Maje McDonnell
Ballplayers Wounded in Combat
| Date and Place of Birth: | July 20, 1920 Philadelphia, PA |
| Date and Place of Death: | July 8, 2010 Philadelphia, PA |
| Baseball Experience: | Major League |
| Position: | Coach |
| Rank: | Unknown |
| Military Unit: | Service Company, 379th Infantry Regiment, 95th Infantry Division US Army |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
Robert A. "Maje" McDonnell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on
July 20, 1920. He grew up in the Port Richmond section of the city and
got hooked on the Phillies from an early age. Because he was always
playing baseball, people began calling him the "little major leaguer,"
which was eventually shortened to "Major" or "Maje."
Despite standing just 5-foot 6-inches tall and weighing 130 pounds,
McDonnell was a baseball and basketball standout at Northeast High
School and then Villanova College. But following his sophomore year at
Villanova in 1943, he was inducted into military service with the Army.
Although he played some service baseball, hurling a 7-0 no-hitter for
the 379th Infantry Regiment team of Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, against Parish Steel Company
on July 14, 1944, for example, McDonnell soon found himself in England
with
the 379th as part of the 95th Infantry Division, where he was
in charge of the athletic program for the regiment at Barton Stacey Camp
in Hampshire.
Later in the year, the 379th landed at Omaha Beach, Normandy. "Our company's responsibility was to remove the American bodies off the beach," he told author Mike McNesby. "We were called the 'Goul Patrol' because one of our jobs was to pick up the bodies and move them to a staging area. On the beach, we found two guys who were still living. It was because of this action that I received a Bronze Star."
McDonnell went on to fight battles in Northern France, Rhineland,
Ardennes, Alsace and Central Europe, earning five battle stars and a
Purple Heart for wounds received in combat. "We were in Saarlauten,
Germany," he explained. "I was on the second floor of a building and the
Germans were bombing the town. A shell exploded and shrapnel hit me over
the left eye. It wasn't that bad. You can still see the scar."
Following his military discharge in 1945, McDonnell returned to
Villanova and struck out seven in a 7-6 loss to the Phillies in 1947.
The 5-foot-6 pitcher impressed Phillies' General Manager Herb Pennock,
not as a player prospect, but believed he could help as a batting
practice pitcher while apprenticing in the front office.
"You can't imagine how excited I was," McDonnell recalled. "Mr. Pennock
wanted me with the Phillies. I couldn't wait. There was a jersey, No.
45. We didn't have names on the back in those days. If someone wanted to
hit in the morning, at noon or at night, I'd be there ready to throw."
McDonnell went on to become a member of the Phillies coaching staff and
was with the Whizz Kids when they beat the Dodgers to clinch the
National League pennant on the last day of the season in 1950. McDonnell
said his greatest thrill was pitching two innings for the Phillies in an
exhibition game. He stayed with the club until 1966, when he left to be
a "goodwill ambassador" for Ballantine beer and head baseball coach at
Chestnut Hill Academy.
In 1973, he was enticed back to the Phillies organization joining the
Community Relations Department, working as a camp instructor, stadium
tour guide, and community relations speaker. He eventually retired in
2009. "All my life I only wanted to be a Phillie," he recalled. "I never
worked a day in my life. It's been beautiful, the greatest life a man
could know. I may have not made a lot of money, but what I experienced
is worth a fortune."
McDonnell was inducted into the Villanova Hall of Fame, the Northeast
High School Hall of Fame, the Philadelphia Chapter of the Pennsylvania
Sports Hall of Fame, and the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. He was
awarded the Richie Ashburn Special Achievement Award in 2002, presented
each year to a member of the Phillies organization who demonstrates the
same loyalty, dedication and passion for the game as the award's
namesake.
“It’s been a great life,” McDonnell said in 2008. “I’ve done exactly
what I wanted to do.”
Maje McDonnell passed away at his home in the Mayfair section of
Philadelphia, on July 8, 2010, aged 89.
Date Added December 25, 2017. Updated May 26, 2020
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