David McDonald: Wheeler High School
McDonald was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2002.
David McDonald has been a longtime ambassador for Georgia High School baseball. He was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2002.
McDonald guided Wheeler from 1979 to 2010 before Cobb County budget cuts forced him into retirement. He finished with a career record of 496-322. But his resume goes beyond his 496 victories.
He led the Wildcats to the state playoffs seven times and his team's captured six region titles as Wheeler competed in the state's largest classification. But McDonald may be just as well known across the country as he is in Georgia.
In 2020 following the death of longtime Georgia Dugout Club Executive Director Harvey Cochran, McDonald took over as Executive Director of the Club and remains in that position.
McDonald was involved with USA Baseball for many seasons, serving as the Trials Coach from 1997-1999. He coached Team USA to a gold medal in 2000 in Taiwan.
He has been the President of the Georgia Dugout Club, the Georgia Clinic Director and speaker at the Atlanta Braves Fan Fest. McDonald is a charter member of the National High School Baseball Coaches Association (NHSBCA) and was the District 3 chair on the NHSBCA Executive Board from 1992-1997. He was President of NHSBCA in 2000 and has been a vital member of the All-American, Field of the Year, Coach of the Year and National Ranking Committees.
The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) named McDonald the 2004 National Coach of the Year and inducted him into its Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2022.
He is also in the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association's (GACA) Hall of Fame.
McDonald has been named the Cobb County Coach of the Year three times, a Metro Atlanta Dugout Club All-Star Coach three times, Georgia Dugout Club Coach of the Year twice and the AAU Junior Olympics Coach in 1990. McDonald was named the ABCA Ethics in Coaching Award winner in 2015.
He coached Team Georgia in the Sunbelt Junior Classic on multiple occasions. Wheeler High named its baseball field "David McDonald Field" in 2002.
He is a member of the National High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Wheeler Athletic Hall of Fame. He was an assistant coach at Mount Paran Christian before serving as pitching coach at Lovett. But he was best known as Wheeler High School's baseball coach.
“I came to Wheeler and thought of it as my family,” McDonald told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before his last game in 2010.
“Always have. When I go home tonight and take off the uniform for the last time, I’ll look in the mirror and have to answer the question, was I successful? No performance review can answer that question. Only I can.”
He sent several players to college and a handful signed professional contracts.
McDonald graduated from St. Joseph's High School in Jackson, Miss. before playing collegiately at Mississippi State. He later served in the Vietnam War.
In March 1995, President Bill Clinton presented the Bronze Star with “V” (Valor) and the Purple Heart to McDonald at an awards ceremony in Marietta.
Some information in this article was used from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.