Donnie Elliott

Donald Glenn Elliott

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 190 lb.
• School San Jacinto College
• High School - Deer Park (TX) High School
• Debut April 23, 1994
• Final Game September 19, 1995
• Born September 20, 1968 in Deer Park, TX USA

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Biographical Information

Donnie Elliott began his professional career in 1988, as a starting pitcher after having been a 7th round pick by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1987 amateur draft. Pitching for the Martinsville Phillies, he went 4-2 with a 3.66 ERA, striking out 77 batters in 59 innings pitched that season.

In 1989, he pitched for the Batavia Clippers and Spartanburg Phillies, going a combined 6-4 with a 1.88. He did not play affiliated professional baseball in 1990.

Splitting the 1991 season between Spartanburg and the Clearwater Phillies, Elliott went a combined 11-9 with a 3.25 ERA. On December 9th, he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 1991 Rule V Draft, however he was returned to the Phillies on April 1, 1992. Then on May 28th that year, he was traded to the Atlanta Braves for Ben Rivera. In 103 2/3 innings with the Greenville Braves, he went 7-2 with a 2.08 ERA.

Ranked the ninth best prospect in the Braves organization by Baseball America prior to the 1993 season, he began the year with the Richmond Braves, going 8-5 with a 4.72 ERA with them. On July 18th, his was traded to the San Diego Padres with Melvin Nieves and minor leaguer Vince Moore in return for Fred McGriff. He spent the rest of the year with the Las Vegas Stars, going 2-5 with a 6.37 ERA. Overall, he went 10-10 with a 5.19 ERA.

April 23, 1994 marked the date of Elliott's major league debut with the Padres. It would end up being his only big league start. Ironically, the opposing team he was facing was the team that originally drafted him - the Phillies. Even more ironic, he was facing the pitcher he had been traded for two years earlier - Ben Rivera. Neither pitcher fared very well in that game, with Elliott lasting only 2 2/3 innings, giving up two earned runs, four hits and two walks. Rivera lasted four innings, allowing seven hits, five earned runs and four walks. In the end, the Padres won the game, 8-2. After being converted to a reliever, Elliott did much better, finishing the season with a 3.27 ERA in 30 total games, with his ERA as a reliever being 2.97.

He made only one appearance in the majors in 1995, on September 19th. In two innings, he allowed two hits and one walk, while striking out three batters. He allowed no earned runs. That would be the final game of his big league career. In the minors that season, he spent seven games with the Las Vegas Stars, posting a 4.50 ERA in eight innings.

Even though his big league career was over, he stuck around in the minors for a while. In 1996, he was back in the Phillies organization, pitching for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. He went 5-11 with a 4.79 ERA as a starter. He did not play affiliated baseball in 1997, and in 1998 he played his final season, this time in the Texas Rangers organization. Pitching for the Tulsa Drillers, he went 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA in 20 relief appearances.

Elliott was head coach at South Houston High School for 8 years, then became pitching coach at Deer Park High School in 2013 [1].