You
are purchasing a 2020 Topps Triple Threads Gold Jumbo Relic card #SJR-JDN of
Minnesota Twins 3rd baseman Josh Donaldson serial numbered 9/9. The card has a large red game-used piece of
his jersey that is certified by Topps.
The beautiful gold background goes great with the high resolution
photograph of Josh Donaldson. Donaldson was
traded to the Blue Jays following the 2014 season. He was named as a starter to
the 2015 MLB All-Star Game, earning the most fan votes obtained by a
player in the process, and was voted the American League's Most
Valuable Player in 2015. Donaldson also won the Silver Slugger
Award and led the American League in RBIs (runs batted in) and runs scored
that year. As an added bonus, you will
receive a 2022 Topps 1987 style insert card #T87C-11 of Josh Donaldson. These cards are an absolute must have for any
Josh Donaldson, retired MLB star or Minnesota Twins collector/fan/investor!
Joshua Adam Donaldson (born December 8, 1985) is an American former
professional baseball third baseman. In his 13-year Major League
Baseball (MLB) career, he played for the Oakland
Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta
Braves, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, and Milwaukee
Brewers.
The Chicago
Cubs drafted Donaldson in the 2007 MLB draft after he had
played college baseball at Auburn University. He made his MLB
debut with the Athletics in 2010 as a catcher. Donaldson progressed with the
team, switched positions to third base, and eventually became an All-Star
in 2014.
Donaldson was traded to the
Blue Jays following the 2014 season. He was named as a starter to the 2015
MLB All-Star Game, earning the most fan votes obtained by a player in the
process, and was voted the American League's Most Valuable
Player in 2015. Donaldson also won the Silver Slugger
Award and led the American League in RBIs (runs batted in) and runs scored
that year.
Donaldson was traded to the
Indians in August 2018, signed with the Braves for the 2019 season, signed a
four-year deal with the Twins in January 2020, was traded to the Yankees in
March 2022, was released by the Yankees in August 2023, and spent the rest of
the 2023 season with the Brewers before retiring in March 2024.
Donaldson enrolled
at Auburn University, where he played college baseball as
a catcher and third baseman for the Auburn Tigers
baseball team in the Southeastern Conference. During his freshman
season in 2005, Donaldson started 39 games at third base, hitting .294 with
seven home runs, and also began learning to play catcher. In his sophomore
season, Donaldson hit .276 and led the team with ten home runs; he also threw
out 15 of 38 base stealers and had seven pickoffs. In the summer of 2006,
Donaldson played for the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod
Baseball League where he was an All-Star and hit .302. In 2007,
Donaldson was named a Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American.
The Chicago
Cubs drafted Donaldson as a catcher in the first round (48th overall) of
the 2007 Major League Baseball draft. In his first minor league
season Donaldson played 53 games for the Rookie Arizona League
Cubs and Short Season-A Boise Hawks, batting a combined .335 with
nine home runs and 25 RBIs. He also walked more than he struck out, with 39 and
38 respectively. In 2008, he played 63 games with the Class-A Peoria
Chiefs, where he hit .217 with six home runs and 23 RBIs.
In July 2008, the Cubs traded
Donaldson, Matt Murton, Eric Patterson, and Sean
Gallagher to the Oakland Athletics for Rich
Harden and Chad Gaudin. He played 47 games with the
Advanced-A Stockton Ports, where he batted .330 and had nine home runs and
39 RBIs. Donaldson then played the entire 2009 season with the
Double-A Midland RockHounds, and recorded a batting average of .270 with
nine home runs and 91 RBIs.
Donaldson was called up to
the majors for the first time on April 30, 2010, filling in for injured
catcher Kurt Suzuki. He made his debut that night as a pinch
hitter, and struck out. The next day, he recorded his first major league hit, a
two-run home run on the first pitch by Toronto Blue
Jays pitcher Dana Eveland. In 14 games played during the 2010
season, Donaldson made 34 plate appearances and recorded five hits. After
returning to the minor leagues, he spent the season with the
Triple-A Sacramento River Cats and hit .238 with 18 home runs and 67
RBIs for the season. Donaldson played the entire 2011 season in
Sacramento, improving his average to .261, and hit 17 home runs and 70 RBIs.
Donaldson officially converted to third base from catching in the beginning of the 2012 season during spring training. He started the regular season as the everyday third baseman for the A's for the first half, but due to struggles he was sent to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats for much of the season. The A's recalled him in mid August after everyday third baseman Brandon Inge was placed on the 15-day disabled list with an injured arm. Donaldson helped the A's into making the postseason, and finished the 2012 season with nine home runs, 33 RBIs and a .241 average.
Against Detroit
Tigers reliever Brayan Villarreal, Donaldson hit his first
career walk-off home run on April 12, 2013. It was the A's first
walk-off win in 2013. He hit his first career grand slam on June 7
against Chicago White Sox starter Chris Sale. Major League
Baseball named Donaldson the American League Player of the Month for
September after batting .337 with 20 runs scored, eight doubles, five home runs
and 16 RBIs in 25 games. He played 158 games and finished the season with
24 home runs, 93 RBIs and a .301 average and placed fourth in AL
MVP voting.
