His most notable time was with the New York Giants, where he starred in the outfield for John McGraw's 1904 pennant winners and 1905 World Series champions.

Donlin, who was given the nickname "Turkey Mike" for his unique strut, was a controversial character— his entertaining personality, flamboyant style of dress, and prodigious talent as a hitter caused him to be lionized as "the baseball idol of Manhattan."

Donlin attempted to leverage his popularity as an athlete to launch a career in Broadway theatre where he met and married vaudeville comedian Mabel Hite in 1906.

Between the waning popularity of the play in 1911 and Hite's death the following year, Donlin attempted short-lived comebacks with the Giants, Boston Rustlers, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

After convincing McGraw to sign him for the last time in 1914, Donlin endured a disappointing 35-game cameo with the Giants, leading him to devote his efforts to launch his acting career.

Donlin made his way to California and was playing for the Santa Cruz Sandcrabs in 1899 when he was purchased by the St. Louis Perfectos for "little more than train fare."

He gained admittance when he first arrived at St. Louis' League Park by pointing the gatekeeper to a newspaper photograph of himself which he had pinned to his lapel.

But in March of 1902, he was sentenced to six months in prison for assaulting two people in Baltimore while drunk and was promptly released by the Orioles.

Donlin finished out the 1904 season hitting a respectable .280 after the trade and helped the Giants win the National League pennant.

Donlin's talents had declined and was no longer worth the problems he created and was sold to the Boston Rustlers, having only played 12 games for his former New York team.

He had a change of heart and attempted a comeback late in 1913 with the minor league Jersey City Skeeters and convinced his old friend, John McGraw, to select him to a traveling team that barnstormed in Europe, Asia and Africa in the winter of 1913.

He had more success on the baseball field than in the entertainment industry, although he appeared in a number of movies in small roles, including the silent classic The General (1926), and in Paramount's first sound feature Warming Up (1928).

He was forced to hustle to survive from a young age, worked as a machinist in his youth and was resultantly a sickly child.

[10] As a young minor leaguer in California, Donlin asked a San Francisco Examiner employee to run a photograph of him in the paper, saying, "I know I'll get a break.

The story involves a reigning World Series championship Major League Baseball team (the fictitious "Chicago Wolves") whose two star players moonlight in the off-season as vaudeville performers, the commitment to which causes them to arrive late to spring training, thus angering their team manager and owner.