Timothy James Kennelly (born 5 December 1986) is an Australian

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

player for the

Perth Heat The Perth Heat is a baseball team in the current Australian Baseball League and a founding member of the Australian Baseball League. It is the most successful team in ABL history, winning 15 Claxton Shields. Australian Baseball League (1989– ...

of the

Australian Baseball League The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it s ...

. Primarily an outfielder and third baseman, Kennelly spent a significant portion of his career also as a catcher. He current holds the record for all-time hits (426), runs (275), runs batted in (226), plate appearances (1637) and at-bats (1432) in the Australian Baseball League as of 1 January 2023.

Career

Kennelly signed to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2005 as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

through the Major League Baseball Australian Academy Program where he had a good debut season with the GCL Phillies batting .295 and slugging .420. He debuted as a 19-year-old for the Western Australia Heelers in 2006 Claxton Shield as a utility. Due to a torn labrum, he missed the 2006 minor league season. In the 2008 Claxton Shield Final, Tim and his brother starred for Western Australia as they won the

Claxton Shield The Claxton Shield was the name of the premier baseball competition in Australia held between state-based teams, as well as the name of the trophy awarded to the champion team. From the summer of 1989–90 until 2001–02, and again since 2010� ...

. They made it two in a row the following year in the 2009 Claxton Shield. Back in America, Kennelly had a break-out year, being promoted to the Reading Phillies, and batted .256/.338/.393 and named as the DH for the Florida State League postseason All-Star team.

Australian national team

Kennelly was selected for the

Australia national baseball team The Australian national baseball team represents Australia in international baseball tournaments and competitions. It is ranked as the top team in Oceania, and is the Oceanian Champion, having been awarded the title in 2007 when New Zealand na ...

at the 2009 Baseball World Cup,

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike the tw ...

2017 World Baseball Classic The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to 22, 2017. It was the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The first-round hosts wer ...

, 2018 exhibition games against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, 2019 WBSC Premier12, and the

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball tournament and the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It began on March 8, 2023, and ran until March 21. It was originally scheduled to take place in ...

. His efforts were recognised by being selected on the roster for the 2009 Baseball World Cup for the Australia. On 20 February 2018, he was selected exhibition series against Japan. On 8 October 2019, he was selected at the 2019 WBSC Premier12.

Personal life

He is the son of Mike Kennelly, a 16-year PGA veteran and also the older brother of Matt Kennelly, who plays minor league baseball for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

organisation. Kennelly is a keen supporter of

Australian Rules Football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

, which he had to give up playing to chase his dream of professional baseball. Off of the field, Kennelly works as a firefighter.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennelly, Tim 1986 births 2013 World Baseball Classic players 2017 World Baseball Classic players 2023 World Baseball Classic players 21st-century Australian sportsmen Australian expatriate baseball players in the United States Baseball catchers Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Perth, Western Australia Baseball third basemen Batavia Muckdogs players Clearwater Threshers players Florida Complex League Phillies players Lakewood BlueClaws players Living people Perth Heat players Reading Phillies players Sportsmen from Western Australia Williamsport Crosscutters players