Bob Macdonald

It has been said that “the left-handed are precious; they take places which are inconvenient for the rest.”1 Perhaps there is no place where the left-handed are more precious than in baseball. For baseball has long had a unique proclivity for the left-handed and particularly the left-handed pitcher. A recent study titled “The Southpaw Advantage” noted that “left-handed pitching has long been one of the most prized commodities in professional baseball. Teams strive to obtain lefty pitchers [who] make it to the big leagues about three times as frequently as righties.”2

The left-handed pitcher has been analyzed, discussed, and debated from many perspectives – from talent procurement to roster building to optimal rotations to in-game strategy. While those efforts have utility in their own context, it is the individual stories of the southpaws who played the game that garner the deepest appreciation of the left-handed pitcher in baseball.  

This is one of those stories: the account of Bob MacDonald, left-handed relief specialist.

Robert Joseph MacDonald was born on April 27, 1965, in East Orange, New Jersey, a primarily residential suburb of Newark.

He was born with a genetic condition that impacts 10 percent of society: left-handedness.3 MacDonald’s ability and passion for baseball developed during his childhood and youth. Being left-handed, he had a potential competitive advantage over those who dreamed of reaching the big leagues.    

MacDonald attended Point Pleasant Beach High School and was a multisport athlete, active in football, basketball, and baseball. Named to the All-Ocean County baseball team, he led the Garnet Gulls to a championship in his senior year.4

Upon graduation from high school in 1983, he stayed in New Jersey and attended Rutgers University. Skipping his freshman year, he played three seasons for the Scarlett Knights under head coach Fred Hill, who took over leadership of the Rutgers baseball program in 1984. Used primarily as a starter at Rutgers, he overcame a rough sophomore season to improve in both his junior and senior years.

In MacDonald’s senior season, he ranked fourth among the Atlantic 10 Conference pitchers with an attractive ERA of 2.97.5 This was a dramatic turnaround from his sophomore season’s ERA of 7.74. Control improved throughout his collegiate career as average walks per nine innings declined from 7.38 (sophomore) to 4.78 (senior). Without an overpowering fastball, he had a modest strikeout rate of six per nine innings. 

After MacDonald’s senior season, in June 1987 he was selected in the 19th round of the amateur draft by the Blue Jays. Starting his professional career with the St. Catharines (Ontario) Blue Jays, a short-season A-level team in the New York-Penn League, he played in only one game. As the starter, he got a no-decision for four innings of work, giving up two runs on eight hits while striking out four and issuing no walks.

Reassigned to the Medicine Hat Blue Jays of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, MacDonald received the career-defining label of “left-handed reliever.” He continued the strong performance of his senior year at Rutgers. MacDonald transitioned well to professional baseball and after just 13 games at Medicine Hat, he was promoted to the Myrtle Beach (South Carolina) Blue Jays of the Class-A South Atlantic League.  

By the time MacDonald arrived in Myrtle Beach, he had thrown approximately 97 innings in 1987. This almost doubled his sophomore season’s innings pitched, and the extra workload impacted his performance. Appearing in relief in 10 games, he gave up 13 earned runs in 20⅔ innings, an ERA of 5.66, and surrendered the first home run of his collegiate and professional career.

In 1988 the 23-year-old MacDonald returned to Myrtle Beach for another year of development at the A level. He spent the entire season with Myrtle Beach and, pitching solely in relief, he had an outstanding season. Sharing the closer role with right-hander Steve Wapnick, MacDonald led the team with 15 saves and an ERA of 1.69.

For the start of the 1989 season, MacDonald was promoted to the Knoxville Blue Jays of the Double-A Southern League. He was the main left-hander in the Knoxville bullpen. MacDonald excelled in his role as left-handed closer, posting an ERA of 3.29, a WHIP of 1.19, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.5. He did not surrender a home run.

MacDonald continued his rise in the Blue Jays’ farm system, joining the Syracuse Chiefs of the Triple-A International League in late August 1989. The opportunity for MacDonald’s promotion arose when the Toronto Blue Jays traded Tony Castillo, the main left-hander in the Chiefs bullpen, and catcher Francisco Cabrera to the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Jim Acker. Used solely in relief, MacDonald surrendered 10 runs in 16 innings. 