Donaldson was elected to his
first All-Star appearance in 2014 as the starter at third
base for the American League. Donaldson hit a three-run walk-off home run
in the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles on July 17 to lead
the A's to a 5–4 victory. Donaldson won his first career Fielding Bible Award for
his work at third base. During the 2014 season, Donaldson hit 98 RBIs, 29
home runs, and 93 runs scored, beating out his career highs with Oakland.
However, Donaldson's batting average went down to .255. Donaldson would end up finishing 8th in
the AL MVP voting.
On November 28, 2014, the Athletics traded Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays for Brett Lawrie, Kendall Graveman, Sean Nolin, and Franklin Barreto. The following February, he lost his salary arbitration case against the Blue Jays after seeking $5.75 million. Instead, he was awarded the Blue Jays' offer of $4.3 million for the 2015 season.
On June 1, Donaldson was
named the American League Player of the Week for the second time in
his career. From May 25–31, he batted .440 with 11 runs scored, six home runs,
and 11 RBIs. A campaign was launched in early June to elect Donaldson as a
starter to the 2015 MLB All-Star Game, which was led by Don
Cherry and Stephen Amell. At the time the campaign began, Mike
Moustakas of the Kansas City Royals led voting for third
basemen. It was announced in a voting update on June 29 that Donaldson had
surpassed Moustakas, and on July 5, was announced as the starting third
baseman for the All-Star game, with a record 14,090,188 votes. He participated
in the Home Run Derby on July 13, losing in the semi-finals to
eventual winner Todd Frazier.
From August 3–9, he batted
.385 (10 hits in 26 at bats) with two doubles, five home runs, eight RBIs and
nine runs scored as the Blue Jays won eight games in a row. This performance
led to his second AL Player of the Week Award of the season.
By the end of August, observers began referring to Donaldson's season as one of the best in Blue Jays' history. Several members of the media wrote articles naming him as the American League Most Valuable Player Award frontrunner over Mike Trout, and fans attending both home and away games began chanting "M-V-P! M-V-P!" when he would bat. On September 7, Donaldson hit his 100th career home run. He hit his 40th home run of the season on September 25, and in doing so, joined Shawn Green and Carlos Delgado as the only players in franchise history to have 40 doubles and 40 home runs in the same season. Donaldson finished the 2015 regular season with a .297 batting average, 122 runs scored, 41 doubles, 41 home runs, and 123 RBIs. According to Baseball-Reference.com, his 8.8 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) in 2015 ranked as the highest single-season total in club history, surpassing José Bautista's previous record of 8.1 in 2011.
Sporting News announced on October 29, 2015, that Donaldson had
won their MLB Player of the Year Award. Other awards included the
American League Hank Aaron Award, the American League third
baseman's Silver Slugger Award, and Players Choice
Awards for both Major League Player of the Year and American League
Outstanding Player. On November 19, 2015, Donaldson was named
the 2015 American League Most Valuable Player (AL
MVP), finishing ahead of Mike Trout and Lorenzo Cain. On
December 5, 2015, Donaldson was revealed as the cover athlete for MLB
The Show 16.
In February 2016,
Donaldson and the Blue Jays appeared to be heading to salary arbitration for
the second consecutive year. Donaldson had asked for $11.8 million for the 2016
season, while the Blue Jays had countered at $11.35 million. On February 10,
Donaldson signed a two-year, $28.65 million extension that paid him $11.65
million in 2016 and $17 million in 2017.
In the first half of 2016,
Donaldson resumed the high level of play from his MVP season. He won the June
19 Player of the Week Award after hitting three home runs, four doubles, one
triple and nine runs driven in with 12 hits in 27 at bats. He led the league in
total bases (27), extra-base hits (8) and tied for first in slugging percentage
(1.000). On July 7, he was announced as a reserve for the American
League in the 2016 All-Star Game. Heading into the All-Star
break, Donaldson was batting .304 with 23 home runs and 63 RBIs. He had also
scored 80 runs, which made him the first player in Blue Jays history to do so
before the All-Star break. On August 28, Donaldson hit three home runs in
a game for the first time in his career, leading the Blue Jays to a 9–6 win and
a sweep of the Minnesota Twins. Donaldson finished the 2016 regular
season with a .284 batting average, 37 home runs, and 99 RBI.
Despite struggling with a hip
injury late in the season, Donaldson played very well in the
Jays' division series with the Texas Rangers, the second
consecutive season Toronto faced Texas in the playoffs. In the three
game sweep, he hit for a .500 batting average, five doubles, .526 on-base
percentage, .778 slugging percentage, four runs scored and three RBI. He
also scored the series-winning run in the tenth inning in dramatic fashion,
scampering home from second base on a heads-up base running play following a
throwing error by Rangers' second baseman Rougned
Odor. Donaldson was awarded his second consecutive Silver Slugger Award on
November 10. He finished fourth in American League MVP voting.
