Art Donovan Professional football career how did his career start? In each of his first three seasons, Donovan played for a team which went out of business. which was the first team? He started out with the first Baltimore Colts, who folded after his rookie season in 1950, who did he play for next? followed by the New York Yanks in 1951, and which was the last team? the Dallas Texans, in 1952. what did he do after Dallas Texans? the Texans franchise was moved to Baltimore in 1953 and became the second Baltimore Colts, Donovan played with that team.
was that the last team that he moved to or did he change teams again later in life?
was the Baltimore Colts the last team that Art Donovan moved to or did he change teams again later in life?
In each of his first three seasons, Donovan played for a team which went out of business. He started out with the first Baltimore Colts, who folded after his rookie season in 1950, followed by the New York Yanks in 1951, and their successor, the Dallas Texans, in 1952. After the Texans franchise was moved to Baltimore in 1953 and became the second Baltimore Colts, Donovan played with that team. He became one of the stars in an outstanding defense and was selected to five straight Pro Bowls, from 1953 through 1957. The Colts won back-to-back championships in 1958 and 1959. He was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.  During his career, Donovan played in what many believe was one of the most important games in NFL history, the 1958 title game between the Colts and the New York Giants. The contest between the two teams took place on December 28, 1958 and ended in a 17-17 tie. Because it was the championship game, it went into overtime, the first NFL game to do so. Donovan made an important tackle during the overtime, stopping the Giants and allowing Johnny Unitas to lead the Colts on an 80-yard scoring drive to win the game.  "The NFL's first overtime game, witnessed by 40 million viewers on nationwide television, captured the public imagination and became known as the "greatest game ever played." Donovan was one of 12 Hall of Fame players to take part - six of them Colts - but at the time he was not aware of the game's significance" CANNOTANSWER
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Arthur James Donovan Jr. (June 5, 1924 – August 4, 2013), nicknamed the Bulldog, was an American football defensive tackle who played for three National Football League (NFL) teams, most notably the Baltimore Colts. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.

Early life
Art Donovan, born June 5, 1924, was the son of Arthur Donovan, Sr., a boxing referee, and the grandson of Professor Mike Donovan, the world middleweight boxing champion in the 1870s.

Art attended Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx. He received a scholarship to the University of Notre Dame in 1942 but left after one semester to join the United States Marine Corps, enlisting in April 1943. He served four years, to include service in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. He took part in some of the conflict's fiercest engagements, such as the Battle of Luzon and the Battle of Iwo Jima. He also served as an ammo-loader on a 40mm gun on the aircraft carrier  and as a member of 3rd Marine Division. His earned citations, which included the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and the Philippine Liberation Medal, and would later earn him a place in the U.S. Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame, the first pro football player so honored. After the war, he completed his college career at Boston College.

Professional football career
In each of his first three seasons, Donovan played for a team that went out of business. He started out with the first Baltimore Colts, which folded after his rookie season in 1950, followed by the New York Yanks in 1951, and their successor, the Dallas Texans, in 1952. After the Texans franchise folded, many of their players moved to Baltimore when the Colts were awarded a new franchise in 1953 and became the second Baltimore Colts, Donovan played with that team. He became one of the stars in an outstanding defense and was selected to five straight Pro Bowls, from 1953 through 1957. The Colts won back-to-back championships in 1958 and 1959. He was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.

During his career, Donovan played in what many believe was one of the most important games in NFL history, the 1958 NFL Championship Game between the Colts and the New York Giants. The contest between the two teams took place on December 28, 1958, and ended in a 17–17 tie. Being the championship game, it went into overtime, the first NFL game to do so. Witnessed by 40 million viewers on nationwide television, the game came to be known as the "greatest game ever played." Donovan made an important tackle during the overtime, stopping the Giants and allowing Johnny Unitas to lead the Colts on an 80-yard scoring drive to win the game. Donovan was one of 12 Hall of Fame players to take part, six of whom were Colts.

