Huppert: Negro Leagues star John Donaldson now championed by Minnesota historian
From Boyd Huppert at KARE-TV on October 24, 2018, with SABR member Pete Gorton:
If words were cast in bronze and brass, you’d already know this story.
But words, like memories, are fleeting. Today they fill thousands of neatly organized files – not in a hall of fame, but in the Northeast Minneapolis basement of Pete Gorton.
“This is where John Donaldson’s legacy resides today,” Gorton says.
John Donaldson is, in Gorton’s mind, the greatest baseball player no one has ever heard of.
“Nobody knows who he is, I mean it’s just ridiculous, how can this be,” Gorton asks indignantly.
Twenty years before Jackie Robinson broke the major league color barrier, John Donaldson was breaking barriers in Bertha, Minnesota – a player for hire on the Bertha town team who guaranteed full stands, home and away.
Watch the full video here: https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/land-of-10000-stories/black-pitcher-barred-from-major-leagues-now-championed-by-minnesotan/89-607349026
Originally published: October 25, 2018. Last Updated: October 25, 2018.