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Friday, February 5, 2010

Donnie Scott, One Night in July - 137

Be sure and check out the revisited Donnie Scott feature from February 2011: Donnie Scott, Switch-Hitter


Read the August 2014 interview: Donnie Scott, Down the Road
 
For a player whose four-season major league career amounted to just 173 games, Donnie Scott has done a lot.

There was his participation on the wrong end of Mike Witt's perfect game in 1984, personally going 0-2 and allowing a pass ball that helped lead to the winning team's only run. It would be his last game for Texas. He would soon be traded to Seattle straight up for fellow 1990 CMC setter Orlando Mercado.

There's the five-season gap between major league appearances, coming back in 1991 to play 10 more big league games.

There's also his post-playing career as a manager and a coach. He managed the Billings Mustangs for six seasons, from 1992 to 1996 and 2002. If anyone hasn't seen the new documentary "Cobb Field: A Day at the Ballpark" that's been playing on the MLB Network, check it out, it's a good movie about minor league baseball.

But, perhaps what Scott will be most remembered for will be for one night in July 2008 when he was managing the Dayton Dragons against the Peoria Chiefs.

On that night, Scott, described by The Dayton Daily News as sometimes short-tempered and volatile, was upset with interim Chiefs manager Carmelo Martinez yelling at Scott's players. And Scott let him know, according to a Daily News account.

Martinez came out of the dugout to confront Scott, Martinez then shoved the opposing manager and the benches cleared. In the melee, Chiefs pitcher Julio Castillo fired a baseball toward the Dragon's dugout. He missed and the ball sailed into the stands, beaning a fan. Castillo would later be convicted of assault and sentenced to 30 days in jail.

Video of the Dayton-Peoria brawl:

Scott is in Dayton white near the umpires

The season was Scott's fifth with Dayton in two stints, 2001 to 2003 and 2007 to 2008. It was also his last. His contract was not renewed.

"I don't know if that had anything to do with it," Scott told the Daily News, referring to the brawl. "I think they just wanted to make a change."

He had worked with the Reds organization for 19 seasons, starting with his 1990 stint with AAA Nashville, his 1991 call-up to Cincinnati after a five-year hiatus from the bigs and through his time managing at historic Cobb Field in Billings.

"They did a lot for me," Scott told The Daily News. "I'm just praying I get (another) job."

It appears as though, so far at least, he hasn't.

Read the August 2014 interview: Donnie Scott, Down the Road

To read the Dayton Daily News article on Scott's departure, click here: http://www.daytondailynews.com

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 40/880 - 4.5%
Major Leaguers: 23 - 56%
Never Made the Majors: 17 - 44%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 8
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 15

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