runs, throwing out 15 of 38 would-be base stealers and notching seven pickoffs. During the 2006 summer, he suited up for the Harwich Mariners in the Cape Cod Baseball League, earning an All-Star nod with a .302 average. In 2007, he was named a Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American.

Professional career

The Chicago Cubs selected Donaldson in the first round (48th overall) of the 2007 MLB draft as a catcher. In his first minor league season, he batted a combined .335 with nine home runs and 25 RBIs across 53 games for the Rookie Arizona League Cubs and Short Season-A Boise Hawks. In July 2008, the Cubs traded him to the Oakland Athletics as part of a deal for Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin. He played for the Advanced-A Stockton Ports, batting .330 with nine home runs and 39 RBIs, then spent the 2009 season with the Double-A Midland RockHounds, hitting .270 with nine home runs and 91 RBIs.

Donaldson made his MLB debut on April 30, 2010, as a pinch hitter, and recorded his first hit the next day, a two-run home run off Toronto's Dana Eveland. He converted to third base during spring training in 2012 and became the Athletics' everyday third baseman, though he was sent to Triple-A Sacramento for much of that season before being recalled in mid-August. He finished 2012 with nine home runs, 33 RBIs, and a .241 average. After the 2014 season, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays.

In 2015 he was named an All-Star starter with the most fan votes, won the AL MVP and Silver Slugger Award, and led the league in RBIs and runs scored. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians in August 2018, signed with the Atlanta Braves for 2019, signed a four-year deal with the Minnesota Twins in January 2020, was traded to the New York Yankees in March 2022, was released by the Yankees in August 2023, and finished the 2023 season with the Milwaukee Brewers before retiring in March 2024.

Personal life

Donaldson's father watched him play in person for the first time on September 13, 2013, against the Texas Rangers; Donaldson walked twice, hit a home run, and doubled in a 9–8 Athletics win. An avid golfer, he appeared on the Golf Channel in 2014 and hit a ball an estimated 309 yards in a simulator. A fan of the History channel series Vikings, he guest-starred in its fourth season as "Hoskuld." His nickname "The Bringer of Rain" came from an episode of Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Donaldson and his fiancée, Briana Miller, had a daughter in November 2020 and married in January 2024.