Dave Nilsson

Dave Nilsson
David playing for the Brewers
Catcher / Outfielder / First baseman / Designated hitter
Born: (1969-12-14) 14 December 1969 (age 54) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Batted: Left Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: 18 May, 1992, for the Milwaukee Brewers
NPB: 31 March, 2000, for the Chunichi Dragons
Last appearance
MLB: 3 October, 1999, for the Milwaukee Brewers
NPB: 28 July, 2000, for the Chunichi Dragons
MLB statistics
Batting average	.284
Home runs	105
Runs batted in	470
NPB statistics
Batting average	.180
Home runs	1
Runs batted in	8
Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
Milwaukee Brewers (1992–1999) Chunichi Dragons (2000)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star (1999) Milwaukee Brewers Wall of Honor
Medals Men's baseball Representing  Australia Olympic Games 2004 Athens Team Intercontinental Cup 1999 Sydney Team

David Wayne Nilsson AM (born 14 December 1969) is an Australian former professional baseball catcher and current manager of the Australia national baseball team and the Brisbane Bandits. He played for Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Brewers from 1992 to 1999 and was an All-Star in 1999, becoming the first Australian player to appear in an All-Star game. He ended his Major League career on 3 October 1999 with 837 games played, 789 hits, 105 home runs and a .284 career batting average.

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 previously played for the Brisbane Bandits and Melbourne Reds in the previous incarnation of the Australian Baseball League where he holds the record for all time batting average (.351) and all time slugging average (.661). His brothers Gary, Bob and Ron also played in the competition. He also played in the Japanese NPB and Italian Serie A. He went on to also represent Australia in the 2004 Olympics where they won a historic silver medal, and also represented his country in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006. He spent one season as manager with the Brisbane Bandits during the 2010–11 Australian Baseball League season, before returning to become the incumbent manager since 2014–15. In 2018 he succeeded Jon Deeble as the Australian national baseball team manager.

Nilsson represented Australia at the Olympics in 2000 and 2004, and has been involved in the strategic direction of the sport in Australia.

In 2018, he was named as one of the Queensland Greats by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in a ceremony at the Queensland Art Gallery on 8 June 2018.^[1]

Nilsson was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours in recognition of his "service to baseball as a player, coach and mentor".^[2]