Donaldson on Negro League All-Centennial team

John Donaldson, arguably the greatest pitcher who ever tossed a baseball off a Minneota mound, has been named to the Negro League All-Centennial team, it was announced recently.

It was discovered by Twin Cities freelance journalist Peter Gorton that Donaldson, whom he refers to as the “'greatest baseball player you've never heard of”, pitched two semi-professional games in Minneota in 1925. Donaldson was a barnstormer, traveling across the country to earn money playing a sport in which he dominated opposing hitters.

He became known as “Cannonball Donaldson” because of the velocity of his fastball, and towns welcomed the left-hander and the huge crowds he generated because it meant a boost for their local economy.

Donaldson's younger brother, Jim, played one season for Minneota in 1925 as a shortstop and pitcher. John played one game with his brother for Minneota on Aug. 6, 1925; and after Jim died of meningitis on Aug. 25, 1925, John returned to pitch for Minneota to honor his brother on Sept. 6, 1925.

“To this day, we have no picture of Jim Donaldson and have no idea what he looked like,” said Gorton.

Gorton has a photo and a short video of John Donaldson, and is hoping someone from Minneota might have a 1925 team photo that was passed down to them. Jim was the only black player on the team.

Meanwhile, John Donaldson will be honored in 2020 at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City with the 100th anniversary to commemorate the founding of the Negro National League on Feb. 13, 1920.

Donaldson, who played briefly with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro National League, won over 400 games and struck out over 5,000 batters, it has been discovered by Gorton and his Donaldson Network team of over 600 people that have researched newspapers and other sources across the country.

Gorton's network team has been working feverishly to get Donaldson inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“John deserves to be in the Hall of Fame,” said Gorton.

“If he would have been white, he would have had a profound major league career.”

The Negro League All-Centennial Team (1920-2020) will include the 30 best African-American and Cuban baseball players from 1895-1947. Donaldson is being included on the All-Centennial team along with some elite Negro League players such as Buck Leonard, Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Roy Campanella, among others. To commemorate this historic team, a series of bobblehead dolls is in production.

The goal is to recognize the league and its outstanding players. Each bobblehead in the series will come in a collector's box with a story of each player on the back.

Some of the proceeds from sales of the Negro Leagues bobbleheads will go to the relatives of the Negro League players, as well as the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

To pre-order a John Donaldson bobblehead, visit www.teambrownapparel.com/product-page/john-donaldson-the-negro-leagyes-c....