Craig Shipley went from Australia to long majors career
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Craig Shipley may have grown up in Australia. But he still grew up in a baseball family, his father a longtime local club player, The Sydney Morning Herald wrote.
So, as he won a slot on the Australian national team in a game against a Japanese team, and with a scholarship to the University of Alabama via a coach that had spent time in Australia, talk turned to the American pros, and even the major leagues, according to The Morning Herald.
"Don't get me wrong," Shipley told The Morning Herald in February 1981, "I'm ecstatic about playing for Australia ... But I've got my heart set on playing top-line baseball in the United States."
Shipley eventually did make the pros - and the major leagues. His arrival in the majors made him the first Australian player to do so in more than 80 years. He then stayed for 11 seasons with five different clubs. He then stuck around as a scout and team official.
Shipley's pro career began in 1984, signed by the Dodgers as an undrafted free agent out of Alabama.
Shipley started with the Dodgers at single-A Vero Beach. He hit .280 in 85 games. He quickly made AAA Albuquerque in 1985 and returned there to start 1986.
That June in 1986, he got called up to Los Angeles. Upon his arrival, he became the second Australian born player to make the majors, after Joe Quinn in 1901, The Associated Press wrote.
"It's a big moment for me," Shipley told The AP. "It's something I've been working for for a long time now. I hope it can pave the way for some other players."
Shipley saw 12 games with the Dodgers that year and 26 in 1987. He returned to the majors with the Mets for four games in 1989, limited by injuries. His 1990 season was then limited to four games at AAA Tidewater.
Shipley then returned to the majors with the Padres in 1991 and saw the bigs each year for seven seasons.
He played four of those seasons with the Padres, including a career high 105 games in 1993 and 81 in 1994. He hit .333 in 1994.
Shipley moved to the Astros for 1995 and saw 92 games and a .263 average. He returned to San Diego for 1996 and 1997.
He hit a bases-loaded chopper over the head of the third baseman in a July 1997 game against the Pirates, a game where he went 3 for 5, The Associated Press wrote.
Shipley "is an awfully good ballplayer," Pittsburgh manager Gene Lamont told The AP after that game. "To have a guy like that coming off the bench is a big plus."
Shipley saw one more season, in 1998 with the Angels to end his career.
He stayed in baseball as a roving instructor, scout with the Expos, Padres and Red Sox. In 2013, he became special assistant to the GM of the Diamondbacks, a job he held through at least 2023.
- Sydney Morning Herald, Feb. 1, 1981: At 18, Stars and stripes in his eyes
- Danville Bee, Associated Press, June 23, 1986: Padres 5, Dodgers 4
- Somerset Daily American, July 25, 1997: Shipley's two-out, two-run single upends Pirates, 8-6
Made the Majors:1,479-31.8%-X
Never Made Majors:3,173-68.2%