The 2023 MLB playoffs are officially underway, with the Tampa Bay Rays hosting the Texas Rangers in the American League Wild Card round.
As it usually happens, the postseason is a perfect instance to make history.
On Tuesday, we watched the first Australian position player ever to participate in the postseason.
It was Rays rookie Curtis Mead, who also became the first player of his country to log a hit in the playoffs.
“BASEBALL HISTORY. Today, Adelaide’s own Curtis Mead became the first ever Australian position player to play in the MLB #Postseason. In his first at-bat, he also became the first Aussie ever to record a hit in the MLB Postseason,” baseball ambassador Shawn Spradling tweeted.
BASEBALL HISTORY.
Today, Adelaide’s own Curtis Mead became the first ever Australian position player to play in the MLB #Postseason .
In his first at-bat, he also became the first Aussie ever to record a hit in the MLB Postseason. pic.twitter.com/o8kpsiUPt4
— Shawn Spradling (@Shawn_Spradling) October 3, 2023
Mead was born and raised in the city of Adelaide, Australia, in 2000.
He went to Immanuel College, in Adelaide, and started playing professionally at age 16 with the Adelaide Giants of the Australian Baseball League.
He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2018, but was traded to the Rays in late 2019, in exchange for pitcher Cristopher Sanchez (who will also be playing in the postseason with the Phils).
Mead developed into one of the most impressive prospects in the Rays’ system and made his debut in 2023.
It’s important to note that he isn’t the first Australian baseball player to participate in the postseason.
Grant Balfour, Damian Moss, Graeme Lloyd, Peter Moylan, and Liam Hendriks did it before him, but they are all pitchers, and none of them logged a hit.
Mead, a position player, just had his name written in his country’s history books.
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