Andrew Graham (baseball)

Andrew Graham (born 22 April 1982, in Sydney) is an Australian baseballer and catcher who played with the Detroit Tigers organisation from 2003–2007. Graham is currently the manager of the West Michigan Whitecaps, a minor league affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. Growing up in Australia he played baseball for the^[1] Ku-ring-gai Stealers Baseball Club.

Graham started his professional baseball career with Armstrong Atlantic State University in 2003. The Tigers picked him up in the 19th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft. He was assigned to the Oneonta Tigers and hit .182 in his first season. In 2004, he played for Oneonta (.280 in 8 games) and the West Michigan Whitecaps (.253 in 26 games).

Graham made his Claxton Shield debut in 2005, in which he was 3 for 14 for the New South Wales Patriots. He played for the Australian national baseball team in the 2005 Baseball World Cup, going 4 for 15 with a double and two passed balls in seven games, starting ahead of Trent D'Antonio.

In February 2006 Andrew^[2] was selected, along with fellow countryman, Gavin Fingleson, to play in the World Baseball Classic in Florida.

In Claxton Shield 2006, the New South Wales catcher hit a .409/.435/.636 clip with 5 runs, 4 RBI and 5 doubles in five games. He was filling a big role replacing the catcher role with the retirement of long-time Australian star Gary White. He played two games for Australia in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

Andrew hit only .127 in 28 games for Lakeland in 2006 but was better with the Erie SeaWolves, batting .276/.344/.362 in 20 games. In the 2006 Intercontinental Cup, he was 4 for 8 with two walks and 5 RBI as the backup to Matthew Kent.

He was only 3 for 20 with a homer and a walk in the 2007 Claxton Shield. Graham batted .208/.274/.292 in 36 games for the 2007 Toledo Mud Hens as the backup to a player with an even lower average that year, Dane Sardinha. In the 2007 Baseball World Cup, Graham hit .231/.389/.308 while splitting catching duties with Kent. In 2008, Graham was released as a free agent from the Detroit organisation.^[3]

In 2009, he was selected to play in the 2009 World Baseball Classic held in March, as the starting catcher alongside Joel Naughton.^[4] In September he was selected for 2009 Baseball World Cup,^[5] making it his third consecutive World Cup selection.

References

↑ "Stealer boys hit for Sox". North Shore Times p127, 1p. 10 December 2010.
↑ "Base: Australian baseball squad for World Baseball Classic". AAP Australian Sports News Wire. 17 February 2006.
↑ Minor League Baseball Reference – Andrew Graham
↑ World Baseball Classic Rosters
↑ Sedgman, Cassandra (3 September 2009). "ABF Announce 2009 World Cup Team". Australian Baseball Federation. Retrieved 3 September 2009.

Australia 2006 World Baseball Classic roster

4 Gavin Fingleson 6 Rodney van Buizen 7 Trent Durrington 8 Trent Oeltjen 11 Adam Bright 13 Matthew Gahan 14 Dave Nilsson 15 Paul Mildren 16 Luke Hughes 17 Brett Roneberg 18 Glenn Williams 19 Rich Thompson 21 Phil Brassington 22 Brendan Kingman 23 Paul Rutgers 24 John Stephens 25 Tom Brice 26 Justin Huber 27 Damian Moss 29 Brad Harman 30 Tristan Crawford 31 Craig Anderson 35 Matthew Kent 39 Phil Stockman 42 Peter Moylan 44 Wayne Lundgren 47 Andrew Graham 48 Michael Collins 57 Adrian Burnside Josh Hill Ryan Rowland-Smith

Manager Jon Deeble

Australia 2009 World Baseball Classic roster

5 Michael Collins 6 James Beresford 7 Craig Anderson 8 Trent Oeltjen 9 Andrew Graham 11 Adam Bright 12 Brad Harman 13 Stefan Welch 14 Chris Snelling 15 Paul Mildren 16 Justin Huber 17 Brett Roneberg 18 Mitch Dening 19 Rich Thompson 20 Luke Hughes 21 Brendan Wise 23 Travis Blackley 25 Daniel Berg 26 Brad Thomas 28 Damian Moss 29 Joel Naughton 30 Liam Hendriks 31 Tristan Crawford 35 Chris Oxspring 36 Ben Risinger 37 Ryan Searle 38 Joshua Hill 40 Drew Naylor 45 David Welch -- Scott Mitchinson

Manager 24 Jon Deeble Coach 33 Paul Elliot Coach 10 Pat Kelly Coach 27 Graeme Lloyd Coach 2 Tony Harris Coach 43 Philip Dale

Australia 2009 Baseball World Cup roster

Final roster	5 James Beresford 6 Nick Kimpton 7 Timothy Cox 9 Andrew Graham 11 Adam Bright 12 Brad Harman 13 Stefan Welch 14 Chris Snelling 15 Adam Blackley 15 Paul Mildren 16 James Linger 20 Luke Hughes 21 Brendan Wise 23 Tim Kennelly 25 Daniel Berg 29 Joel Naughton 32 Dushan Ruzic 34 Matthew Kennelly 38 Joshua Hill 40 Drew Naylor 41 Bradley Tippett 42 Matthew Williams 45 David Welch 47 Liam Hendriks

Originally selected	16 Justin Huber

Coaching staff	Manager 24 Jon Deeble Coach 43 Philip Dale Coach 2 Tony Harris Coach 27 Graeme Lloyd

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