David Wayne Nilsson (born 14 December 1969) is an Australian retired 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 to 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 , 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.
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".
Early life
Nilsson was born in Brisbane, Queensland to Australian parents and attended Kedron State High School.
Playing career
Minor Leagues
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.
In 1988 he made his debut for the Queensland Rams in the Claxton Shield where he won MVP of the tournament. He then went on to play full season A ball for the Beloit Brewers and in the off-season played for the Gold Coast Clippers in the newly formed Australian Baseball League. In 1989 he moved to the affiliate, the Stockton Ports but struggled with the bat and failed to make an impact.
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. 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.
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. In the winter he helped Daikyo win the 1991–92 ABL season.
Major League
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.