Donnie Ecker
Donald Joseph Ecker is an American professional baseball coach and former infielder who currently serves as the bench coach for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball. He played college baseball for California State University, Long Beach and Lewis–Clark State College. The Texas Rangers selected Ecker in the 22nd round of the 2007 MLB draft. He has coached in MLB for the Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, and the Rangers, with whom he won the 2023 World Series.
Early life
Ecker graduated from Los Altos [High School (Los Altos, California)|Los Altos High School] in Los Altos, California, in 2004. He played baseball and football at Los Altos, and received an athletic scholarship to the University of Nevada for football. The Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball selected him in the 28th round of the 2004 MLB draft. Though Ecker did not sign with the Reds, he opted to focus on baseball.College career
He enrolled at California State University, Long Beach and played college baseball for the Long Beach State Dirtbags as a freshman, for whom he was 2-for-12 with a double in 2006. He transferred to Lewis–Clark State College in Idaho and continued his college career for the Lewis–Clark State Warriors, for whom he was 1-for-7 in 2007.Playing career
The Texas Rangers selected Ecker in the 22nd round of the 2007 MLB draft. He played in the Rangers organization in 2007 and 2008, batting.268/.360/.371 in 97 at bats for the Rookie-level Arizona League Rangers and the Low-A Spokane Indians. He then played in the Frontier League, an independent baseball league, batting.291/.391/.401 in 172 at-bats in 2010 in Illinois for the Windy City Thunderbolts and the Gateway Grizzlies. He retired as a player prior to the 2011 season.Coaching career
Amateur
Ecker coached baseball at Los Altos High School, first as an assistant for two years, and then as coach for two years from 2013-14. Bakersfield College hired him as an assistant coach in 2014.In addition to coaching at Los Altos High School, Ecker coached at the prestigious college development amateur baseball program from 2011-2014. During his time with CCB, Ecker helped lead his teams to three COLT World Series titles along with mentor future major league players Kris Bubic, James Outman, and Trevor Larnach.