Gary Nilsson (born 28 November 1963 in

Brisbane, Australia Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

) is a former Australian baseball player who played as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Lakeland Tigers Lakeland is primarily a toponym. It may refer to: Places Australia *Lakeland, Queensland Canada *Lakeland (electoral district), a federal electoral district in Alberta *Lakeland County, a former municipal district in Alberta * District of La ...

in 1984 and in 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 ...

from 1989 to 1996. He is the brother of former

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

Dave Nilsson David Wayne Nilsson (born 14 December 1969) is an Australian former professional baseball catcher and current manager of the Australia national baseball team and the Brisbane Bandits. He played for Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Brewers fr ...

as well as former minor leaguer

Bob Nilsson Robert "Bob" Nilsson was the oldest of the four Nilsson brothers and one of the greatest relievers in the history of Australian baseball leagues. Bob's brother Dave Nilsson was the first Australian All-Star in MLB, his brother Gary Nilsson play ...

. His son is

Mitch Nilsson Mitchell Caine Nilsson (born 24 May 1991) is an Australian professional baseball third baseman for the Heidenheim Heideköpfe of the Baseball Bundesliga and the Brisbane Bandits of the Australian Baseball League (ABL). Mitchell is the son of ...

, currently contracted to the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

and nephew

Jay Nilsson Jay Nilsson (born 1 November 1987 in Redcliffe, Queensland) is a former minor league baseball player for the Gulf Coast Indians. He is the son of Bob Nilsson, a top Australian league reliever of the 1990s. Jay's uncle Dave Nilsson, David Nilsson ...

, former

Gulf Coast Indians The Arizona Complex League Guardians are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The team is ...

player. He is currently

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decision ...

for the

Brisbane Bandits The Brisbane Bandits are a professional baseball team in Brisbane, Queensland that plays in the Australian Baseball League and is one of the six founding teams of the league. From the 2010/11 season till the 2012/13 season their home ballpark ...

in the

Playing career

Gary was signed by the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

in 1983. The next year, he played in advanced A baseball with the Lakeland Tigers and was 1–4 with a 5.95 ERA. He was released at the end of the year. In 1989, when the Australian Baseball League was founded, the right-hander was picked up by the

Gold Coast Cougars The Gold Coast Cougars were the re-branded Daikyo Dolphins after major sponsor Daikyo had to end sponsorship of the team due to financial problems with the Australian arm of the company. History See also *Sport in Australia *Australian B ...

. He batted at a .289/.352/.378 clip as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

in the 1989–90 Australian Baseball League season, second on the team to brother

. In the 1990–1991 season, he was 6–1 with one save and a 5.96 ERA for the

Daikyo Dolphins The Daikyo Dolphins were formerly the Gold Coast Clippers, a foundation team in the now defunct Australian Baseball League. The Clippers changed their name to the Daikyo Dolphins following the signing of a major sponsorship deal with Japanese r ...

. The following year, he had a 5–4, 4.62 record for Daikyo, threw a one-hitter and helped the team to an ABL title. In 1992–1993, Nilsson was 3–0 with a 2.50 ERA with the

, despite spending a lot of the season injured. In 1993–1994, Gary had a 2–2, 2.42 record, helping Brisbane win the title, picking up the

win Win or WIN most likely refers to: * A victory Win, Winning, WIN or Winner may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * '' Win!'', a 2016 American film Literature * ''Win'' (Coben novel), 2021 * WIN (pacifist magazine) * WIN (wrestling ma ...

in the final game of the season, pitching to his younger brother

Dave Dave may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the 1993 film * ''Dave'' (TV series), a 2020 American comedy series * ...

. The next year season was a bit of a low one for Nilsson as he was 0–4 with four saves and a 5.06 ERA, but did join with Kelly Wunsch and Cam Cairncross on a combined no-hitter. His career ended due to injuries in 1996, after a 1–3, 6.35 campaign in 1995–1996. His career in the

totalled to a 17–14 record with 5 saves and a 4.57 ERA in 56 games. Gary is now a coach with the

Pine Rivers Rapids A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

in the

Greater Brisbane League The Greater Brisbane League or formerly the Greater Brisbane Baseball Board league (GB3) is the largest baseball league in the Australian state of Queensland and covers all teams from Brisbane North, South, West, Metro as well as three Gold Co ...

References

External links

Gary Nilsson
on the Baseball Cube *1985 Baseball Guide, {{DEFAULTSORT:Nilsson, Gary Australian expatriate baseball players in the United States 1963 births Living people Baseball players from Brisbane Lakeland Tigers players 20th-century Australian sportsmen