Thursday, February 21, 2019

Faith Academy's Josh Donaldson reports early on Sunday for Braves spring training


Pitchers and catchers for the Atlanta Braves reported for spring training on Friday and position players were scheduled to report for duty yesterday (Wednesday) with the first full-squad workouts set for today (Thursday) in Kissimmee, Fla.

Once the entire team arrives, they’ll waste little time getting right into their slate of spring training games. Over the course of the coming week, they’ll play the Mets twice, the Astros, the Nationals, the Cardinals and the Tigers before getting into the meat of their March schedule.

Perhaps the biggest news of the spring so far has been the arrival of new third baseman Josh Donaldson, who arrived early on Sunday after signing with the Braves as a free agent in the off-season. Last season, the 33-year-old Donaldson started out with the Toronto Blues before being traded to the Cleveland Indians in August. In November, Donaldson signed a one-year contract with the Braves for $23 million.

Many in the reading audience will know that Donaldson was born in Pensacola, but graduated from high school at Faith Academy in Mobile. Donaldson was a record-setting football and baseball player at Faith, where he helped lead the school to a state baseball title during his senior season. Donaldson went to Auburn University as a catcher, but transitioned to third base.

Donaldson was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and bounced around the minors for several years before making his Major League debut with the Oakland A’s in 2010. He went on to play for Toronto before ending up with the Indians and the Braves.

Personally, I’m hoping that Donaldson will make a good showing with the Braves. He’s had some injury issues, but being from the Pensacola-Mobile area, I think it’s safe to consider him a “local” boy. It’s always nice to have a really good reason to pull for the Braves, and having a person from our neck of the woods fits the bill in my book.

Speaking of baseball, Alabama opened their 2019 baseball season by winning two of three games in a series against Presbyterian College on Friday and Saturday in Tuscaloosa. My newspaper colleague Butch Adams and I were discussing this on Monday, and Butch asked me a question that I could not answer: Just where is Presbyterian College?

I immediately googleated it and learned that Presbyterian College is a private college located in Clinton, S.C. Presbyterian has one of the most interesting nicknames in college athletics. They call themselves the “Blue Hose.” This name comes from the socks worn by the school’s football team over a century ago. Presbyterian’s mascot is a guy dressed up like a Scottish highlander.

I also saw this week where Alabama dedicated its Hall of Fame at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in honor of Babe Ruth McAbee on Friday before Alabama’s season-opener. I was interested to learn that McAbee was a native of Northport and was named after her grandmother Rosanne “Ruth” Franklin and two famous “Babes” from the world of sports – baseball player Babe Ruth and Olympic medalist Babe Didrickson. McAbee, a co-founder of McAbee Construction in Tuscaloosa and a major supporter of Alabama athletics, passed away in 2014.

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