Darnell McDonald

Darnell Tyrone McDonald is a professional baseball player from the United States of America and plays in the outfield. McDonald attended the Cherry Creek High School and opted out of college. Despite his wish to play baseball and football, sports he played in high school, at the University of Texas, he decided to sign with the Baltimore Orioles at the 1997 MLB Amateur Draft at 26th overall.

He began playing professional in 1998 at the A-league affiliate Frederick Keys. After 4 games and 2 stolen bases, he was at the A-Delmarva Shorebirds for 134 games. Hitting at .261, McDonald stole 35 bases, a career high for him. In 1999, he stayed on at A-Frederick Keys and was average through the season, hitting at .266. In 2000, he was promoted to the AA-league with the Bowie Baysox but didn't play any better as he averaged just .242 with the bat in 116 games, stealing only 11 bases.

In 2001, he shuttled between the Baysox and the AAA-Rochester Red Wings. He improved with the AA team in 2002, hitting .292 in 37 games, earning another upgrade to the Rochester side. He had a .289 batting average with the Red Wings. This performance got him an instant promotion to the AAA-league in 2003 and he was part of the Ottawa Lynx, the new affiliate of the Orioles. With just 40 appearances, McDonald had a .296 batting average, something that came down to .234 in 2004. He was still promoted to the Major League team but with the Orioles, he only managed to hit at .156 in 32 at-bats.

The Cleveland Indians signed McDonald on a minor league contract and he played 26 games with the AAA-Buffalo Bisons before shifting to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with their AAA-league side, the Durham Bulls. In 2005, McDonald earned a suspension for violating the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

In 2007, McDonald was sent to the Minnesota Twins, by the Washington Nationals so that the Nationals could keep their Rule 5 Draft pick, Levale Speigner. At the end of 2008, McDonald became a free agent and was signed by the Cincinnati Reds.