Donaldson’s, Gilmour’s Toronto stays similar
Each left mark on city after short durations
Doug Gilmour was 33 years old, one year younger than Josh Donaldson is now, when he was traded by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1997.
He didn’t want to be sent packing back then, but he knew it was coming. “The biggest thing is the shock of it all, not the shock of being traded when you know it’s going to happen. But where you’re being traded to and for who and how that affects your life, all that,” said Gilmour, the former Maple Leaf great.
“I don’t know Josh Donaldson, I just know what I’ve seen on TV and I’m a huge fan. He was my favourite player.
“I just know when you put your heart and soul into something the way he did, the way I did back then, that it stays with you a long time. Leaving your team. It’s always in your heart.”
The similarities between Gilmour the hockey player and Donaldson the baseball player are rather stunning when you break down their times and accomplishments in Toronto, generations and sports apart.
Gilmour had his two greatest seasons of a Hall of Fame career while with the Leafs. Donaldson had his two greatest seasons in Toronto in his first two Blue Jays seasons.
He won an MVP. Gilmour probably should have won an MVP in 1993 had this guy named Lemieux not scored 69 goals.
Gilmour, for as much as this city may put him on a pedestal, only played 393 games for the Leafs, 52 more in the post-season. Donaldson played only 462 games for the Blue Jays, 20 in a post-season: And who knows when we see playoffs again?
Gilmour came to the Leafs in one of the great one-sided trades in hockey history. When coach Tom Watt announced the deal at practice one December day, the legendary hockey writer Frank Orr looked at Watt and said: “Surely, Thomas you’re missing a few names.”
Donaldson came to the Blue Jays in maybe the most one-sided deal in Jays history. The Oakland A’s were missing a few players the day they traded him to Toronto.
In Gilmour’s first two full seasons with the Leafs, they made the conference final both years. He scored 63 points in those two playoff seasons. It’s the closest they’ve been to a Stanley Cup since last winning in 1967, the best any Leaf has ever performed individually.
In Donaldson’s first two seasons with in Toronto, the Jays went to the American League Championship Series both years, the first time they had advanced that far in 22 years. The final at bat in the Kansas City series in 2015 had Donaldson grounding out with two men on base and the Jays trailing by a run. It was there for him and then it wasn’t.
“He’ll think about that for the rest of his life, believe me,” said Gilmour. “That’s your team, your opportunity, the place you love. And you came close. I still think about those series we lost. Everybody talks about Los Angeles, but I think about that Vancouver series, too (in 1994). That was the first year of 2-3-2 in the NHL. I don’t think it lasted very long. We had played San Jose and then we had to play Vancouver. That was a lot of travel. And a lousy schedule.
“When you live for your team, and you do everything for that, those losses are hard to get over. Listen, I don’t know Josh personally but you look at his highlights, the slides, how he competed, you look at how he played the game, and sometimes you get hurt when you play that hard, I think of a guy that came to work every day.
“You come to love those kind of players.”
The way Toronto loved and still admires Gilmour.
And one more Gilmour Donaldson comparison. Neither were can’t-miss kids. Gilmour was too small, a late draft pick, a checking centre when he started in St. Louis. He became a true superstar in Toronto. He had to work to somehow find his way to the Hall of Fame.
Donaldson was considered something of a bust with the Chicago Cubs, the team that drafted him. He was a catcher who wasn’t finding his way. He was a late bloomer of sorts when he finally made it. And then he exploded on the baseball scene in Oakland and before injuries hadn’t slowed down at all.
Now he’s gone to Cleveland, the way Gilmour was banished to New Jersey. With trades that made no one happy in Toronto, sporting heroes sent packing. Gilmour was Pat Burns’ favourite player to coach. Donaldson was John Gibbons’ favourite to manage. “He dominated here, night after night,” said Gibbons. “When you needed something big he did it ... When the clock struck a certain time, he was in his own little world.”
The way Gilmour once was. For those few years. A magical time for Toronto hockey. Just as Donaldson’s years will be appreciated more and more as times goes by.