Donnie Sadler

Donnie Lamont Sadler

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 6", Weight 175 lb.
• High School Valley Mills High School
• Debut April 1, 1998
• Final Game May 12, 2007
• Born June 17, 1975 in Clifton, TX USA

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Biographical Information

Donnie Sadler attended Valley Mills High School in Valley Mills, Texas (where he was an all-state shortstop). Sadler is small in stature, standing at only 5'6" tall and weighing 175 pounds.

Drafted 229th overall by the Boston Red Sox in the 1994 amateur draft, Sadler quickly displayed impressive speed in the minor leagues. From 1994 to 1996, for example, he averaged nearly 36 steals per season, while playing in an average of only 95 games each year. He earned a spot on the Midwest League All-Star team in 1995 because he not only stole 41 bases, he batted a respectable .283 with nine home runs and 55 RBI.

Donnie Sadler made his big league debut at the age of 23 in the second game of the 1998 season, April 1st. Although Sadler's Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 2-0 that game, he really didn't help out much: he went 0 for 3 at the plate.

After starting the season without collecting a single hit in his first 11 at-bats, he was quickly sent down and did not see any Major League action until July of that year. The first hit of his career was quite impressive: it came in his second game after being recalled from the Pawtucket Red Sox in July off pitcher Jason Bere on July 3rd. He smacked a triple in the 6th inning. Although he finished the game 1 for 5, he did help the Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 15-2. He scored one of the Red Sox's many runs in that game.

The rest of his career saw him bouncing up and down between the minors and majors, spending only one season in the majors for the entire year: 2001 which he split between the Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals.

He has been involved in a couple of noteworthy transactions in his career. The first occurred on November 16, 2000, when he and Michael Coleman were sent to the Reds for Chris Stynes. The second came on June 20, 2001, when the Reds traded Sadler to the Royals for minor league pitcher Cary Ammons.

His career batting average was only .202, and he did not shown the speed he displayed in the minors: the highest total of stolen bases he has had in a season was 7. Oddly, of the 6 home runs he hit in his career, 3 of them came in his first 124 at-bats. He hit only 3 more in 644 at-bats after that.

His postseason batting average was .500: he collected 1 hit (a double) in 2 at-bats.

His career fielding percentage was .967. Overall, he was most statistically similar to Sammy Esposito. He spent five professional seasons with Michael Coleman, Brian Barkley, Jared Fernandez and Brian Rose - longer than any other teammates.

In 2007, Sadler was suspended for 50 games after a positive drug test.

Sadler was a coach for the GCL Phillies in 2010. He was then the Philadelphia Phillies' outfield/baserunning coordinator in 2011.

Sadler's cousin Ray Sadler played in the majors in 2005.