Post-playing career

He published an autobiography, Fatso, in 1987. He was noted as a jovial and humorous person during his playing career and capitalized on that with television and speaking appearances after retiring as a player. He owned and managed a country club near Baltimore. Donovan also appeared ten times on Late Night with David Letterman, telling humorous stories about his old playing days and about other footballers he played with and against in his time. He relayed a story that he played without a helmet and in fact is shown on football cards without a helmet. Letterman wore Donovan's No. 70 Colts jersey in the famous Super Bowl XLI commercial with Oprah Winfrey and Jay Leno. Donovan also made several appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Donovan guest-starred in the Nickelodeon show The Adventures of Pete & Pete in the episode "Space, Geeks, and Johnny Unitas". He also appeared as a guest commentator at the WWF King of the Ring tournament in 1994. Donovan's appearance at the event would become infamous among wrestling fans for being seemingly uninformed about the product as well as generally befuddled behavior such as repeatedly asking how much certain wrestlers weighed. He was joined by Gorilla Monsoon on play-by-play, who inadvertently referred to Donovan as "Art O'Donnell", and Randy Savage.

He was co-host of the popular 1990s program Braase, Donovan, Davis and Fans on WJZ-TV in Baltimore with Colt teammate Ordell Braase. The trio talked more about Art Donovan's fabled stories than contemporary NFL football, but the show held high ratings in its time slot. He was also a pitchman for the Maryland State Lottery and ESPN.

Achievements
 Played 12 seasons, 138 games
 Five-time consecutive Pro Bowl Selection (1953–1957)
 Four-time consecutive first-team All-Pro (1954–1957)
 First Colt to enter Pro Football Hall of Fame (1968)
 Member of 1958, 1959 NFL champion Baltimore Colts
 Began NFL play with Baltimore as a 26-year-old rookie (1950)
 Co-hosted the WWF's 1994 King of the Ring pay-per-view event
 U.S. Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame (2004)

Personal
Donovan was married to the former Dorothy Schaech for 57 years. Since 1955 they owned and managed the Valley Country Club in Towson, Maryland. Although he was the owner, Donovan was known for doing menial labor at the club to include painting and working in the kitchen washing pots and pans.

Death and legacy
Donovan died August 4, 2013, at Stella Maris Hospice in Baltimore from a respiratory disease at age 89.  A funeral mass was held at the Cathedral of Mary our Queen in Baltimore, and he was buried in a private ceremony at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. The Washington Post said of Donovan:

References

External links
 
 

1924 births
2013 deaths
American football defensive tackles
American Roman Catholics
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II
Baltimore Colts players
Baltimore Colts (1947–1950) players
Boston College Eagles football players
Dallas Texans (NFL) players
Deaths from respiratory disease
New York Yanks players
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players
Players of American football from New York (state)
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
Sportspeople from the Bronx
United States Marines
Western Conference Pro Bowl players
Burials at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens
National Football League players with retired numbers
The Kansas City Blues were a minor league baseball team located in Kansas City, Missouri, in the Midwestern United States. The team was one of the eight founding members of the American Association.

The Blues did not field particularly competitive teams until 1918, when they won the AA pennant. The team won again in 1923, and again in 1929. They won the Junior World Series championship both years, defeating the Baltimore Orioles and the Rochester Red Wings of the International League, respectively, in best-of-nine series.

In 1935, the Blues became a farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1936 they became an affiliate of the New York Yankees.  They won the AA championships five times in the 1930s and 1940s. They defeated the Newark Bears, another Yankees farm club, in the 1938 Junior World Series.

When the American League Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City in 1955, the Blues moved to Denver, Colorado, and became  the Denver Bears.

The 1923, 1929, and 1939 Blues were recognized as being among the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.

Team history
Preceded in Kansas City by the Kansas City Blues of the Western League and Western Association, the 1902 Kansas City Blues were admitted to the American Association, and won their first league championship in 1918. They'd win two more, one in 1923 and the second in 1928. However, the onset of The Great Depression took a toll on the team as attendance began to fall. At one point, the Blues lead the league in attendance, but that number would soon be cut in half. Frustrated with how things were going in Kansas City, owner George Muehlebach sold the franchise to a group headed by Hollywood actor Joe E. Brown, and included former MLB star Tris Speaker. Speaker would also serve as the team's manager. The change in ownership did little to spark interest in the team and Speaker was replaced as manager with Nick Allen. who'd won a championship with St. Paul. The franchise was sold again, this time to Kansas City resident and former Cubs player Johnny Kling who in turn hired Roger Peckinbaugh, who'd just been released as manager by the Cleveland Indians to take over as manager for Kansas City.

