Article: Dana Eveland, A Dunedin Spring Fling

[Mac]

Dana Eveland was centre-stage as one Toronto sports icon bore witness to the birth of another.

Over the last thirty years, Mats Sundin and Josh Donaldson have become franchise legends with Toronto sports teams. A year after his comeback with the Canucks, the former Maple Leafs captain was back in Toronto, this time to watch the Blue Jays from a private suite. Below, Donaldson readied for his first major league start, batting eighth and catching for the visiting Oakland Athletics.

Toronto starter Dana Eveland struck Donaldson out looking on four pitches in the second, but in the fourth, Donaldson got his revenge on the first pitch thrown in the at-bat. He hit his first of many into the left field stands at Rogers Centre for his first career major league hit in an eventual Oakland win. The rest was history. Donaldson took a few years to find his footing and then to find his way to Toronto. For Eveland, his nine-start career as a Jay was almost over.

All of this took place in front of an attendance of 13,951, with the roof closed on the first of May. I’d be curious if Sundin were in his seat for the home run.
Or when Fred Lewis lost his hit ball in the outfield wall lights trying to stretch a triple. (photo credit: Associated Press)

Eveland’s first three major league seasons were spent chewing innings with Milwaukee and Arizona before he was sent to Oakland in the Dan Haren trade. While he did not have the pedigree that fellow Oakland newcomers Carlos Gonzalez or Brett Anderson did, Eveland pitched well in spring training and was named the A’s fifth starter. He was reliable for Oakland in the 2008 season, finishing with a 9-9 record and a 4.34 ERA over 168 innings.

While far from dominant, Eveland’s 29 starts were the second most on an Oakland team that used 13 different starters that season. He was expected to continue performing in the back half of the A’s rotation in 2009, but the season got off to a bad start. He was hit around in each of his first five starts, and by May, he had found himself sent to the minors. Oakland called him back up in September, but freshly out of minor league options, Eveland would find himself on the move in the offseason.

After signing former Blue Jay Gabe Gross and claiming future Blue Jay/profile subject Steve Tolleson off waivers, Oakland made room on their roster by removing Eveland, trading him to Toronto for future cash considerations (or six Dairy Queen coupons). The Jays hoped that Eveland could bounce back to his 2008 form, which would slot in nicely in the back of their rotation. Outside of wishing that, the outlook was not good:

Advanced Pitching Table

Season	Age	Team	IP	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	BAbip	K%	BB%	GB/FB	WPA	RE24
2005	21	MIL	31.2	.317	.404	.468	.872	.373	15.8	12.3	1.08	0.2	-4.83
2006	22	MIL	27.2	.331	.429	.500	.929	.422	22.7	11.3	0.83	-1.8	-11.01
2007	23	ARI	5.0	.364	.464	.500	.964	.400	10.7	17.9	1.22	-0.2	-4.67
2008	24	OAK	168.0	.269	.356	.380	.735	.313	16.0	10.4	0.96	0.6	3.46
2009	25	OAK	44.0	.365	.436	.490	.926	.393	10.0	11.8	1.50	-2.0	-18.25

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 2/28/2025.

Much as he was two years prior, Eveland was dominant in spring. He started to emerge halfway through the Grapefruit League schedule with a three inning scoreless appearance, followed by a four inning save against the Orioles. Coming off those outings, Eveland was given his first start of the spring on March 24 against the Rays. He gave up four runs off seven hits in four innings of work but it did not seem to hinder Eveland’s progress towards making the roster. Defensive miscues led to two runs scoring and Eveland was happy with how he threw.

As spring wound to an end, Eveland was in competition with Brett Cecil for the final spot in Toronto’s rotation. Both pitchers were tremendous in their final spring appearances. Eveland struck out eight Tigers over six innings of work and then two days later, Cecil allowed only two runs over six innings against the Philadelphia Phillies, fresh off a World Series appearance. Alex Anthopoulos admitted Cecil pitched good enough to make the team but the Opening Day roster tiebreaker of who-has-options-left was in full effect; Cecil would start the year in Triple-A Las Vegas while Eveland was named the fifth starter.

The Phillies had all their big guns in the lineup against Cecil, who was surprisingly spotted an early lead when the Blue Jays got four runs off Doc in the first inning. (photo credit: AP/Matt Slocum)

Not that Eveland hadn’t made the team on his own merit and he kept everyone's hopes high following his first start of the regular season. Eveland was all over the strike zone, pitching into the eighth inning in Toronto’s 2-0 win at Camden Yards in Baltimore. His battery mate Jose Molina had two RBI but Molina’s biggest influence was behind the plate. Eveland threw a steady, off-script diet of changeups at the calling of Molina, who noticed the pitch was dialed in during warm-up. To his credit, Eveland said he only once shook off Molina, a legend in his own right.

Following two more solid starts, Eveland’s short stint with the Blue Jays hit its first deep descent in a wild game on April 26 against Boston. Eveland and the Jays walked off the field in the third to boos from the scant 13,847 at Rogers Centre after the Red Sox grabbed a 5-0 lead with a four run inning. Toronto responded in the bottom half, capped off by a José Bautista three run shot into the second deck in left to put the Jays on top 6-5. For his part, Eveland didn’t last much longer. He let the first two batters reach in the fourth before Cito removed him from the game. Both runs would score, adding to Eveland’s miserable night, an eventual 13-12 Boston win.

More importantly, friend of the show Scott Schoeneweis was the winner in what turned out to be his final major league victory. Schoeneweis pitched twice more before Boston released him.

Eveland rebounded by pitching into the seventh in the Donaldson-aided loss to Oakland and in his next start, Eveland gave the Jays what would be one last glimpse of what he was capable of contributing. He held the White Sox to two hits over seven innings on 90 pitches and while Toronto shut out Chicago 2-0, it wasn’t an overly spectacular outing for the Jays starter. He walked a season-high four batters and threw only 58% of his pitches for strikes.

The command issues continued to plague Eveland. He walked four in both of his next starts against Boston and Minnesota; losses in which he was unable to pitch in past the fifth. His final start as a Blue Jay came on May 22 in Arizona when the Diamondbacks bruised him for eight runs on eight hits. His four out performance was the shortest start of his career and he was designated for assignment right after the game. Despite being interested in remaining in the organization, Eveland was traded, ending his time with the Blue Jays.

I was going to rag on Sportsnet for this headline but those Pirates’ teams were bad enough that I don't detect a lie here.

Toronto was just a pitstop for Eveland in a career which seen him play for ten different teams across 11 big league seasons. It was a career whose longevity is a credit to roster-making performances in March. While baseball fans may just be starting to stir with spring training games underway, for the players on the field, Eveland’s career is a reminder that these games can matter most of all.

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[Spanky99]

lulz... Eveland? Lets hear a a good ole Bill Caudill barnburner of a story. Hahaha...

[BTS]

Love these articles. He have been a hot topic that spring because I have pretty clear memories of Dana Eveland even though he only started 9 games for the team 

[Orgfiller]

I'm less of an old timer than some on this board, so Dana Eveland is the first player among the crop of articles on this series - all of which I've read - which I actually remember both by name and by watching as a Blue Jay.

Kind of impressive he managed to stick around for 10 years, more or less (his actual service time accrued was nearly 5 seasons' worth), he really only had one decent season for those 08 Oakland A's and the rest was a collection of rather poor stops around the league.