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Lou Donaldson
Lou Donaldson checking out a Mike LeDonne solo
Background information
Born	(1926-11-01) November 1, 1926 (age 85) Badin, North Carolina United States
Genres	Bebop, hard bop, jazz blues, soul jazz
Occupations	Bandleader, composer, saxophonist
Instruments	Alto saxophone
Years active	1952–present
Associated acts	Milt Jackson, Clifford Brown, Art Blakey, Jimmy Smith, Lonnie Smith

Lou Donaldson (born November 1, 1926) is a jazz alto saxophonist. He was born in Badin, North Carolina. He is best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was, as many were of the bebop era, heavily influenced by Charlie Parker.^[1]

His first recordings were with the Charlie Singleton Orchestra in 1950^[2] and then with bop emissaries Milt Jackson and Thelonious Monk in 1952,^[3] and he participated in several small groups with other jazz luminaries such as trumpeter Blue Mitchell, pianist Horace Silver, and drummer Art Blakey.^[1]

In 1953, he also recorded sessions with the trumpet virtuoso Clifford Brown, and Philly Joe Jones. He was a member of Art Blakey's Quintet and appeared on some of their best regarded albums, including the two albums recorded at Birdland in February 1954 Night at Birdland.

He has recorded in the bop, hard bop, and soul jazz genres. For many years his pianist was Herman Foster.

Discography[link]

As leader[link]

Donaldson with Dr. Lonnie Smith (organ). Photo by Tom Beetz

• 1952: Quartet/Quintet/Sextet
• 1957: Wailing with Lou
• 1957: Swing and Soul
• 1957: Jimmy Smith Trio + LD
• 1957: Lou Takes Off
• 1958: Blues Walk
• 1958: Light-Foot
• 1959: LD + 3
• 1959: The Time is Right
• 1960: Sunny Side Up
• 1960: Midnight Sun
• 1961: Here 'Tis
• 1961: Gravy Train
• 1961: A Man with a Horn
• 1962: The Natural Soul
• 1963: Good Gracious!
• 1963: Signifyin'
• 1964: Possum Head
• 1964: Cole Slaw
• 1964: Rough House Blues
• 1965: Musty Rusty
• 1965: Fried Buzzard
• 1966: Blowing in the Wind
• 1966: Lou Donaldson At His Best
• 1967: Lush Life
• 1967: Alligator Bogaloo
• 1967: Mr. Shing-A-Ling
• 1968: Midnight Creeper
• 1968: Say It Loud!
• 1969: Hot Dog
• 1970: Everything I Play is Funky
• 1970: Pretty Things
• 1970: The Scorpion
• 1971: Cosmos
• 1972: Sophisticated Lou
• 1973: Sassy Soul Strut
• 1974: Sweet Lou
• 1976: A Different Scene
• 1976: Color as a Way of Life
• 1981: Sweet Poppa Lou
• 1981: Forgotten Man
• 1982: Back Street
• 1984: Live in Bologna
• 1990: Play the Right Thing
• 1992: Birdseed
• 1993: Caracas
• 1995: Sentimental Journey
• 2000: Relaxing at Sea: Live on the QE2

Compilations[link]

• 1994: The Righteous Reed! The Best of Poppa Lou
• 1996: The Best of Lou Donaldson, Vol. 2 The Blue Note Years.
• 1998: Blue Breakbeats

As sideman[link]

With Clifford Brown

• Memorial Album (Blue Note, 1953)

With Milt Jackson

• All Star Bags (Prestige, 1953)

With Thelonious Monk

• Genius of Modern Music (Blue Note, 1952)

With Miles Davis

• Bags' Groove (Prestige, 1954)

With Art Blakey

• A Night at Birdland Vol. 1 (Blue Note, 1954)
• A Night at Birdland Vol. 2 (Blue Note, 1954)
• A Night at Birdland Vol. 3 (Blue Note, 1954)

With Jimmy Smith

• A Date with Jimmy Smith Volume One (Blue Note, 1957)
• A Date with Jimmy Smith Volume Two (Blue Note, 1957)
• House Party (Blue Note, 1958)
• The Sermon! (Blue Note, 1958)
• Cool Blues (Blue Note, 1958)
• Rockin' the Boat (Blue Note, 1963)

References[link]

Lonnie Smith (born December 22, 1955 in Chicago, Illinois) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He made his debut for the Philadelphia Phillies on September 2, 1978 and later played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Baltimore Orioles. He overcame bouts with drug abuse to become one of the top base-stealers in baseball during the decade of the 1980s(7th).^[1] He played on five pennant-winning teams, three of which won the World Series.

Philadelphia Phillies[link]

After brief trials with the Phillies in 1978 and 1979, Smith broke into the team's lineup in 1980, batting .339 in 100 games. The Phillies won the National League pennant and defeated the Kansas City Royals in the World Series. Smith's performance was strong enough for him to finish third in the Rookie of the Year balloting following the season. He continued to play well in the strike-shortened 1981 season, hitting .324.

St. Louis Cardinals[link]

He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in November 1981.^[2] Smith continued to hit well in 1982, and to have a good on-base percentage. In fact, 1982 was a high-water year for Smith in several different ways: Smith was in the MLB All-Star Game for the only time in his career in 1982. He had a batting average of .307, and on-base percentage of .381. He led the National League with 120 runs scored, which was the only time that he scored 100+ runs in a season during his baseball career. Smith also set career highs in 1982 with 592 at-bats, 182 hits, 35 doubles, and 257 total bases during the regular season. He also ranked second in the National league with a career-high 68 stolen bases on the basepaths, but he was also caught stealing a career-high 26 times, since the Cardinals' manager had ordered his fastest players to attempt to steal bases whenever possible as part of his strategy for winning.