The Blues still struggled with attendance, though it did improve, even if Kansas City finished in last place. Another change was made as Peckinbaugh was released and Dutch Zwilling, who piloted the Blues to their 1929 championship, was brought back as manager. The Blues began to rise in the league standings and the attendance rose as well. Another ownership change was afoot as Kling sold the franchise to the New York Yankees who quickly made the Blues one of their farm teams. The home opener in 1939 was a near sell out and the fans went home happy, as outfielder Vince Dimaggio hit a home run in his first at bat. The Blues routed Louisville 8-2 en route to a season that saw Kansas City win 107 games. However, the Blues lost to Indianapolis in the play offs. One of the stars of the Blues that season was a 21 year old shortstop named Phil Rizzuto.

The Blues would never have a team as great as the 1939 squad again, but the team was a launching pad for future major league players like Johnny Lindell and in later years, Mickey Mantle. And by the 1950s it was over for the Blues altogether, as the franchise ceased once the A's moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City.

Notable alumni

Hall of Fame alumni
 Jake Beckley, Manager, 1909
 Burleigh Grimes, Manager, 1946
 Mickey Mantle, outfielder and three-time AL MVP
 Phil Rizzuto, Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year in 1940
 Tris Speaker, Manager, 1933
 Casey Stengel, Manager, 1945

Players and managers
Well-known members of the 1929 Junior World Series-winning Kansas City Blues included:
Dutch Zwilling, manager
Clyde "Pea Ridge" Day, pitcher
Joe Kuhel, 23-year-old first baseman who later played for the Washington Senators
Lynn (Line Drive) Nelson, pitcher
Fred Nicholson, outfielder
Bill Wambsganss, 35-year-old shortstop who was best known for making an unassisted triple play in the 1920 World Series

Other well-known players and managers include: 
 Harry Craft, manager in the 1950s
 George Leslie Cochran, switch-hitting infielder
 Dick Kryhoski, first baseman in the late 1940s
 Al Rosen, 4x All Star, MVP
 Homer "Doc" Smoot, outfielder in 1910-11

See also
List of past and present Kansas City sports teams

References

Baseball teams established in 1888
Baseball teams disestablished in 1954
Defunct minor league baseball teams
Defunct American Association (1902–1997) teams
Blues
Pittsburgh Pirates minor league affiliates
New York Yankees minor league affiliates
1888 establishments in Missouri
1954 disestablishments in Missouri
Defunct baseball teams in Missouri The Rochester Bronchos were a minor league baseball team based in Rochester, New York, from 1899 to 1911.

In 1899, the franchise was purchased by a syndicate of local businessmen doing business as the "Flower City Baseball Company": George W. Sweeney, the president of the Rochester Trotting Association, John Nash, F. E.Youngs, Edward F. Higgins, and John H. Callahan, and the team was renamed the Bronchos. The owners hired Al Buckenberger as manager, and, despite having been a last-place team the previous year, the Bronchos won the Eastern League title.

In 1903, the nickname was changed to Beau Brummels. However, the team's fortunes did not improve, and the 1904 Beau Brummels were named the worst team in Rochester history, with a record of 28-105. In 1909, the Bronchos again managed to go from last to first, improving from 55-82 to 90-61. They won the pennant the next two years as well, with 92-61 and 98-54 seasons.

Buckenberger returned to the Bronchos in 1905, but the team continued to flounder. In 1908, he was summarily fired during a game and replaced by the shortstop, Eddie Holly. In 1909, John "Big Jawn" Ganzel became the manager, and the team was renamed the Rochester Hustlers. The move was a success, with the team winning three straight Eastern League pennants in 1909–1911. In 1909, the team bore the nickname Camels.

Until 1908, the team played at Culver Field. That year, they moved to the newly constructed "Baseball Park".

See also
 List of baseball parks in Rochester, New York

References

External links
 Slagle Climbs a Hill

Defunct Eastern League (1938–2020) teams
Professional baseball teams in New York (state)
Defunct baseball teams in New York (state)
Defunct International League teams
Bronchos
Baseball teams disestablished in 1911
Baseball teams established in 1899