 MAJE
McDONNELL PASSES AWAY
By Dave Jordan
Phillies fans the country over were saddened to
learn of the death on July 8 of Robert A. “Maje” McDonnell,
just shy of his ninetieth birthday. Since 1947, Maje has been a
batting-practice pitcher, scout, coach, goodwill ambassador, and
jack-of-all-trades for the Philadelphia National League club. “He
could energize a rabbit,” said longtime public relations director
Larry Shenk; “he just keeps going and going.”
Maje, born in 1920, grew up in Philadelphia and served in the Army
in World War II, rising to the rank of - what else? - major and
earning in combat in Europe a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and five
battle stars. He attended Villanova University, playing baseball
and basketball (in spite of being only 5 feet 6 inches tall), and
it was in pitching for the Wildcats in an exhibition game against
the Phillies that Maje caught the eye of G.M. Herb Pennock. Pennock,
looking for an assistant, offered Maje a job, and the longtime Phillies
fan promptly accepted, pitching batting practice and learning the
ropes in the front office.
From then on, Maje McDonnell became a Phillies institution. He coached
for the team through 1957, under managers Ben Chapman, Eddie Sawyer,
Steve O’Neill, Terry Moore, and Mayo Smith, and was a scout
for the team through 1960. Over the years since then, Maje worked
with the team on the field and in the clubhouse and was the face
of the club in the community, projecting good humor and baseball
knowledge wherever he went. “With Maje,” said Todd Kalas,
Harry’s son, “there’s never a time when you’re
in a bad mood, because he’s always so happy, always so cheerful.”
Never a fan of the A’s in his early years (the Phillies gave
out free tickets at his playground when he was a kid; “I fell
in love with the Phillies,” he said), Maje McDonnell made
up for that omission with numerous visits to functions of our Philadelphia
Athletics Historical Society, where many of us got to see up close
just what it was that made Maje such a popular figure over the years
with Phillies players, executives, writers and fans. Philadelphia
baseball will not be the same without Maje McDonnell.
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