Thank you University of Nebraska Press for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
Mr. Book just finished Mike Donlin: A Rough and Rowdy Life from New York Baseball Idol to Stage and Screen, by Steve Steinberg and Lyle Spatz.
Mike Donlin was a star outfielder of the early 19th century. He played half of his 12-year major league career with the Giants, helping them win the World Series in 1905. Donlin had a .333 lifetime AVG and probably would have a plaque in Cooperstown if he wasn’t also pursuing a vaudeville career that resulted in him making chunks of his career.
Donlin overcame a lot of family tragedy in his life. The number of deaths he endured prior turning 21 were more than anyone should have had to endure. That helped shape the man that he became. But, the family tragedies didn’t end their either.
Donlin had a drinking problem and nearly had his career ended when he was arrested after a brutal assault on an actress in March 1902, which led to his release by the Baltimore Orioles (not the current version, but a discussion of that is too far outside the scope of this book review). Donlin was sentenced to six months in jail, but with good behavior he got out in five, in enough time to sign with the Reds and finish the season with them.
Donlin eventually outstayed his welcome in Cincinnati. He was suspended for 30 days for drunkenness in 1904 and by the time the suspension ended, he was traded to the Giants, where he was reunited with John McGraw, who was his manager in Baltimore.
Donlin’s best season came in 1905, when he hit .356/.413/.495. with a National League leading 124 runs scored for the Giants. The Giants won the World Series, behind the unprecedented pitching performance of Christy Mathewson. But, in February 1906, he was arrested again when he threatened someone with a gun. Nothing happened with the charges, at least legally, but it didn’t help Donlin’s relationship with McGraw. Meanwhile, in April, he married vaudeville star Mabel Hite. Donlin broke his ankle in 1906 and was limited to 37 games. He then sat out the entire 1907 season, due to a salary dispute, and spent the year as Mabel’s agent. Mabel admitted that the salary dispute was just a pretext for him to get away from the Giants. Meanwhile, he signed a big contract to play weekends only for a local team in Chicago.
After another arrest in 1907, Mabel insisted that Donlin undergo alcohol treatment and he then returned to the Giants in 1908, hitting .334. The Giants lost one of the greatest pennant races in baseball history, featuring “Merkle’s Boner”.
After the 1908 season, Donlin decided to start his own vaudeville career. He had another salary dispute with the Giants, while a writer for the Pittsburgh Press didn’t believe he could be a success on stage: “Mike has an idea that he is a vaudeville stage … but if it weren’t for his wife .. and his own popularity, gained through his ranking in the baseball field, he would not draw flies.” But, he did start to have success on stage, while both him and Mabel would also have serious health issues. Donlin also realized he needed to continue to have success on the field in order to maintain his popularity, so midway through the 1909 season, he offered to return to the Giants. But, they weren’t able to agree on a contract and he missed the entire season.
After the 1909 season, Donlin decided he was through with baseball. Mabel later said that the two of them made $53,000 in 1909, compared to just $8,000 that he demanded from the Giants and “wouldn’t you jump your job for that?”
Mabel ended up leaving vaudeville to go into musical comedy, with Donlin continuing to appear with her on the stage. Donlin also sat out the entire 1910 season before returning to the Giants in June 1911. Donlin’s relationship with McGraw never recovered, possibly from McGraw resenting him for sitting out 1907. After Donlin appeared in 12 games for the Giants, he was sold to the Boston Braves (then known as the Rustlers).
The Braves traded Donlin to the Pirates in February 1912 and he hit .316 in both an injury and tragedy filled year. On June 10, Mabel collapsed on stage and Harlem. In the middle of an appendectomy, the surgeon possibly rumored cancerous tissue (but, in the days before CAT and MRI scans, nobody could be certain that was what they were). Peritonitis set in within a day and her doctors said there was “very little hope for her recovery.” Donlin left the team for a while before returning. Mabel died on October 22. The cause of death can’t be conclusively determined. It was reported to have been intestinal cancer, but it could have colon or ovarian cancer or even something else.
The Phillies claimed Donlin off waivers in December 1912. He said he intended to play for them in 1913, but sat out the whole season while performing. The Phillies eventually lost patience with him not returning to baseball and released him in August.
The Giants signed him as a backup outfielder for 1914. He had just 35 plate appearances in 34 games that season, was released at the end of the year and that was the end of his MLB career. Overall, he hit .333 in 12 MLB seasons.
Donlin got remarried after the 1914 season. He was hoping for a job as a minor league manager, but with the exception of a half-season in 1917, wasn’t able to get one. He shortly moved on to a movie career. Among his movies was a biopic purporting to be about his life, but “As was often the case with biopics, the story had little similarity to Mike’s actual life.” But, it was still notable for being the first full-length baseball movie.
For the rest of his life, Donlin continued to act, while still following baseball and still occasionally trying to get another managerial job. He eventually died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 55 in 1933.
I give this book an A. Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).
This was the fourth collaboration between Lyle Spatz and Steve Steinberg that I have read. The others were Comeback Pitchers: The Remarkable Careers Of Howard Ehmke And Jack Quinn (A), The Colonel And Hug: The Partnership That Transformed The New York Yankees (A+) and 1921: The Yankees, The Giants & The Battle For Baseball Supremacy In New York (B). I have also read the following by Spatz: Dixie Walker: A Life In Baseball (A), New York Yankees Openers: An Opening Day History Of Baseball’s Most Famous Team, 1903-2017 (A) and Bridging Two Dynasties: The 1947 New York Yankees (SABR book that he served as editor of). Finally, I have also read Urban Shocker: Silent Hero Of Baseball’s Golden Age (B), by Steinberg.
This review has been posted at Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews
Mr. Book originally finished reading this on July 6, 2024.
