Nilsson became a free agent in the offseason following 1999, but opted not to sign with any MLB teams because of his desire to play for Australia in the 2000 Olympics. He was widely applauded for this move as he was turning down big money to represent his country, something very rarely seen in baseball. Before leaving the US, he had been Australia's second highest earning sportsman behind Greg Norman, according to the Business Review Weekly.
Nilsson was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers in January 1987 at the age of 17 as an amateur free agent. He made his professional debut that year with the Helena Brewers, batting .394. Nilsson ranked third in the Pioneer League in batting average but was left off the league All-Star Team at catcher in favor of Frank Colston, who hit .397. Baseball America rated Nilsson the #2 prospect in the league.[3]
In the 1990 California League season, Nilsson had a significant improvement and helped the Stockton Ports win the title and Baseball America rated him the 8th best prospect in the league.[4] Back in the ABL, Nilsson batted at .400 with the Daikyo Dolphins, only averaging behind fellow Brewers player John Jaha. Along with brother Bob, he helped Daikyo finish 31–9, best in the league. Nilsson was named to the league All-Star team at catcher and won the MVP Award.[5]
He returned to the US at the age of 22 with the El Paso Diablos in AA batting with an average of .413 and was promoted to the AAA Denver Zephyrs before the end of the season. Nilsson was named as one of the two Texas League All-Star catchers that season alongside Iván Rodríguez. Baseball America named Nilsson the league's #4 prospect after Rodriguez, Royce Clayton and Raúl Mondesí.[6] In the winter he helped Daikyo win the 1991–92 ABL season.
Major League
Sport Australia Hall of Fame
After continuing to bat well for Denver in 1992, Nilsson was called up to the Brewers and batted in the 9 hole while playing catcher. Despite striking out in his first at bat, he redeemed himself later that game with a three-run double. Nilsson was one of the 10 youngest players in the 1992 American League in his first season.
After performing below par in the 1992–93 ABL season, Nilsson was the most frequently used catcher for the 1993 Brewers, but due to injury problems, had rehab stints in the minors. On 11 April 1994, Nilsson hit the first home run at Rangers Ballpark in the fifth inning of the first game played there. He also grounded into the first double-play recorded at the ballpark, scored 1-6-3.[7] On 14 April 1994, Nilsson and Graeme Lloyd formed the first all-Australian battery in an MLB game.[8]
In the 1994 off-season, Nilsson moved to the Brisbane Bandits and played very well in the regular season averaging .362 and slugging .695. Nilsson homered off his first swing of the season that year. He was named to the league All-Star team at catcher. Milwaukee had originally requested that Nilsson be returned to the team in time for spring training but they later decided to let him stay for the playoffs. He helped Brisbane to an upset win over the Sydney Blues for the championship; he formed a battery with his brother Gary for the final inning of the last round.[9]
Later that year Nilsson had his first full major league season, producing a .275 batting average and .451 slugging average and won Brewers Player of the Year.[10] He then returned to Australia after signing a five-year deal with the Waverly Reds where he played 54 games in the 1994–95 ABL season, leading in batting average (.388), on base average (.471) and slugging average (.775). Nilsson was again named as the All-Star catcher and led Waverly to their second title and Nilsson's third.[11]
Nilsson contracted Ross River Fever while playing winter ball and missed the first two months of the 1995 Major League Baseball season, but after hitting over .400 in three rehab stints, he returned to the Brewers later in the season but was used primarily as a corner outfielder rather than catcher.
