Donald Glenn August (born July 3, 1963 in Inglewood, California) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers from 1988 to 1991. Through his paternal grandmother, he is a first cousin twice removed of Archbishop of Philadelphia Justin Francis Rigali.^[1]

[edit] Minor pro career

August attended Chapman University, where he was a Division II All-American. After competing for the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, he was drafted 17th overall by the Houston Astros. He spent a year in the Astros' minor league system before being traded along with fellow pitcher Mark Knudson to the Brewers on August 15, 1986 in exchange for reliever Danny Darwin.

[edit] Milwaukee Brewers

After beginning 1988 with a 4-1 record and a 3.52 ERA for the Denver Zephyrs (now the New Orleans Zephyrs) of the Pacific Coast League, August was called up to the Brewers. He continued his success at the Major League level, going 13-7 with a 3.09 ERA and ranking ninth in the American League in winning percentage. He finished fourth in the voting for AL Rookie of the Year; Oakland Athletics shortstop Walt Weiss won the award.

August suffered a case of the sophomore jinx in 1989, slipping to 12-12 with a 5.31 ERA. He was even sent back down to Denver for some time, where he garnered a 1-1 record with a 4.94 ERA. A notable moment, however, came on June 5, when he was the winning pitcher in the inaugural MLB game played at the SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) in Toronto, a 5-3 Brewers victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

In 1990, he pitched only five games, and had a record of 0–3. He started 23 games during the 1991 Milwaukee Brewers season, and had a 9–8 record in his final season.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Baseball-Reference.com: Don August
• Baseball Almanac: Don August
• The BASEBALL Page: Don August
• Major League Baseball History 1871-present: Don August