The best pitcher you've never heard of may make the HOF

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Posted By: tbob

A legend of the past gets shot at Hall
Michael Rand, Star Tribune

It is the rarest of things when a person finds his or her true calling. It is rarer, still, to look the moment in the eye, realize it for what it is, and follow the winding, relentless path with abandon.

Meet John Donaldson and Peter Gorton -- two men whose lives have intertwined in the rarest of ways, with the possible end result being Donaldson's election to baseball's Hall of Fame.

Gorton, who works for a downtown Minneapolis law firm, received a call out of the blue five years ago from Steve Hoffbeck, his old social studies teacher.

Hoffbeck was writing a book on the history of black baseball players in Minnesota and wondered if Gorton, despite inexperience in the area, would take a crack at researching an elusive old-time pitcher named John Donaldson.

The assignment led Gorton to the historical society in Bertha, about 15 miles from his hometown of Staples, northwest of St. Cloud. Inside, he saw a poster featuring Donaldson, who played in Bertha in the 1920s. He looked down from the poster and saw a picture of boys playing basketball nearly 20 years ago.

Peter Gorton was in that picture.

"I was looking for John Donaldson," Gorton said, "and I found myself."

An inkling

The juxtaposition of the pictures marked the "beginning of a strange odyssey," Gorton said.

Gorton compiled more than enough research for a chapter in Hoffbeck's book "Swinging for the Fences," which was released in February. But he felt there was more information out there -- and a reason to keep seeking it.

Other researchers had come to Bertha looking for information on Donaldson, but because Gorton is from the area he knew the county newspaper would be a better place to look than the local paper -- knowledge that helped uncovered countless articles and boxscores from games in the 1920s. Later, when searching for an article rumored to be in an old paper from Wells, Minn., Gorton randomly flipped open the first copy he found from the approximate era -- and turned right to the story.

Gorton has looked at more than 5,000 rolls of microfilm. He keeps meticulous track of boxscores, and his computer is choked with files, scanned clippings and photos. He and his wife, Kelly, spent an anniversary at an old ballfield.

It's all part of a greater good.

"This guy just got inside me," Gorton said. "There's something about him. Every day we would come up with something astounding."

Donaldson's tale

Donaldson, a flame-throwing, knee-bending lefthander, pitched for a barnstorming team called All Nations that made several appearances in small Minnesota towns starting around 1912 -- eight years before the formation of the Negro Leagues.

Word of his legend spread quickly as he moved from town to town, dispatching with ease the best hitters the area had to offer. Documents show he was 80-5 over a two-year stretch. Equally impressive was his diplomacy and grace in an era of fierce segregation.

"He was famous, and people in Minnesota loved him," Gorton said. "They also respected him because he was so good, so nice."

Donaldson later pitched three years for the town team in Bertha -- commuting by train on the weekends from Minneapolis, where he lived with his wife, Eleanor -- and scattered seasons for other Minnesota towns during the 1920s.

John McGraw, the Hall of Fame manager from the New York Giants, once said, "I think he is the greatest I have ever seen, and I would give $50,000 for him if it weren't for the color line in baseball."

Donaldson scouted for the White Sox after the game was integrated. He died in 1970 and is buried in suburban Chicago.

Hall of Fame consideration

Finding these facts -- and that was just a quick snapshot -- made Gorton wonder how he could get others to appreciate something he considers "historically significant." The answer came this summer, when the Baseball Hall of Fame announced an open call to nominate players from the Negro Leagues and earlier for a special election.

Gorton increased his efforts to find official statistics, enlisting a network of 150 people across the country to scour old newspapers. Gorton beat the nominating deadline of Halloween. In late November, Donaldson was listed among the 39 candidates to gain entry to the Hall of Fame in the special election.

Gorton and his "Donaldson network" have documented more than 200 victories and 3,500 strikeouts already. By the time of the vote in February, Gorton hopes to boost those numbers to 250 victories and 4,000 strikeouts.

Donaldson will need to earn nine votes from a 12-member committee to gain election. For Gorton, however, helping Donaldson achieve baseball's ultimate honor is only part of what fuels his drive. The greater motivation is spreading a story that Gorton feels he is meant to tell.

"Do I think he is worthy of being a Hall of Famer? Absolutely," Gorton said. "Do people know who he is? No way. But he's not lost anymore. Somebody knows about this, and now we have to share it with people."

WHAT WAS SAID

In 1952, the Pittsburgh Courier ran a list of the greatest black players of all-time. Eleven of the 16 players named on the "first team" are currently in the Hall of Fame. Four others, including John Donaldson, are on a special ballot that will be voted on in February. Here is a sample of some Minnesota newspaper accounts of Donaldson, a superb lefthanded pitcher who hurled mainly in the 1910s and 1920s -- decades before Major League Baseball was integrated.

"He became the talk of the fans in every place that he played and became the drawing card and the moneymaker of the organization he was connected with."


WELLS FORUM ADVOCATE

"His strikeout record is 26 men in one game, and it is said that but for his color he would be in the big leagues."


LITTLE FALLS DAILY TRANSCRIPT

"Scoring for the locals was a tough proposition. ... Donaldson seemed unable to get over his strikeout habit."


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