Grathoff: A Minnesota man’s labor of love for Negro Leagues star John Donaldson
From Pete Grathoff at the Kansas City Star on November 1, 2016, with mention of SABR member Peter Gorton:
Drive northwest on Highway 10 from Minneapolis for about two hours, and you’ll reach the town of Staples, Minn.
Population 2,981, Staples is home to the state’s longest fishing pier, an Amtrak stop and the starting place of one man’s quest to bring attention to a former Negro Leagues pitcher.
Chances are, you’re not familiar with left-hander John Donaldson’s career, which began in the early 20th century, but Peter Gorton wants to change that. Since 2000, Gorton has worked to celebrate to a pitcher who was born in 1892 in Glasgow, Mo., and collected 399 career wins and 4,995 strikeouts during his 33 years of playing in the Negro Leagues and semi-pro ball.
Gorton created the John Donaldson Network, which he says has 550 members dedicated to finding any morsel of information via historical societies and newspaper archives around the nation. The latest goal for Gorton: induction for Donaldson into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
Read the full article here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article111826112.html
Originally published: November 4, 2016. Last Updated: November 4, 2016.