For the 1990 season, MacDonald returned to the Knoxville Blue Jays and continued as the left-handed closer. He led the team with 15 saves. As in 1989, MacDonald was promoted to Syracuse and once again, he did not pitch well. Appearing in nine games, he walked nine batters in 8⅓ innings and surrendered five earned runs, but did earn two saves.

MacDonald’s struggles at Syracuse did not matter to the Blue Jays. He was promoted to Toronto and made his major-league debut on August 14, 1990. In a blowout win against the Chicago White Sox, he faced three batters, walking one before inducing an inning-ending double play. He returned to Syracuse on August 30, but was recalled to Toronto as part of the Blue Jays’ September roster expansion. He appeared in one game, against Cleveland, throwing one pitch to retire the side. Overall, he pitched 2⅓ innings of no-hit baseball for the Blue Jays in 1990. 

In the 1990 offseason, the Blue Jays’ free-agent signing of left-handed reliever Ken Dayley created competition for MacDonald to secure a roster spot. The 31-year-old Dayley had spent seven seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, posting an ERA of 3.56 and two saves in 1990. The Blue Jays had a surplus of pitchers at the 1991 spring-training camp and would not commit to whether they would have one or two left-handers in the bullpen. Competing for a final roster spot with left-hander Al Leiter, MacDonald pitched well that spring, surrendering no runs in 11 innings. But he was included in the final cuts and started the season at Syracuse.

MacDonald’s time in Syracuse was short. By the end of April, he had been recalled to Toronto, an opportunity that arose from injuries to bullpen pitchers Dayley and Tom Henke. Over the next month, he was used sparingly and in 6⅓ innings pitched, posted an ERA of 2.84.

His third game for Toronto in 1991, on May 1 against Texas, was memorable, though not particularly noteworthy careerwise for MacDonald. He pitched a scoreless seventh inning with Toronto losing 3-0. With two out in the top of the ninth inning, Texas starter Nolan Ryan threw a third strike past Roberto Alomar to record the final out of his major-league-record seventh no-hitter. To be part of a game so prominent in baseball history is one of MacDonald’s fondest memories, despite being on the losing side.6

In late May Dayley, who had been suffering from vertigo, was activated from the disabled list and MacDonald was the odd man out and sent back to Syracuse. He was very frustrated with being returned to the minor leagues. He had pitched well, both in spring training and in the early season. But there was no room on the roster with the Blue Jays carrying only one left-hander in the bullpen and with Willie Fraser, a right-hander, holding down the long-relief role. Wanting a consistent role in the big leagues, MacDonald had started throwing a curveball which he had not attempted previously, and he expressed his willingness to pitch in long relief.7

Having just returned to Syracuse, in early June MacDonald was again recalled to Toronto. Starter Dave Stieb had gone on the disabled list with tendinitis. His frustration abated; MacDonald stayed in Toronto for the remainder of the 1991 season.

With the prospect of a consistent role, MacDonald was spectacular, with an 18-inning scoreless streak. His ERA was a remarkable 0.75 when he entered in the eighth inning on July 19 against the Texas Rangers. Allowing a run, he saw his shutout streak snapped. Amid concerns that the Blue Jays were burning out their bullpen, MacDonald struggled in that game and in his next seven.8 In those eight games, he allowed eight earned runs in nine innings, surrendering 14 hits and walking 11.

After this slump, MacDonald pitched in 19 more games and finished the remainder of the season with an ERA of 3.05 over 20⅔ innings. A WHIP of 1.79 and 18 walks and only 11 strikeouts over the final 27 games suggest that he was allowing baserunners but was escaping innings without runs scored. 

MacDonald made his first postseason appearance in the American League Championship Series, as the Blue Jays, winners of the American League East, played the Minnesota Twins. He faced five batters in his one inning in that series, giving up a hit, a walk, and an earned run. The Blue Jays lost to the eventual World Series champion Minnesota Twins in five games. 

