John McDonald spent much of Wednesday happily watching a new chapter of his life unfold.
The next pages might include a job with the Blue Jays. Emphasis on “might.” Teams are lining up for his services. Johnny Mac will have choices. That became evident on Wednesday as a multitude of texts, emails and phone calls poured in.
“It’s been a pretty neat day,” McDonald said, shortly after announcing his retirement at age 40 following 16 years as a player in the big leagues, including almost seven with Toronto. “It’s amazing how far your tree branches in baseball extend at the end of your career. At the beginning of your career, you’re like a tiny stick in the ground. At the end of your career, especially when you’ve played as long as I have, those branches reach pretty far.”
In a co-ordinated announcement arranged through the Jays’ media relations department, four of McDonald’s former teams – the Blue Jays, Indians, Diamondbacks and Angels – congratulated him on his retirement via Twitter on Wednesday afternoon.
Immediately, the tributes began to flow, because McDonald – a career utility infielder whose spectacular defence kept him employed – was a fan favourite wherever he played. Fans loved him because he left them with a fielding gem to talk about on the way home after almost every game he played, and because he was a 5-foot-9 underdog with a heart of gold, always accessible, always helping out in the community.
And yes, after 16 years and eight teams, his branches reached around the baseball world. Mark Shapiro, Indians president and former general manager, summed it up on Twitter: “Johnny Mac got every ounce out of his potential due to his love of the game, work ethic and determination. Inspirational player and man of great character.”
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John McDonald played for eight different teams during in 16-year career.
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In a National Post interview, McDonald said he’d always been told that he would know when it was time to retire. A year earlier, he still felt the old urge and spent a satisfying season with the Angels. But as he relaxed with his family at their Massachusetts home last fall, he felt a page turning.
“I didn’t really have that drive to go back and play,” he said. “I started thinking more and more about what I wanted to do when I’m done playing. I came to the realization that I’m not going to figure out what it is that I want to do when I’m done playing until I stop playing.”
As many fans tweeted their personal Johnny Mac highlights – his Father’s Day home run in 2010, a few days after his dad died, was cited often – McDonald sounded almost euphoric about his decision during a telephone interview.
“I feel really good about it. I’m excited for whatever comes next,” he said.
He was, by almost any measure, one of the game’s top defensive shortstops of the 21st century. Defensive metrics say so, but what sticks in the minds of fans and teammates are the countless plays where he slid on his rump to make a stop, or dived and glove-flipped a ball to second, or seemed to telescope his little body in mid-air to snare a line drive, or knocked down a hot grounder, whirled and bounced a perfect throw to first from his knees.
Sometimes, as the applause rained down, he would allow himself a sheepish smile.
Renowned writer Peter Gammons tweeted Wednesday that he once asked Hall of Fame second baseman Robbie Alomar to name the best shortstop he ever worked with. “John McDonald,” Alomar replied, without hesitation.
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McDonald singled in his first big-league at bat for Cleveland in 1999, but he was no hitter: .236 average, .273 on-base percentage, .323 slugging percentage, 28 career homers.
But Toronto fans will long remember the homer he hit on June 20, 2010. Back with the team just two days after his dad’s funeral, he hit a two-run shot in the ninth inning of a loss to the Giants. In one of their last conversations, McDonald and his dad had joked about John’s infrequent homers.
“He said, ‘Hit your next one for me,’ ” McDonald said after the game.
Before the game, he met in a luxury suite with a group of fathers and kids who had won a Father’s Day contest. McDonald and his father had sponsored the event and were scheduled to host the group. Instead, they thanked him and he thanked them.
“The people up in that suite with me before the game, talking about life and death. That whole day, and being a Blue Jay, and what it meant to play for the city of Toronto, how that felt – I can’t even put that into words,” he said Wednesday.
After his homer, his teammates embraced him in the dugout. Several hugged him and cried. Their support helped him through his grief, he said.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV5AYkvGpD8&w=620&h=379]
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McDonald says he isn’t sure what’s next. He is not looking for full-time work.
“I want to be able to spend more time with my family,” he said. “My daughter’s six, my son’s four, we’ve been married to 10 years. I think we all deserve a little bit more time together after all the travel over the last 10 years.”
But then excitement filled his voice as he contemplated the possibilities.
“I feel like I can have an impact, whatever arena it is – if it’s coaching, if it’s teaching infield play with minor leaguers, or helping out in big-league camp, or TV or radio, front office. There’s so many things that interest me.”
He has spoken several times in recent weeks with Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos, he said. The GM wanted to know what McDonald might like to do. McDonald was happy to tell him, but no offers or promises were made.
And when the messages piled up Wednesday, McDonald was surprised to field feelers from teams he never played for.
He never expected to make it to the big leagues, but he stayed for 16 years, earning respect and admiration everywhere he went. He believes his career can serve as an inspiration to kids willing to work hard to do as he did: “Get every little bit out of whatever ability I had.”
As always, McDonald remains a romantic about baseball, and is thankful for the opportunity, not only to play, but to stir the fans.
“You can do things that people will talk about that’ll take them away from maybe some things that are playing on their own hearts and their own struggle, and bring them to another place,” he said. “I think that’s one of the best things about sports. Just being a small part of that – you hope you can do it forever, but even doing it one time, the effect of that can be lasting.”
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McDonald was an unlikely major-leaguer, and certainly an unlikely success story, almost always playing a backup role, taking hundreds of ground balls at three positions every afternoon knowing he would not play that night, performing with equal aplomb at short, second and third when his name was called. And, of course, making countless friends along the way, both within the game and around it.
“I enjoyed every single bit of it,” he said. “I enjoyed sitting on the bench. I enjoyed playing. I enjoyed signing autographs. I don’t understand what part of it you can be unhappy about.
“Yeah, I wish I’d swung the bat better and I would’ve loved to have played more. But I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything. My experiences are unique. You’d really have a tough time explaining it to someone how I played for 16 years.”
Unquestionably, his best years were with Toronto. Whether that influences his choice of future employment remains to be seen. But he has always made it clear that the city holds a special place in his heart, in part because the fans made the feeling mutual.
Last May, when he returned to the Rogers Centre as a member of the Angels, McDonald looked up at the empty seats during batting practice and recalled when they were filled with fans who stood and smiled and shouted his name after another fielding gem.
“The fans treated me like I was sometimes a better player than I am,” he said.
Source:: National Post
