Jason Donald (baseball)

Early life

Donald attended Buchanan High School in Clovis, California, where his father is the coach of the baseball team. He played college baseball for the University of Arizona.

Philadelphia Phillies

Donald was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the third round (97th overall pick) of the 2006 MLB draft. He was originally drafted by the Anaheim Angels in the 20th round of the 2003 MLB draft directly from high school, but chose not to sign.

Donald was selected and participated in several All-Star games during the course of the 2008 season including the Eastern League All-Star game, and the premier event for minor leaguers, the MLB All-Star Futures Game (which in 2008 was played at Yankee Stadium).

In 2009, Donald played nine games with the Gulf Coast League Phillies, going 6 for 26 (.231) before being assigned to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs of the International League. While with the Pigs, Jason had a .236 batting average with one home run over the course of 51 games.

On July 29, 2009, the Phillies traded Donald, along with Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, and Jason Knapp to the Cleveland Indians for Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco.

Cleveland Indians

On May 18, 2010, replacing injured Cleveland Indians shortstop Asdrúbal Cabrera, Donald played against the Tampa Bay Rays and recorded his first major league hit on his first plate appearance. In his second at bat, he singled to right field against Rays starter David Price to begin his major league career 2-for-2. He then walked in his third at bat.

On June 2, 2010, Donald hit a ball to Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera that should have been the final out of a perfect game. When Cabrera tossed the ball to Armando Galarraga who was covering at first, umpire Jim Joyce incorrectly called Donald safe, thus nullifying Galarraga's perfect game. Donald was ultimately credited with an infield single, and Galarraga finished the game, recording a 1-hit shutout. After the game, Joyce made a statement regarding the call, "I took a perfect game away from that kid. I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay." When asked about the play, Donald said, "I didn't know if I beat the throw or not. But given the circumstances, I thought for sure I'd be called out."

Cincinnati Reds

On December 11, 2012, Donald was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in a three-team deal that also involved the Arizona Diamondbacks. Shin-Soo Choo went with Donald to Cincinnati. Cleveland acquired Drew Stubbs from the Reds and Trevor Bauer, Matt Albers and Bryan Shaw from the Diamondbacks. Arizona received Lars Anderson and Tony Sipp from the Indians and Didi Gregorius from the Reds.

Kansas City Royals

Donald signed a minor league deal with the Kansas City Royals on December 28, 2013.

Texas Rangers

On May 28, 2014, Donald was traded to the Texas Rangers for cash considerations. He became a free agent after the 2014 season.

Olympics

Donald and Indians backup catcher Lou Marson were selected to the United States national baseball team. Donald helped lead the United States to a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Donald homered in the bronze medal game and led the team at the games in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Donald batted .381 for the Games.

Awards and honors

In 2008, Donald received the Arizona Fall League's Dernell Stenson Sportsmanship Award.