Dave Nilsson

Dave Nilsson is a former Major League Baseball catcher, outfielder and first baseman from Brisbane, Australia. He also owned the Australian Baseball League. Nilsson was just the third player born in Australia to participate in Major League Baseball, following Joe Quinn and Craig Shipley. Nilsson played eight seasons (1992-1999) with the Milwaukee Brewers, batting.284 in his career with 105 home runs. Nilsson became the first Australian to be named to the MLB All-Star Game in 1999. In 1999, Peter O’Malley traveled to Milwaukee and Australia to meet with Nilsson and explore the possibility of purchasing the Australian Baseball League, which had been operating from 1989-1990 season to 1998-1999 before ceasing operations. The league remained shuttered until it restarted in 2010-2011. After becoming a free agent after the 1999 season, Nilsson decided not to continue in MLB but to represent Team Australia for the eight-team baseball competition as a gold medal sport in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Australia went 2-5 and failed to qualify for the semifinals. On September 24, 2000, Peter O’Malley threw the ceremonial first pitch to catcher Dave Nilsson prior to the USA-Australia game. The USA won 12-1 in 7 innings before 14,018 at Sydney Baseball Stadium. Peter was invited by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) to throw the first pitch because of his longtime advocacy and efforts to secure a position for baseball as a gold medal sport in the Olympic Games.