Kirk McDonald had always played two sports (baseball and basketball) growing up in Jeffersonville, Ohio, and continued doing the same for nearby Miami Trace High School. He was eventually recruited to Otterbein by decorated men’s basketball coach Dick Reynolds, but ironically stands today as one of the most successful baseball players in school history.

McDonald arrived to Westerville in the fall of 1981 and ultimately worked up the courage to ask legendary baseball coach Dick Fishbaugh if he could try out for the team as a potential walk-on. Little did anyone know, McDonald would go down as one of the best pitchers to ever wear a Cardinal uniform.

McDonald eventually chose to just focus on baseball after his sophomore year, and morphed into a standout first team All-Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) selection. He was named MVP of Otterbein’s heralded 1983 baseball squad that finished national runner-up and was the first team in school history, across ANY sport, to make a national title game. That group was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009.

Kirk earned All-District status and was on the 1983 All-World Series Team following a season in which he posted a 13-3 record, tossed 16 complete-games and guided the program to a No. 2 national ranking. A slow and deliberate right-hander, his workmanlike approach typically kept hitters off balance during a time where Fishbaugh littered the schedule with Division I competition such as Ohio State, Florida State, Kent State, Eastern Kentucky and many others.

The 6’4” hurler was invited to try out for the 1984 USA Olympic Baseball Team and then selected to play in the Cape Cod Collegiate Summer League, the oldest and most prestigious amateur league in the country. Kirk graduated with multiple school records that still stand to this day, including 32 career wins, 364.2 innings pitched, a whopping 36 complete games and then single-season records in those categories as well. In addition, he ranks second all-time in shutouts and third in both strikeouts (263) and appearances (54).

McDonald wasn’t done after college, getting selected by the Oakland Athletics in the seventh round of the 1985 MLB Draft and playing five years in the minor leagues. He won more games (14) than any other player in the entire organization in 1986 as he made 27 starts, registered 92 strikeouts and finished with a 3.89 E.R.A. Those efforts led him to be rated a top prospect in 1987 and 1988 alongside fellow teammates Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and Tim Belcher.

A Business Administration major as an undergrad, McDonald now works in reverse logistics for Home Depot and recently moved to Phoenix, Ariz. for an assistant general manager role. He and his wife (Terri) met at Otterbein, have now been married over 30 years and have a son, Kadin, who is in his fourth year at University of Arizona studying Architecture.