Donovan's discipline derived from Army dad

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ST. LOUIS -- Throughout a distinguished career that included deployments to Lebanon, Iraq, Korea and Afghanistan, U.S. Army Col. James (Jim) Donovan was, at various points, in command of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance duties while also working for years teaching soldiers the adaptability needed for combat readiness.

While assuredly there are no parallels between the life-and-death nature of war and professional baseball, Cardinals utility star Brendan Donovan has still made his father proud, particularly with his military-like discipline and his ability to adapt to almost any circumstance thrown his way. The first winner of the National League’s utility Gold Glove Award in 2022, Donovan has evolved into arguably the Cards' steadiest defender and hitter while deftly bouncing between positions and batting up and down lineup.

“Getting comfortable while being uncomfortable” is the motto that Donovan has lived (and played) by since breaking into the big leagues three years ago. The mindset was taught to him by father, Jim, and his mother, Lisa -- who ran the family when her husband was deployed and while the Donovans were seemingly always on the move, living in Germany, Virginia, Tennessee and three areas of Alabama.

“The most important thing that I learned early in life that’s helped me the most in baseball was the adaptability aspect,” said Brendan, who led the Cardinals in hits (163) in 2024 and committed just two errors despite splitting his time between left field (105 games), second base (53), third base (nine) and right field (one).

“In a military family, you move around a lot, with new schools and new people and a constant sense of change. Sometimes there’s a wrench thrown into your family dynamics with deployments and other families moving away, and you just learn to adapt on the fly. I think that’s why I’ve been able to be a utility player -- that sense of comfortability while being uncomfortable. Maybe I haven’t played a position in a while, but there’s a level of confidence that I can do it, because the sense of change is never foreign to me.”

Jim -- a Senior Aviator who was awarded the Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit and various other distinguished commendations throughout his service career -- has taken note of the parallels between the adaptability and preparedness needed in his career and the way Brendan applies many of those same traits while tackling his role with St. Louis. Jim said he’s actually more proud of the work his son put in daily to get to the big leagues than he is of the stardom Brendan has achieved.

“The careers are very different, but both take incredible amounts of training, adherence to rigid standards, and a team approach to be successful,” said Col. Donovan, who was the Deputy Commander of the Army Aviation and Missile Command Logistics Center from 2018-21. “I trained to be prepared for most situations, but also knew there was no way I could anticipate everything that was going to happen. I built the team and my skills from a strong emphasis on the basics.

“Brendan does the same things. He knows his value to the team is to be flexible and fill in where needed. It takes tremendous effort to do that. I think that aspect is similar. To be great at anything, it takes a lot of work. I took pride in taking care of soldiers and of my skills as a pilot. Brendan takes pride in his ability to be a team-first player who can contribute defensively anywhere on the field while taking good at-bats. The mental focus and toughness that he displays are incredible.”

Those plaudits for Donovan’s dedication to his craft are shared by Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, who marvels at the utility player's strict adherence to his focused prep work some three hours before games. With Donovan, every minute is accounted for -- whether he’s taking ground balls with infield coach Stubby Clapp, talking outfield angles with Cards Hall of Famer and coach Willie McGee, taking dozens of hacks in the batting cage or studying video scouting reports.

“His regimen is 100 percent his upbringing,” Marmol said. “That routine is super fun to watch. He’s super diligent, and when he shows up, he’s here to work and there’s not a whole lot of wasted time. He’s not going to just sit in the clubhouse and waste an hour. There’s a purpose to everything that he does, and that’s what has allowed him to get everything out of his skill set like he has done.”

Even though he spent the entire season working his way back from “brace” surgery to repair a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, Donovan set career highs for homers (14), RBIs (73), hits (163), doubles (34) and extra-base hits (51). He notched just the second four-hit game of his career on Sept. 19 against the Pirates, and he had the most three-hit games by a Cardinal (14) in 11 years.

All of it, Donovan said, happens because he tries to make himself the most prepared player on the field by hoping for the best and planning for the worst. It is a product of the behavior he learned from parents who instilled in his the values of hard work, discipline, respect and adaptability.

“You can only control certain things: your preparation, mentality and your effort level,” said Donovan, a finalist for the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award, which recognizes MLB players who demonstrate service, commitment and support of military servicemen and women. “In the military with things like combat readiness, you are trying to prepare for any scenario and then you attack whatever comes your way.

“With your preparation, you try to have a Play A, B and C in case something happens. I definitely think I got that from my dad and my mom, who raised three kids while keeping the household together while dad was deployed. I’ve said it before, and I still believe that my parents are superheroes who can do anything.”