Darnell McDonald

[William Malone]

Darnell Tyrone McDonald was born on November 17, 1978 in Fort Collins, Colorado.

The Baltimore Orioles selected him 26th overall pick in the 1997 MLB Draft. He reached the Majors in 2004, playing 17 games for Baltimore as a rookie. They took him off the 40-man roster during the off-season. McDonald spent 2005 and 2006 in the minor leagues, which included a drug related suspension.

His big league return came on July 20, 2007 with the Minnesota Twins. McDonald went 1-for-10 with a walk in four games for Minnesota, and was then sent back to Triple-A. He spent all of 2008 with the Rochester Red Wings, batting .268 with 19 stolen bases.

McDonald finally became a Major League mainstay with the Cincinnati Reds in 2009 at the age of 30. He also played for the Boston Red Sox (2010-12), New York Yankees (2012) and Chicago Cubs (2013). The Cubs hired him as a minor league coach after he retired. He has since turned to broadcasting. As of 2025, he is a studio analyst for the Red Sox on NESN. McDonald was fired hired by NESN in 2023.

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