Despite being a part owner of the team, Nilsson came to regret his five-year deal with Waverly as he missed his hometown of Brisbane and tried to negotiate a way out of the contract. The dispute lasted six months with the Reds finally coming to the agreement he would play out the rest of the 1995–96 ABL season before returning to Brisbane. In limited appearances, Nilsson contributed a meager .250 with the bat.[12]
He returned to the MLB late again that season due to a broken foot, but had a productive year by setting his MLB career highs in average (.331) and OBP (.407) while still slugging at .525. He hit 33 doubles and 17 home runs, scored 81 runs and drove in 84 in 123 games. He was 6th in the 1996 AL in batting average.[13] On 17 May 1996, Nilsson became the first Milwaukee Brewer to hit two home runs in the same inning (the 6th, vs. Minnesota Twins, in a 12–1 victory).[14]
Nilsson became a player-manager for the Brisbane Bandits for the 1996–97 ABL season. Although knee surgery cut his season short, he guided the team to the finals with a batting average of .420 which, had he played enough games, would have led the ABL that year. He returned to the US where he batted .278 for the season with 20 home runs playing first base, left field and DH. That off season he did not return to the ABL for the first time due to injuries. In the 1998 season he batted at a discouraging .269 mark for the Brewers.[15]
Nilsson was only 29 years old when he played his last major league season, hitting a 309/.400/.554 clip with 21 home runs for the 1999 season. He was also fit enough to play catcher regularly for the club for the first time in five years. In the 1999 All-Star Game, he replaced Mike Lieberthal as the National League catcher, becoming the first (and until being joined by Grant Balfour in 2013, the only) Australian to play in a Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
Nilsson is currently manager of the Brisbane Bandits professional baseball team in the Australian Baseball League (2014–present) and lead the team to the play-offs in the 2015–2016 season.
Stardom in international competitions
In 1999, Nilsson played in the Intercontinental Cup where he hit a .379/.457/.517 clip to win tournament MVP and help Australia win its first gold medal at an international baseball event. Nilsson was third in average behind Akinori Iwamura and Claudio Liverziani and made the tournament All-Star team at catcher.[16]
[18] Nilsson managed the Queensland Rams in the 2003 Claxton Shield, assisting them to a surprise title.[16] He returned to playing baseball that year for Telemarket Rimini in Serie A1 in Italy, where, although only hitting .280, he ended up slugging at a league-high of .920 and had an OBP of .561.[19]
Nilsson played in the Australian season for the first time in five years when he appeared in the 2004 Claxton Shield. He went 5 for 11 with 4 home runs and 12 RBI and even pitched well in one stint on the mound. He led the 2004 Shield in home runs and RBI and was named to the All-Star team at DH.[20] Nilsson then again attempted a comeback in the major leagues. He signed with the Atlanta Braves and hit .236 in 16 games for the Richmond Braves, five years after he had last played in the Major Leagues.[21]
Nilsson was back with the Australian national baseball team for the 2004 Athens Olympics, and as captain he led the team to the Silver Medal, Australia's first Olympic medal in baseball. He again had a decent tournament performance batting .296/.441/.444 in 8 games. He had a perfect fielding percentage at catcher and threw out 5-of-8 attempted base-stealers.[22]
Nilsson was invited by Brisbane Bandits CEO Mark Ready to manage the team for the 2014 Australian Baseball League season. Nilsson made numerous team and coaching staff changes which saw the team improve in their previous season standings. Nilsson continued to work on improving the culture and teamwork within the Brisbane Bandits throughout the 2015–2016 season, which saw Nilsson take the team to the 2016 post season and swept the Adelaide Bite to take home the Claxton Shield for the first time in the revamped Australian Baseball League .[24]
In 2017 Nilsson coached the Brisbane Bandits to a 3rd-place finish during the regular season. Brisbane went on the beat the Adelaide Bite in the preliminary final and advanced to take on the Minor Premiers the Melbourne Aces in the Championship Series. Nilsson guided the Brisbane Bandits to a series sweep and back to back Australian Baseball League Championships.
Nilsson was the recipient of the Coca-Cola Amatil 2017 Queensland Sport Coach of the Year at the annual Q Sport awards.
In 2018, following three consecutive ABL championships with the Brisbane Bandits, Nilsson was announced as manager of the Australian national baseball team.[25]
John Emil Jaha is an American former first baseman in Major League Baseball who had a 10-year career from 1992 to 2001. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers and Oakland Athletics, playing in both the American League and National League. He was elected to the American League All-Star team in 1999.
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) was a baseball league, established in 1987 and disbanded in 1999.
