Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #19, Josh Donaldson

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #19, Josh Donaldson

Josh Donaldson Photograph by Getty Images

Josh Donaldson

Blue Jays Third Baseman

19If Bautista’s bat flip was the sports moment of 2015, Donaldson’s mad dash to home plate in game three of the American League Division Series was the 2016 equivalent. The three-time all-star is now the best Blue Jay (his 122 runs were second best in the league), the team’s locker-room leader and the indisputable fan favourite. His jersey was the 19th-best seller in baseball by the All-Star break, and his fearsome bat and sparkling defence were major reasons the Jays led the American League in attendance with 3.4 million fans, or about 42,000 per game. That’s the highest average attendance since the early ’90s. This is now Donaldson’s team.

Side gigs:

Sony tapped Donaldson to be the face of the U.S. version of video game MLB: The Show and Toronto-based water company Flow signed him to a sponsorship deal.

Toronto's Most Influential People of 2016