All-Time Indians: Red Donahue

The big right hander from Connecticut began his career with the New York Giants in 1893 after attending Villanova. It took a couple seasons of bouncing between the minors and from New York to St. Louis (the National League Browns) before Red Donahue would become a regular, but in 1897, he started enough games to hold the distinction of leading the league in losses (35), complete games (38), earned runs (237) and home runs allowed (16). After this unfortunate season, Donahue was sent to Philadelphia where he spent four seasons, making at least 24 starts per season and winning at least 20 games in a season twice. Very quickly, he had turned from a little talented innings eater into one of the league’s best pitchers, posting ERAs below 2.80 each season from 1901 through 1904.

At 29 in 1902, Donahue jumped from the National League Athletics to the American League St. Louis Browns. In his first year there, he pitched over 300 innings for the first time since his interesting 1897 season, only this time he did so with a 2.76 ERA instead of 6.13. Continuing in his prime in 1903, Donahue would pitch just 16 more games for the Browns before catching the eye of the Cleveland Naps and being traded there in exchange for Gene Wright.

After joining the Naps, Donahue’s numbers were almost identical to his first half season numbers with the Browns as he made 15 starts and one relief appearance, although he was slightly more efficient with a 2.44 ERA instead of 2.75 and four shut outs compared to none. Always one to finish what he started, Donahue completed 14 of his 15 starts for both teams.

Coming to Cleveland, Donahue joined an already impressive rotation that included Addie Joss, Bill Bernhard and Earl Moore, who finished 1903 with a 1.75 ERA of his own. Of these four, Donahue was the weakest (the other three finished with ERAs below 2.20), but he would remain in the top four in 1904, one of just seven pitchers to throw at all that season, the fewest number in Cleveland baseball history. Again, in 1904, Donahue was the worst of the top four in ERA with a 2.40, but finished second in wins with 19. While in any other season, Donahue’s magnificence would really stick out, Joss was in the process of creating Indians records that would never be broken as he set the original single season ERA mark of 1.59 and posted a WHIP of 0.99.

There was no question of the strength of the Naps rotation in 1904 and Donahue was a big part of it as Cleveland finished with 86 wins, their best finish in their four year history. At 31 years old, Donahue was nearing the end of his career and was in his first year outside of his prime years. While he started in the rotation in 1905, he and Bernhard were moved to the bullpen by the end of the year, being replaced by Otto Hess and Bob Rhoads. Even with this, Donahue still pitched 137.2 innings in 18 starts, 14 of them complete games. Happy with their rotational depth as they had six returning starters outside of Donahue, the Naps felt no need to keep the aging starter around any longer. At the end of the season, he was sent to Detroit in exchange for another starter, Happy Townsend, who pitched a nice season for Cleveland in 1906. Both pitchers, however, would retire at the end of the 1906 season.

Despite pitching just three seasons in Cleveland, Donahue is still among the best starters in Cleveland history with a 2.66 career ERA and 1.16 WHIP with 11 shut outs and 32 wins. Overall, he played 13 seasons, throwing 2,966.1 innings across six teams. While his best cumulative numbers occurred during his four seasons in Philadelphia when he went 72-48, but his rate stats were considerably better while part of the St. Louis Browns (the American League edition) and the Cleveland Naps.

One of the most impressive things about Donahue’s career is that he was so great for so long. From the time he turned 25 until his final season at 33, each year he pitched at least 130 innings with an ERA 3.40 or below. Despite being in such excellent shape late in his career, Red died at the age of 40, just seven years after his final season in Detroit.