Mohegan — John McDonald was named recently defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Indians minor league system, a wider range of responsibility than he had the last two seasons as the organization's infield coordinator.

McDonald, a product of East Lyme High School and UConn Avery Point before playing baseball at Providence College, is renowned for his infield play, ringing up a fielding percentage of .974 over a 16-year major league career.

As a member of the Boston Red Sox World Series championship team in 2013, McDonald was charged with working to make Xander Bogaerts a better fielding shortstop. On Thursday night at the Mohegan Sun Convention Center, McDonald led a session at the World Baseball Coaches' Convention called "Coaching Keys to Develop Winning Infield Play."

How did McDonald become the infield guru, anyway?

"I always wanted to prove myself ... I could get better," McDonald said from Mohegan Sun. "I kept on playing and I kept on improving. I asked a lot of questions. It was like the more I could talk about infield play, the better I would play it. It was like cheating, right? You play with people who are better than you and you end up getting better."

It didn't come easy, McDonald said. He didn't feel comfortable until 2007 while playing for the Toronto Blue Jays. He made his major league debut with the Indians on July 4, 1999.

"I always had questions whether I was good enough to get to the next level," McDonald said. "People would say to me, 'Do you think it's a possibility (to make the major leagues?)' Obviously if I'm still doing it ... making $550, $650, $750 (per month in the minors). I just thought it was fun at first. I didn't think of being a major league player until I was at Providence."

McDonald is still learning. He expected to uncover a few more tidbits while at the Sun this weekend. The role as defensive coordinator, working with catchers and outfielders as well as infielders, will be new to him when he reports to spring training on Feb. 16 in Goodyear, Ariz.

McDonald said it will be his duty to help the minor league coaches learn to coach the players. During the spring he'll be a part of a lot of meetings, as well as a hands-on participant, hitting countless ground balls.

"You're not just hired to do one job," McDonald said. "They hire you to get better. ... We want to know we're all doing it together. We're pushing the envelope on getting the kids better."

During the season, McDonald will travel to all of the Indians' affiliates, with two teams in the Dominican Republic, two in Arizona and five others. He'll also get to spend some time at home in Scituate, Mass., with wife Maura and children Jackie, 9, and Anthony, 7.

McDonald, 43, was at the convention to help out guys he admired growing up in East Lyme, Waterford resident and Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker and Waterford High softball coach Andy Walker, who serve as co-directors of the annual event.

More than 1,000 coaches were expected to attend the baseball portion and 1,000 more registrants were expected for the softball clinic, to be held Saturday. McDonald was scheduled for an infield activities demo in the batting cage Friday morning.

"I think it was the way we were brought up," McDonald said of the commonality of eastern Connecticut's representatives to Major League Baseball over the years, including Pete Walker and New London native Rajai Davis, who finished last season with the Red Sox. "I would rather be happy than sad. I would rather work for something than have it given to me.

"We'd rather walk in the back door and have nobody see us. We don't want the spotlight. I had a lot of fun playing baseball, but I feel like my parents raised a person, not a baseball player. I enjoy going home and being my kids' dad and my wife's husband."

v.fulkerson@theday.com