australians in the majors (answered)

[Arlo]

While most people (especially fantasy gamers who loved his catcher eligibility) think of Dave Nilsson when they think of Australians in the majors, several others have made their mark in the majors recently. How many Australians who played in the majors last year can you name?

[Bender]

Right now I can only think of Luke Prokopec, but I know there at least two others playing this season.

[Arlo]

Prokopec is one, but there were actually six others last year (although some of them only played a handful of games). A couple are somewhat obscure, but one is a player fantasy gamers were discussing quite a bit recently.

Care to take a stab at how many Australians played in the minors last year?

[Bender]

You mean just in AAA?

I'd guess about 20 or so.

[Arlo]

Most of the 63 Australians to play in the minors are at the lower levels - only five played AAA ball:

Grant Balfour was good enough at Edmonton to get a brief call-up with the Twins.

Jeff Williams posted an era under 4.00 before getting a chance with the Dodgers.

John Stephens pitched 9 games for Rochester, and struck out more than a batter per inning.

Trent Durrington played 39 games at Salt Lake, slugging an impressive .557.

Travis Wilson (born in New Zealand, but I believe he has Australian citizenship) struggled in a year at Richmond, hitting .243.

[Guest]

Moss made the Bigs last year.

[Arlo]

Right! Still a couple missing from the list, though...

[chuckr37]

Well, theres always Chris Snelling who is on the DL right now.

[jwhands]

Graeme Lloyd was another.<br><br><span class=gensmall>Accepted as answer by menyak on 28 Feb 2003 12:49 EST.</span>

[Arlo]

Lloyd is correct; Snelling didn't play last year, unfortunately...