Barry Peter Armitage (born 11 May 1979) is a South African baseball pitcher. Armitage was the first South African-born baseball player ever to make an appearance in any Major League Baseball game when he threw an inning for

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

against the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

in a 2005 exhibition game.

Career

Armitage signed with the Royals following a try-out in front of then assistant general manager

Allard Baird Allard Baird (; born November 8, 1961) is an American professional baseball executive, most recently serving as the vice president and assistant general manager for scouting and player development for the New York Mets until November 6, 2020. Curr ...

in 2000. He made his professional debut later that year with the

Gulf Coast Royals The Gulf Coast League (GCL) Royals were a minor league baseball franchise in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League from 1971–1978, 1982–1983 and 1985–2002. The club was owned and operated by the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball. Th ...

of the Gulf Coast League in the United States. Armitage left the Royals farm system following two seasons with the Wichita Wranglers of the AA Texas League. Armitage played in 2007 in the Atlantic League with the Newark Bears and Lancaster Barnstormers. Armitage did not play professionally in 2008.Baseball-Reference (minors)
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International career

Armitage has played with the South Africa national baseball team in various tournaments throughout his career. He played in the World Baseball Classic in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Personal

Barry Armitage married Jen Dishner on 18 March 2017 in Scottsdale, Arizona. They reside in Cave Creek, Arizona with their two dogs, Simba and Khaya.

References

External links

1979 births Living people Baseball pitchers Burlington Bees players Gulf Coast Royals players Lancaster Barnstormers players Newark Bears players South African expatriate baseball players in the United States Spokane Indians players Sportspeople from Durban White South African people Wichita Wranglers players Wilmington Blue Rocks players 2006 World Baseball Classic players 2009 World Baseball Classic players {{SouthAfrica-baseball-bio-stub