For MacDonald, the 1991 season, being up and down between Syracuse and Toronto before staying in Toronto from early June onward was a tale of two parts. In his first half of the season, he was excellent, but he slumped after the All-Star break. Of particular concern was that left-handed hitters hit .325 against him. Southpaw effectiveness against left-handed hitters is a prerequisite to maintain a lefty’s competitive advantage. MacDonald would have to significantly improve against left-handed hitters if he wanted to secure a left-handed-reliever role in the Toronto bullpen. 

As spring training 1992 commenced, the opportunity for MacDonald to make the Blue Jays’ roster hinged on the misfortune of others. Injuries to Stieb (back), Dayley (elbow), and Leiter (blisters) eliminated most of his competition. Stieb’s injury meant that left-hander David Wells would be moved from the bullpen to the starting rotation. With Dayley and Leiter headed for the disabled list, MacDonald competed with Graeme Lloyd, a 6-foot-8-inch Australian who had four years of professional experience, all at the A level except for two games at Double-A Knoxville.

To improve against left-handed hitters, MacDonald adjusted his positioning on the mound, starting from the first-base side of the pitching rubber rather than the third-base side.9

Defending their AL East title, the Blue Jays started the 1992 season in Detroit. For the first time in his career, Bob MacDonald left spring training on a major-league roster. 

In the first two months of the season, MacDonald pitched extremely well. Appearing in 11 games, he had an ERA of 2.25 and a WHIP of 1.10, and did not surrender a home run in 20  innings. However, he was rarely used in May, playing only four games and often going eight days between appearances. This inactivity may have hurt him. As the calendar turned to June, he slumped badly. Relegated to pitching mainly in blowout games, he posted a 5.60 ERA in nine appearances in June. He pitched once in July before being sent down to Syracuse.

In mid-August, MacDonald was recalled after an injury to starter Pat Hentgen. Back in Toronto, he continued to pitch ineffectively, and was limited to appearing in four blowout losses. His ERA since returning was 5.87. His performance put him in the vulnerable position of being sent down again to Syracuse. In late August, the Blue Jays, in anticipation of a return to the ALCS, were making key roster moves. Roster spots were needed for their acquisition of pitcher David Coneand the activation of pitcher Juan Guzman from the disabled list. So for the second time that season, MacDonald was optioned to Syracuse. He returned to Toronto as part of the September roster expansion after the Chiefs’ season ended. He was rarely used in September and faced only four batters in two games. MacDonald was not eligible to play for the Blue Jays in the postseason, a historic playoff run that culminated in the Blue Jays’ first World Series championship. 

With an ERA of 4.37 in Toronto and 4.63 in Syracuse, MacDonald’s season, which had commenced so full of promise, fell short of expectations. On a positive note, he held left-handed hitters to an anemic batting average of .143. With that level of effectiveness, he may have been ideally suited to be a “lefty one-out guy” or “Loogy” who specializes in pitching to left-handed batters. Clearly, the Blue Jays were not rooted in that strategy as MacDonald averaged 1.74 innings per appearance. 

As spring training approached for the 1993 season, MacDonald still sought a consistent role in the Blue Jays bullpen. Appreciating that he was in the often difficult position of being a role player, he was looking for an opportunity to pitch every two to three days. There was much uncertainty as to whether there would be a role for him. The Blue Jays bullpen was crowded with Mike Timlin, Duane Ward, and Henke, all right-handers. In fact, when he was demoted to Syracuse the previous July, the Blue Jays went with an all-right-handed bullpen. In spring training 1993, MacDonald competed with Wells to be the sole left-hander in the bullpen. Given the number of times that he had been optioned to Syracuse, if he failed to make the major-league roster, he had the right to decline a minor-league assignment. He made it clear that if he was included in the roster cuts, he would become a free agent.10

MacDonald was used sparingly that spring, getting only seven innings of work. He allowed only one earned run, but was crowded out of a roster spot and by the end of spring training, MacDonald was sold to the Detroit Tigers for $20,000. He left Toronto hoping that Detroit’s manager, Sparky Anderson, would be the one to finally give him a consistent role. 

