Geoffrey Donahue was recently inducted into the Louisville Lions Hall of Fame, becoming the first inductee. Here we look back at Donahue's career, as well as his life before professional baseball.
Donahue has born in Lexington, Kentucky, on October 17, 1978. Ever since his childhood, Donahue was a natural athlete. However, baseball wasn't his primary focus; his first love was basketball. He would spend hours every day at his local schoolyard, shooting hoops and joining in pickup games, and he was great. He was so great, in fact, that he caught the eye of Mitch Telver, a talent scout for Duke University. Telver offered Donahue a full ride scholarship to attend Duke as a basketball player. Donahue accepted, and his life seemed to be perfectly planned out: he would be a Duke Blue Devil. However, his plan didn't go quite to plan. Although Donahue was a dominant point guard in the Kentucky High School league, he wasn't so successful in Division 1. He quickly found himself buried in the depth chart. Realizing the poor state of his situation, Donahue reached out to a transfer agent, who advised him to consider his secondary sport: baseball. As it turned out, multiple top colleges were in the market for a skilled third basemen, which happened to be Donahue's primary position.
He trained hard and was ultimately able to transfer to the University of Kentucky, coming home to play baseball on a full scholarship. While he was concerned that his delayed focus on baseball would put him at a disadvantage, he was able to train hard enough to compete for playing time. By his junior year, Donahue had entrenched himself as the full-time starting third baseman. After compiling 32 home runs and a .344 batting average as a junior, Donahue declared for the FBL draft. It didn't take long for his name to be called, with the newly established Louisville Lions selecting him with the 2nd overall pick. After a tumultuous collegiate career, Donahue had made it to the pros.
In his rookie season, Donahue competed for time with Karson Hatcher, another young third baseman added in the expansion draft. Although Donahue might have hoped for more playing time, the dynamic duo of Donahue and Hatcher led the new Lions to a Division title in its first year, with the team finishing 35-25. Donahue hit .263 and 6 home runs on 114 at-bats, and managed to get a hit in his first playoff game, which the Lions sadly lost to the eventual World Series champions, Baltimore Orioles, in a 1-0 shutout.
In his second season, Donahue earned the starting job over Hatcher, hitting .280 with 15 home runs on 232 at bats. Donahue once again led the Lions to the playoffs, but they once again fell short in the first game, falling 5-3 to the Anchorage Polarbears. Although his career hadn't been all that great to this point, he was flashing clear potential, and he was being picked up on the radar of many other teams in the FBL. including th Hartford YANKEES. His collegiate success, plus the scouted rating of a 98 power and 95 contact certainly made him an enticing asset. Fortunately for the fledgling Lions, the league made it illegal to make contract offers for players on newer teams, so the Lions were granted a few years to build up funds for the inevitable payout.
In his third season, Donahue's game really took a huge step forward, batting a career high .337 along with 23 home runs, slugging. 699. As was expected, teams jumped on the opportunity to offer Donahue high salaries after this season. Fortunately for the Lions, who simply didn't have the funds to match these offers, was able to exercise their one contract allowance, giving Donahue a 4-year, $2.4 million contract, an incredible steal for the franchise. Not only did this allow the team to lock down Donahue's talent for the next four seasons, but it also allowed the team valuable time to save money for the contract's inevitable end.
The four contract years were Donahue's best, averaging a .294 batting average, 21 home runs, and 46 runs batted in per season. His career undeniably peaked in the third year of his contract, his sixth of his career. He hit for a .337 average, 29 home runs, 57 runs batted in, and a .760 slugging percentage. While his entire career was above average, it was this season that really separated him from the great and placed himself as a legend. At the beginning of his final contract year, he was the commencement speaker at his alma mater, University of Kentucky, speaking to the new college graduates. This is Donahue's favorite non-baseball memory, as he recalled how important in its to him to inspire and help young people on their path to success. It was clear that Donahue was a fan favorite in Louisville.
Donahue's contract did come to an end after a legendary four year stretch, and it was at this point were Donahue's hard work really paid off. At the end of an intense bidding war between three teams, the Lions ultimately secured his services again, offering him a whopping $15.3 million for 1 year. This remains the highest single-season salary in franchise history.
After his payday, Donahue would turn in three more high-quality campaigns before his production began to fall off. In his age 34 season, he suffered a shoulder strain, and although he did return later in the season, it was clear that the injury had severely limited his potential. He took a backseat to Karson Hatcher, his previous playing-time rival, who experienced a bit of a late-career revival. Donahue would have a slight resurgence a few years later, hitting double digit home runs in each of his age 36-38 seasons, but he was still a shell of his previously dominant form.
After struggling att he end of his age 38 season, Donahue was benched for Karson Hatcher the next year, and he retired at the end of that season. He is still involved with the Lions organization, currently serving as the team's hitting coach.
Donahue was the Lion's first true superstar, and his career is now enshrined in the team's Hall of Fame. From the Louisville Lions, the people of Kentucky, and fans of baseball, thank you Geoffrey Donahue for an amazing career.