Dave Nilsson

Who is Dave Nilsson?

David Wayne Nilsson is an Australian retired professional baseball player who played as catcher for Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Brewers from 1992 to 1999. He 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 now-defunct Australian Baseball League where he holds the record for all time batting average and all time slugging average. His brothers Gary, Bob and Ron also played in the competition. He also played in the Japanese NPB and Italian Serie A.