The Brisbane Bandits were a foundation team in the Australian Baseball League which was bought by a private owner and shut down in 1999. The Bandits have now been resurrected as a team in the new Australian Baseball League which is due to start in November 2010. The Bandits won the ABL Championship in 1994 and finished 2nd in 1997, going down to the Perth Heat in the championship series. The Bandits only competed in the first 9 ABL Championships, but had intentions of re-joining the ABL Championship in following Seasons.
Brendan Kingman is an Australian baseball player and coach for the Sydney Blue Sox of the Australian Baseball League.
Trent Carl Wayne Oeltjen is an Australian former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is 6'1" (185 cm) tall and weighs 190 pounds (86 kg). In 2004, he was part of the Australian national baseball team that won a silver medal in the baseball tournament at the Athens Olympics.
Ryan Searle is an Australian professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent.
Robert "Bob" Nilsson was the oldest of the four Nilsson brothers and one of the greatest relievers in the history of Australian baseball leagues. Bob's brother Dave Nilsson was the first Australian All-Star in MLB, his brother Gary Nilsson played in the minors and Ron Nilsson also played in Australia for one year. Bob's son Jay Nilsson began his minor league career in 2006.
Jay Nilsson is a former minor league baseball player for the Gulf Coast Indians. He is the son of Bob Nilsson, a top Australian league reliever of the 1990s. Jay's uncle David Nilsson was the first Australian All-Star in the major leagues. His other uncles Gary Nilsson and Ron Nilsson also played in Australia; Gary spent one year in the minor leagues.
Michael John Donald Collins is an Australian baseball manager, coach, and former player in the Australian Baseball League (ABL). He is the catching coach for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has also played and coached for the Australian national team in World Baseball Classic (WBC) tournaments.
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it shares some history of the original league with the Claxton Shield awarded to winners of both competitions, it is considered to be a separate competition.
Brad Daniel Dutton is an Australian former professional baseball player. Dutton played for the Brisbane Bandits and Queensland Rams, where in the 2006 Claxton Shield he won the Helms Award, given to Most Valuable Player.
Gary Nilsson is a former Australian baseball player who played as a pitcher for the Lakeland Tigers in 1984 and in the Australian Baseball League from 1989 to 1996. He is the brother of former All-Star, Dave Nilsson as well as former minor leaguer Bob Nilsson. His son is Mitch Nilsson, currently contracted to the Cleveland Indians and nephew Jay Nilsson, former Gulf Coast Indians player. He is currently pitching coach for the Brisbane Bandits in the Australian Baseball League.
Mitchell Caine Nilsson is an Australian professional baseball third baseman for the Heidenheim Heideköpfe of the Baseball Bundesliga and the Brisbane Bandits of the Australian Baseball League (ABL).
The Brisbane Bandits are a professional baseball team in Brisbane, Queensland that plays in the Australian Baseball League and is one of the six founding teams of the league. From the 2010/11 season till the 2012/13 season their home ballpark was the Brisbane Exhibition Ground, the ground which the old Brisbane Bandits played at for the majority of their nine-year tenure. As of the start of the 2013/14 the Bandits home ground is Holloway Field in Newmarket.
The 2010–11 Australian Baseball League season was the inaugural Australian Baseball League (ABL) season, and was held from 6 November 2010 to 13 February 2011. It came 12 years after the old Australian Baseball League ceased and is the successor of the mostly amateur Claxton Shield competition that has been played since 1934. The season consisted of six teams competing in a 40-game schedule, followed by a three-round finals series to determine the ABL champion.
Shayne Watson is an Australian professional baseball player who is third base coach for the Brisbane Bandits in the Australian Baseball League. He is one of the three captains of the team.
Grant Alexander Wesley McDonald, is an Australian baseball player. He competed at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics.
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Andrew Thomas Campbell, nicknamed Soupy, is an Australian professional baseball player for the Mannheim Tornados of the Baseball Bundesliga and the Brisbane Bandits of the Australian Baseball League (ABL). Campbell has played in all Australian Baseball League seasons for Brisbane.
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