On April 13, 2017, Donaldson
left the game after straining his right calf, and was placed on the 10-day
disabled list the following day. He returned to the lineup in late May.
From August 1 to the end of the 2017 season, Donaldson hit .302 with 22 home
runs in 227 plate appearances.
On January 12, 2018,
Donaldson avoided salary arbitration with the Blue Jays by agreeing to a
one-year, $23 million contract for the 2018 season.
On March 30, it was revealed
that Donaldson was diagnosed with dead arm syndrome, in which he was
criticized for his awkward throws on opening day. Although the issue was not
too serious, the Blue Jays decided to use Donaldson temporarily as a designated
hitter. On April 13, he was placed on the 10-day disabled list for
shoulder inflammation. His return to action was cemented with a two-RBI
double which was critical in ensuring a 13–9 win over the Cleveland
Indians. However, Donaldson returned to the 10-day disabled list on June 1
after suffering a calf strain. While on rehab assignment on June 26, he
re-aggravated the calf strain and was eventually transferred to the 60-day
disabled list.
On August 31, 2018, the Blue Jays traded Donaldson to the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later, later revealed to be pitching prospect Julian Merryweather. Donaldson wore the number 27 as number 20 is retired in honor of Frank Robinson. On September 3, he was placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a left calf strain, and sent to the Triple-A Columbus Clippers on a rehab assignment, where he hit a grand slam in his first rehab game. The Indians activated Donaldson from the disabled list on September 11, 2018. Donaldson made his Indians debut that evening, starting at third base and batting fifth.
On November 26, 2018,
Donaldson signed a one-year, $23 million contract with the Atlanta Braves.
Donaldson batted .259/.379/.521 with 37 home runs and 94 RBIs in 2019. He made
contact with the lowest percentage of pitches he swung at in the strike zone
(76.6%) of all NL batters. On defense in 2019, he had a 15 Defensive
Runs Saved (DRS) rating, the best in the National League among third
basemen. He was named the 2019 NL Comeback Player of the Year.
On January 22, 2020,
Donaldson signed a four-year $92 million contract with the Minnesota
Twins. In his first season with the Twins, Donaldson was limited to 28
games in the shortened 60-game season because of injury. He hit .222 with six
home runs and 11 RBIs. In October 2020, Donaldson tweeted his opinion that
umpire John Tumpane was a "Top 3 worst ump in the game,"
adding "Trust me this guy has no idea what the zone is in the rule
book."
On January 31, 2021,
Donaldson changed his number from 24, which he used in his first year in
Minnesota, to his customary 20, vacated by the recently departed Eddie
Rosario. On May 29, Donaldson scored the 2,000,000th run in MLB history when he
scored on a ground-rule double hit by Nelson Cruz off Kansas City
Royals pitcher Ervin Santana.
On March 13, 2022, the Twins
traded Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Ben Rortvedt to
the New York Yankees in exchange for Gary
Sánchez and Gio Urshela. On May 23, MLB suspended Donaldson for one
game for making what they determined to be a "disrespectful" comment
made "in poor judgement" toward Tim Anderson, after Donaldson
called him "Jackie" in reference to a 2019 Anderson interview. On
August 17, Donaldson hit a walk-off grand slam in the tenth inning
during a game against the Tampa Bay Rays, winning the game 8–7. He became
only the third Yankees player with a walk-off ultimate grand slam in
Yankees franchise history, following Babe Ruth (1926) and Jason
Giambi (2002).
In 2022, he batted
.222/.308/.374 with 15 home runs and 62 RBIs, and made contact with only 75.5%
of all pitches he swung at in the strike zone, the lowest percentage in the
major leagues.
In 2023, Donaldson hit .142
with 10 home runs and 15 RBIs across 33 games before he was placed on the
injured list with a right calf strain on July 16. The next day, it was
reported that Donaldson could miss the remainder of the season with the
injury, and he was transferred to the 60–day injured list on July
21 before being released on August 29.
On August 31, 2023, Donaldson
signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee
Brewers organization and was assigned to the Triple–A Nashville
Sounds. After hitting .177 in 5 games for Nashville, Donaldson was
selected to Milwaukee's major league roster on September 11. In 17 games
for the Brewers, Donaldson hit .169/.290/.390 with 3 home runs and 11 RBI. He
became a free agent following the season.
On March 4, 2024, Donaldson
announced his retirement from baseball.
Winning bidder/ buyer will receive actual card(s) pictured in the
listing above. Buy/ bid with confidence.
Total Shipping (USPS Ground Advantage/First
Class Mail) inside the US is FREE. If SHIPPING IS OUTSIDE THE US, please add $25
(approximately) for First Class
International Mail. We will gladly
ship to Japan and most countries. We will check with our local post office for the exact price to
your address rounded up to the nearest
dollar. (Please request an invoice after adding to card) Bubble mailer or
sturdy box and careful packaging are
included with all orders. We will ship out your item within two business days after your payment
arrives. Check out our other weekly auctions and our eBay store (click on
the Blue door icon next to our eBay ID). Good Luck and Thank You for looking!