In Detroit MacDonald had an excellent start. On May 13, in a game against Toronto, he made his 16th appearance of the year in the eighth inning with an ERA of 2.16. The Blue Jays exacted some revenge against their former teammate. MacDonald was sent out to pitch the bottom of the ninth, his second inning of work, with Detroit leading 5-4. He walked leadoff hitter Darnell Coles and Alfredo Griffin sacrificed pinch-runner Willie Canate to second. After hitting Devon White with a pitch, MacDonald struck out Roberto Alomar. The save opportunity was blown when Paul Molitor drilled a fastball away to right field for a two-run double to give the Blue Jays a 6-5 win. 

This game proved to be a pivotal point in MacDonald’s season: He never regained his early-season form. With his effectiveness waning as the season went on, Detroit nonetheless stuck with him as Anderson continued to use MacDonald as a “Loogy.” After the blown save in Toronto, he played in 53 more games and had an ERA of 6.43 and a WHIP of 1.63. Left-handed hitters hit .222 against him that season.

In his first and ultimately only full season in the major leagues, MacDonald got the consistent role that he desired. Ranked 10th in the American League with 68 appearances, he averaged 0.97  innings per appearance. His performance was not deemed good enough to be included in the Tigers’ plans for 1994. Detroit lost faith in MacDonald and released him in December 1993.

MacDonald remained unsigned until, on the eve of spring training, he signed a minor-league contract with the Houston Astros. In spring training, as a nonroster invitee, he did not pitch well and was released before the start of the season. Within a week, he signed with his fourth organization, the Seattle Mariners. Assigned to the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate in Calgary of the Pacific Coast League, he struggled. The Mariners were impatient, giving MacDonald no opportunity to turn around his season. After 25 games and an ERA of 7.55, he was released.

The demand for southpaws was strong so MacDonald’s time away from the game lasted only two weeks. The Chicago White Sox signed him to a minor-league contract. With the hope of regaining his effectiveness, he was assigned to the Birmingham Barons of the Double-A Southern League. Other than two games with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, he played the rest of the 1994 season at Birmingham and had an excellent season. But his ERA of 1.78 and a WHIP of 0.83 was not seen good enough to secure a spot on the White Sox’ 40-man roster. For the fourth time, he was granted free agency.

In February 1995 with the players strike ongoing, MacDonald signed a minor-league contract with the New York Yankees. He started the season with the Triple-A Columbus Clippers and once again had an excellent start to his season, and was called up on May 11.

The Yankees went with two left-handers in their bullpen as MacDonald and Steve Howe split the left-handed relief role. His first month with the Yankees did not go well. He was used primarily in blowout games, and his ERA hit a high of 8.16 in mid-June after a disastrous outing against Detroit. He remained on the Yankees roster for the remainder of the season. After mid-June, he pitched effectively, posting an ERA of 3.38 to lower his season ERA to 4.86. He was less effective against left-handed hitters, who averaged .261. The Yankees did not primarily use him in a Loogy role; he averaged 1.4 innings per appearance.

New York finished the strike-shortened 1995 season with a record of 79-65 and qualified for the playoffs. MacDonald was left off the postseason roster for the Division Series, against Seattle. The Yankees decided to go with two left-handers in the bullpen. MacDonald was the odd man out as the Yankees put left-handed starter Sterling Hitchcock in the bullpen with Howe.

While cheering on his teammates, MacDonald watched a remarkable Game Two of the ALDS. With the score tied 4-4 in the 12th inning, Ken Griffey Jr. homered off John Wetteland to put the Mariners ahead 5-4. In the bottom of the 12th inning, with two out and Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams on second and first respectively, Ruben Sierra doubled, scoring Posada, but Williams was tagged out at the plate. Extra innings continued with the score tied 5-5. Finally, in the 15th inning at 1:22 a.m., Yankees catcher Jim Leyritz hit a 3-and-1 pitch for a two-run home run. The Yankees had won the marathon 7-5 and took a 2-0 lead in the ALDS. No adjective can adequately describe the atmosphere in Yankee Stadium throughout that game. For MacDonald, a nonparticipating Yankee, that game was a career favorite moment.11

In January 1996 MacDonald joined the crosstown New York Mets and made the major-league roster out of spring training. Averaging one inning per appearance, he pitched well in the first two months of the season. With the Mets struggling in early June, he was caught up in a roster overhaul and demoted to Norfolk, the Mets Triple-A affiliate. At Norfolk, he was playing close to his birthplace. His baseball journey had come full circle.

