Geoffrey Donahue, third-baseman for the Louisville Lions, agreed to sit down with Josh Rogers, one of our staffers, to discuss his new salary, the state of their team, and more.
Rogers: Thank you for agreeing to come in and talk with me. I know things have been a bit crazy for you lately.
Donahue: *laughs* Yeah, yeah I guess you could say that. But really, it's my pleasure. I've always wanted to be someone worthy of an interview. Getting your request is the best thing that's happened to me all week.
R: Oh yes, definitely. In all seriousness, though, how's it feel to be a millionaire? I mean come on, you've got to be over the moon about this!
D: Yeah, it's definitely an amazing feeling. I've always been about the team's needs, so I'll play for however much the team is willing to pay me. I'm definitely very excited that the Lions were willing to make the highest bid so that I can stay with this great organization. I love all the guys on this team, Coach K is great. So yeah, I'm excited, but not so much for the money and more for staying with the team.
R: Very selfless of you. I always love an athlete who can honestly say he plays for the love of the game rather than riches, and I can definitely tell you're genuine.
D: Absolutely.
R: Okay, so, next question. What do you make of your former teammate Braydon Lim's decision to retire?
D: Man, well I'll tell you, I was definitely disappointed to hear about it. Of course, I knew about his decision for awhile.A few weeks ago he got all the guys together and told us. That's just what we as a team do. I mean, I wasn't thrilled about it or anything, but the guy deserves to kick back and relax awhile. He was one hell of a pitcher, and is an even better teammate and friend. I know that even though he won't be playing with the team, he'll still be one of us. We'll stay in touch for sure.
R: When he told you all about his retirement, what were your reactions, collectively?
D: Well, as I said, I didn't love it at first. I don't know if anyone did. We all think of Braydon, we think, leader, captain, motivator. Even when he wasn't pitching as well as he used to, he'd be on the bench, you know, rallying the team, giving pep talks, making sure we keep our heads up even when we're taking a beating. I think at first we were all worried about, like, 'what are we going to do without him around?', you know? But after we let it sink in a bit we all were in agreement that, like I said, he deserves his retirement and we will work it out as we go on.
R: Who do you see stepping up as that motivator, leader-type role next season?
D: Oh, man, I don't think I can give you an answer to that one. I know we will figure it out as time goes on. That's usually how we as a group work. If I had to guess someone, I'd have to go with Adi, probably. Dulaney. Believe it or not, he's gonna be the old man of the group. 29 years old. We've got a young team. *laughs* But yeah, probably Adi. He's got that charisma, that leadership spirit. But as I said, someone's gonna emerge next season as the leader and I don't know who for sure.
R: Your team is obviously very close. I hope I'm not reopening a wound here, but your team didn't play particularly well last season. How does your team work through adversity like that?
D: Well, Josh, that wound is pretty fresh. Thanks for that. *pause* But, well, as I said, and as you said, we are very close-knit. We keep each other up, make sure no one's giving up. We avoid negative statements and criticisms and instead focus on what's positive. I mean, we all know what we personally struggle with, so we figure there's really no need to call each other out in front of everyone. We find in doing so we keep the clubhouse positive and give ourselves the best shot to win.
R: What is your outlook for this year?
D: We are ready to win. Throughout the season we got some great new plays, whether through free agency or from the farm system. Adi and I are the only starters who were starters at the beginning of the year. I mean, you can see in our splits from first half to second, we won many more games in that second half that the first. In fact, I think we actually had a very good winning record in the second half, after we'd acquired those new players.
R: Alright, thank you Geoffrey. That's all the time we have. Thanks for coming in to talk and good luck this season. Congratulations again on your big payday.
D: Hey, it's my pleasure. Thank you for having me on.