Jiggs Donahue

John Augustine Donahue (July 13, 1879 – July 19, 1913) was an American professional baseball first baseman and catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Milwaukee Brewers / St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox and Washington Senators between 1900 and 1909. He batted and threw left-handed.

Career Donahue first played professionally in 1897, for teams minor-league teams located in Wheeling, West Virginia, and Marietta, Ohio.

Donahue first played in the major leagues in 1900, appearing in three games for the Pittsburgh Pirates, while also playing in the minor leagues in Dayton, Ohio. Donahue also holds the major-league single-season record for range factor, averaging 12.65 chances accepted per game in 1907.

Though known mostly for his fielding, Donahue was also an effective hitter from 1905 to 1907. In 1905, he was among the American League leaders in batting average (.287), on-base percentage (.346), runs batted in (RBIs) (76), and stolen bases (32). In 1906, Donahue was among the league leaders in stolen bases (36) and sacrifice hits (36), and was one of only three White Sox starters to bat over .250 for that season's major-league champions, nicknamed the "Hitless Wonders." In 1907, Donahue led the league in games played (157) and at bats (609) and was among the leaders in hits (158) and RBIs (68).

In the 1906 World Series, Donahue hit for a .278 average (5-for-18) with 2 doubles, 1 triple and 4 RBIs. In Game 2 on October 10, Donahue broke up a no-hit bid by Cubs pitcher Ed Reulbach with a single in the seventh inning, the only hit of the game by a member of the White Sox. Against the Detroit Tigers on May 31, 1908, Donahue recorded 21 putouts in a nine-inning game; one short of the major-league record.

Donahue's final major-league season was 1909, when he played two games for the White Sox and 84 games with the Washington Senators, batting .233 for the season. In a nine-season major-league career, Donahue played in 813 games with 731 hits, 319 runs scored, 327 RBIs, 143 stolen bases, 90 doubles, 31 triples, 4 home runs, and a .255 batting average. Another younger brother, Frank, played in the minor leagues during 1905–1912. Donahue and his wife, Alice, who married in August 1905, News reports in July 1912 stated that Donahue had been moved to a "state hospital for the insane" after suffering from "a nervous trouble", syphilis. He died in July 1913 at age 34; his passing was front-page news in his hometown of Springfield.