MacDonald made his last major-league appearance on June 7, 1996, an outing of 2⅔ innings in a lopsided 12-2 loss to Florida. After he entered the game in the seventh inning with the bases loaded, his first pitch to former Blue Jays teammate Devon White was hit into the left-field bleachers for a grand slam. In MacDonald’s final game, the winning pitcher for Florida was Al Leiter, whose injury woes back in 1992 had opened the way for him to make the Blue Jays roster.

MacDonald pitched well for Norfolk for the remainder of the season. For the 31-year-old, his ERA of 3.13 in 31⅔ innings was good but not enough to avoid being released for the sixth time in his career at the end of the season.

Hoping to keep his professional career going, MacDonald signed with the Tigers. This time the team was not in Detroit. Traveling across the Pacific Ocean, he signed with the Hanshin Tigers of the Japan Central League. At Hanshin, former major leaguers Mike Greenwell, Darnell Coles, and Phil Hiatt were teammates. In his short stint with Hanshin, he pitched 7⅓ innings in nine appearances and gave up six earned runs.

His sojourn in Hanshin was the final chapter in MacDonald’s baseball journey. Little is known about his travels since then. Attempts to learn about his life since leaving baseball in 1997 have proven fruitless; he is not registered with the MLB Players Alumni Association. Any additional information would be welcome.

As a 19th-round draft pick, MacDonald had a 1-in-10 chance of reaching the big leagues.12 Despite such forbidding odds, he played six seasons in the majors and appeared in 197 games. He reached the major leagues because he was very effective in the minor leagues – an ERA of 3.27, a WHIP of 1.26, and 49 saves over nine seasons.

In the major leagues, MacDonald had periods of great promise. His career had a pattern that as a season progressed, his effectiveness waned. The consistent role afforded him in the minors was elusive in the major leagues. When released from an organization due to lack of overall effectiveness, the southpaw advantage prevailed as there was always another team willing to sign him. He had many opportunities to extend his career and played for seven organizations after being released six times in the 1994-1996 seasons. 

What is to be learned from Bob MacDonald’s career? The answer seems to be that for a lefty reliever, what gets you to the major leagues and keeps you there is consistent effectiveness, much more than the southpaw advantage. The southpaw advantage creates opportunities, but what truly matters most is what is achieved when those opportunities arise. Bob MacDonald had the answer.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, the baseballcube.com, Toronto Star archives, newspaperarchive.com for articles from the Syracuse Herald Journal and the Post-Standard, and PaperofRecord.com for The Sporting News

Notes

1 Quote by Victor Hugo, quotefancy.com.

2 Guy Molyneux and Phil Birnbaum, “The Southpaw Advantage,” fangraphs.com, September 8, 2020. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-southpaw-advantage/.

3 Katie Kerns Geer, “12 Little-Known Facts about Left-Handers,” everydayhealth.com, August 13, 2015. https://www.everydayhealth.com/healthy-living-pictures/little-known-facts-about-lefthanders.aspx.

4 Toronto Blue Jays Official Guide 1992, 92.

5 Mark Rizzi, 1988 Rutgers University Baseball Media Guide, Rutgers Division of Intercollegiate Athletics, 21.

6 lettersfromhomeplate.com, Bob MacDonald. https://lettersfromhomeplate.com/2021/03/03/bob-macdonald/

7 Tom Slater, “Jays Off to Take on the West,” Toronto Star, April 30, 1991: D2.

8 Tom Slater, “Gaston Wants to Avoid Burning Out Bullpen,” Toronto Star, April 30, 1991: D2.

9 Dave Perkins, “This MacDonald Shuns Farm and Hopes to Stick with Jays,” Toronto Star, March 17, 1992: B4.

10 Tom Slater, “MacDonald Hopes Axe Will Fall,” Toronto Star, March 29, 1993: C4.

11 lettersfromhomeplate.com, Bob MacDonald.

12 Mike Rosenbaum, “Examining the Percentage of MLB Draft Picks Who Reach the Major Leagues,” bleacherreport.com, June 12, 2012. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1219356-examining-the-percentage-of-mlb-draft-picks-that-reach-the-major-leagues.