[新聞] A's Donaldson takes nothing for grante

[ThomasHSNU (mimura *^^*)]

http://www.sfchronicle.com/athletics/article/A-s-Donaldson-takes-nothing-for-granted-4544891.php?t=be71c5f9fc3d4cb4da

A's Donaldson takes nothing for granted

3rd baseman has fun playing game he respects


Susan Slusser


May 24, 2013

Hard as it might be to fathom now, there was a time last year when Josh
Donaldson figured he had no future with the A's.

"I thought this organization was done with me," Donaldson said of his two
demotions last summer.


He reapplied himself, and his persistence paid off: Donaldson, 27, is the top
All-Star candidate among Oakland's position players. He has a team-high 25
RBIs, and he's playing "a Gold Glove caliber" third base, one American League
scout said last week.

Much of Donaldson's resolve comes from his mom, Lisa French, who was a single
mother much of Donaldson's youth. Before Donaldson was in school, his parents
had divorced and his father, Levon, was sent to prison for 15 years for drug-
related offenses and domestic violence.

French worked both days and nights at the family bar to have the flexibility to
see all of Donaldson's sporting events, determined to provide her only child
with stability after the early family upheaval.

"A lot of stuff was going on that was not good," Donaldson said. "I had to grow
up pretty fast. That helped the bond between me and my mom be even closer.

"At one point, the cops were looking for him, and he asked me, 'Who do you want
to go with, me or your mom?' I was 4 years old. I obviously picked my mom."

As a child, Donaldson visited his father in prison and he has not cut him out
of his life entirely, though he rarely sees him.

"I hope he's learned," Donaldson said. "He's done his time, and for the most
part, most of the males on that side of my family are dead or in jail. I'm
definitely not looking for sympathy - the credit goes to my mom and how brave
and awesome she is. She's special - what every mom should be like. And she'd
never say a bad word about my dad. She'd say, 'Hey, he's your father, you
should have a relationship with him.' "

"I never allowed anyone to bad-mouth his dad in front of him," French said.
"I never wanted that to come back on me when Josh was old enough to make his
own decisions. And I was so lucky to have my brother in the picture, too, as
a prime example of what a dad should be."

Donaldson's uncle, Chuck Pyritz, introduced Donaldson to football when he was
8, and he became a standout: He had 11 interceptions as a high school senior at
Faith Academy in Alabama, and was named MVP of the Alabama private school All-
Star Game after two touchdowns and 130 yards receiving. (Donaldson once told
his mother he didn't want to be very tall because he wanted to be like his
favorite player, Emmitt Smith. Whenever he complains about stalling out at 6-
feet, she likes to remind him of that.) He also was the Alabama baseball Player
of the Year as a senior.

Donaldson's athletic ability was apparent early. He was on television at 18
months old because he was hitting drives with a picture-perfect golf swing,
something his dad had taught him.

French made sure her son was occupied with school and sports every day to keep
him out of trouble, and with a laugh, she describes Donaldson as "the perfect
child - until he hit 14 and suddenly that mouth became the smartest mouth on
the face of the Earth."

Donaldson does have a brash side - he can be his own biggest fan but also has a
sense of humor about himself, usually following up a boast with something
equally self-deprecating.

"He was quite a bit of a showboat," French said. "He always wanted to make a
statement. I can remember once he ran right out of his shoes while jumping over
a second baseman. Some people don't appreciate it, but that's his personality.
When you're a professional athlete, you have to have little bit of an ego or
you're not going to make it."

"I definitely get some grief," Donaldson said of his occasionally self-
congratulatory ways. "That's been with me since college, when I was the most
hated man by other teams. Sometimes people take it the wrong way, but if you
watch the way I play, I respect the game, and I'm still having fun. I'm a kid
in a grown-up's body."

Donaldson also always has time for young fans; a parent with a special-needs
child recently remarked how good Donaldson had been with his son, making a
special trip over to the stands to say hello.

That also was instilled by his mother.

"Once a year, we would go see the Braves play, but one time when Josh was about
10, he waited by the tunnel for 2 1/2 hours for an autograph, and no one signed
one for him," French said. "He said, 'I hate the Braves,' and he was so
disappointed, we never went back. I told him, 'You always remember that. If you
ever are in that situation, don't you ever deny a child an autograph.' "

Knowing last winter that he would be the A's starting third baseman, Donaldson
amped up his already demanding offseason training. He began to work out with
Jerry Partsch, a strength coach at South Alabama, and Partsch addressed some
posture issues - many years of catching had left Donaldson's hips out of the
ideal alignment.

Working different muscle groups did the trick - the former catcher was doing
box jumps at Yoenis Cespedes levels, leaping 52 inches.

"He was jumping out of the gym," Partsch said.

He's also strong - during spring training, Donaldson could squat 465 pounds
after a winter of flipping tires and throwing kegs with Partsch. He believes
his workout habits will keep him healthy as well as performing at his peak
ability.

As for his offensive consistency since he came back up last August - he hit
.290 after his recall - Donaldson had an epiphany last summer in Sacramento.
"I was trying to hit everything - fastballs inside, sliders away, and it wasn't
working," he said. "I decided to cut the plate in half, and look either inside
or outside. That gave me the ability to home in on the zone, and I think that's
ultimately been the biggest part of the success I had last year and this."

Donaldson has 22 walks this year after only 14 all of last season, his .308
average is tops on the team and his .383 on-base percentage is 13th best in the
league.

"If you'd told me in the middle of last year I'd be Oakland's starting third
baseman, I'd have called you a bald-faced liar, but if there's one thing I've
learned in my life, it's that you get chances and you can go down one road or
the other," Donaldson said. "Every day, I try to get better. I don't take a
single day for granted."


--
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◆ From: 220.135.90.179
推 nathancn:今年的選球比去年八月回來又進步不少!今天還4-4 1BB
→ fifth:所以他不能蹲了嗎  可惜
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推 potterlin:請問最後一句I don't take a single day for granted.要
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推 condition0:不以一天的表現而滿足(?
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推 youngways:今年真是大起大落，不過真要感謝太空人
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推 hobbit7416:追到差2.5了~ Amazing
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→ ThomasHSNU:寫完了~校稿
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