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

| November 28, 2016

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.

Josh Donaldson

Blue Jays Third Baseman

Side gigs:

Toronto's Most Influential People of 2016

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #1, Justin Trudeau

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #2, Drake

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #3, John Tory

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #4, Kathleen Wynne

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #5, Gerald Butts

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #6, Bill Morneau

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #7, George Cope

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #8, Katie Telford

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #9, Jennifer Keesmaat

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #10, Masai Ujiri

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #11, Ratna Omidvar

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #12, David Thomson

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #13, Tracey Cook

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #14, Cameron Bailey and Piers Handling

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #15, Marie Henein

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #16, Larry Tanenbaum

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #17, Deb Matthews

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #18, The Weeknd

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #20, Doug Murphy

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #21, Charles Khabouth

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #22, Eric Hoskins

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #23, Gord Downie

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #24, Mark Shapiro

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #25, Patrick Brown

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #26, Kevin O’Leary

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #27, John Zerucelli

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #28, Ted Livingston

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #29, Tatiana Maslany

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #30, Ian Black

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #31, Sandy Hudson and Janaya Khan

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #32, Rachel McAdams

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #33, Heather Reisman

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #34, Cory Joseph, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #35, Karen Kain

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #36, Stephan Jost

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #37, Joshua Basseches

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #38, Michael Katchen

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #39, Kristin Cochrane

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #40, John Ruffolo

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #41, Mitzie Hunter

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #42, Sarah Polley

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #43, Iain Klugman

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #44, Maureen Taylor

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #45, Mary Ann Turcke

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #46, Mohamad Fakih

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #47, Matt Galloway

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #48, Penny Oleksiak

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #49, Carolyn Bennett

Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #50, Michael Ford

The Latest

How one couple transformed a Thornbury schoolhouse into a moody-chic abode

Sort-of Secret: Yan Dining Room, chef Eva Chin’s new neo-Chinese dinner series at Hong Shing

Forty Creek Whisky unveils Maplewood Select at exclusive tasting event

Before and After: How a $90,000 DIY reno brought Parisian style to a cookie-cutter loft on Queen West

What’s on the menu at Pizzeria No. 900, Toronto’s first location of the Montreal-based chain

The Chase: A first-time renter leaves the nest to find a home in Corktown