All of the above pushed Smith all the way up to second place in voting for the regular-season National League Most Valuable Player for 1982. That season, the outfielder Dale Murphy of the Atlanta Braves won the National League MVP award, tying for the lead in runs batted in and walloping 36 home runs.

Smith batted a healthy .321 during the 1982 World Series, and he helped the Cardinals to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers ("Harvey's Wallbangers"), four games to three.

Smith continued to play well during 1983, batting .321 (which placed him second in the National League only to Bill Madlock's .323), but in just 130 games, to again draw some MVP votes. However, this baseball season was struck with his first bout with illicit drug abuse, and that sidelined him for a month at mid-season - though nobody but Smith knew the real reason at the time.^[3]

Smith returned to the Cardinals after his time on the bench in 1983, and he remained with them through the end of the 1984 baseball season.

Kansas City Royals[link]

Smith was traded to the Royals in exchange for outfielder John Morris on May 17, 1985. The Royals were able to fill their left field spot with Smith; they had lacked an everyday player since the departure of Amos Otis two years earlier. Smith's past met his present following the regular season, when he hit .333 in the 1985 World Series to lead the Royals to a seven-game upset of the favored Cardinals. Smith went on to have his best season in three years in 1986, but saw his playing time reduced during the 1987 season.

Atlanta Braves[link]

In July 1987, Smith told the Kansas City Times that under his agreement with the Commissioner of baseball he was supposed to be tested six to eight times per-year but had not been tested so far during 1987. More so, he strongly disagreed with Commissioner Ueberroth that professional baseball was free from illicit drugs.^[4] Following the 1987 season, Smith had trouble finding a new team to play with, and he came to think that then-Royals general manager John Schuerholz had blackballed him from the other baseball teams.

By his own account, Smith was depressed and also addicted to cocaine when he considered murdering Schuerholz, and had even purchased a pistol for that purpose. However, Smith then had second thoughts about committing such a serious crime, and he dropped that idea entirely.^[5]

During March of 1988, then-Atlanta Braves general manager Bobby Cox (who would be succeeded by Schuerholz during Smith's time in Atlanta) offered Smith a contract to play there. During Spring Training, he made it to the team's 25-man roster, but he batted just .237 in limited playing time that season. However, in 1989, he cracked the starting line-up for the Braves' outfield, and he went on to accomplish one of his best baseball seasons, ever. During that season, Smith had a batting average of .315, and also had a career-high total of 21 home runs. Smith also led the National League with a .415 on-base percentage. Smith finished 11th in the voting of N.L. Most Valuable Player, and he was awarded the MLB Comeback Player of the Year Award.

Smith continued to be a regular outfielder for the Braves during the next two baseball seasons, batting .305 in 1990 and .275 in 1991. Smith's play in 1991 helped the Braves move from last place in the National League West in 1990 up to winning the National League pennant 1991, and playing in the World Series for the first time since 1958, back when the Braves had Milwaukee, Wisconsin as their home city.

1991 World Series[link]

Smith committed a baserunning blunder very late in the Seventh Game of the 1991 World Series, playing against the Minnesota Twins. Smith was on first base with no men out in the eighth inning of this scoreless (0 - 0) game. Then, the Braves' batter Terry Pendleton stuck a line-drive double to left field. It appeared that Smith should have been able to score following this hit, but as he was rounding second base, he stumbled momentarily, and he stopped at third base. Smith later stated that he had lost sight of the baseball against the ceiling of the Minnesota Metrodome stadium, but replays from the TV coverage of the game showed that the Twins' second baseman Chuck Knoblauch had deceived Smith by pretending to receive the baseball thrown in from the outfielder.^[5]

Regardless of the cause, Smith advanced just to third base. Next, the bases became loaded, and then Smith was forced out at home plate in a double play. The Braves did not score a run during this team at-bat. The score remained (0 - 0), and that was how it remained at the end of the ninth inning.

The Twins went on to score one run in the bottom of the tenth inning, hence winning the game 1-0 and winning the World Series four games to three.

Retirement[link]

Smith remained with the Braves through the end of the 1992 baseball season, and he helped the Braves win the National League pennant once again, though they lost the World Series four games to two against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Next, Smith departed from the Braves, and he signed up with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he played one season, and then one more with the Baltimore Orioles, where he played mostly as just a pinch-hitter. Smith played in his final Major League Baseball game on August 10, 1994.

After retiring from pro baseball, Smith married once more, and he and his wife returned to Atlanta to reside. They became the parents of three children. Smith very briefly re-entered national attention in 2006, when he told a newspaper from Columbia, S.C., about his notion (then reversed it) to murder Schuerholz eighteen years earlier.^[5]

Records and achievements[link]

• Smith is the only player to be a member of three different World Series winning teams (the Phillies, Cardinals, and Royals) within a single decade, and he did this in a six-year period.

• Smith set the franchise record for the St. Louis Cardinals on September 4, 1982, when he stole five bases in a single game.

• Smith won the National League's runs-scored championship in 1982, when he scored 120 runs for the St. Louis Cardinals. In that baseball season, he led the Cardinals to the National League pennant and also a World Series championship. The was also his only baseball season in which he was selected to play on the National League All-Star Team.

Nickname[link]

Smith was branded with the nickname "Skates" due to his somewhat awkward footwork while playing the outfield in baseball. The baseball historian Bill James wrote about this nickname at some length. He wryly stated that Smith should have had a post-retirement career teaching (so-called) "defensive recovery and cost containment", since he had excelled at recovering from defensive difficulties in the outfield.^[6]

See also[link]

• List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
• Major League Baseball Scandals

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• The 100 Greatest Royals of All-Time- #71 Lonnie Smith