Brendan Kingman (born 22 May 1973) is an Australian baseball player and coach for the

Sydney Blue Sox The Sydney Blue Sox are a professional baseball team, and one of eight foundation teams in the re-formed Australian Baseball League (ABL). The team plays their home games at Blacktown International Sportspark (BISP), one of the two venues use ...

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 sh ...

Playing career

Kingman was one of the most respected and prolific power hitters in Australia in the 90s and 2000s. He still holds the record as the longest serving

Australian Baseball In Australia, baseball is a game that is played in all states and territories of the country. History Baseball was believed to have been brought to Australia with American gold miners in the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, where miners wou ...

representative. His career in baseball started at age 6 when asked to participate in a tee-ball game, and he hit a home run in his first at-bat. Kingman was a part of every representative team in Australia throughout the rest of his playing career.

Career highlights

* 1998 - Australia's only Triple Crown winner 1998

Sydney Storm The Sydney Storm, originally Sydney Blues were a team in the now defunct Australian Baseball League. The franchise featured in every post season throughout its existence and won the Claxton Shield once. History The Storm were formed for the 1 ...

of the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

- Hit in the only run against

Daisuke Matsuzaka is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher, who pitched professionally for 23 seasons, 16 of them in NPB, 7 in MLB. He is currently a baseball color commentator, critic, reporter, and YouTuber. Daisuke is nicknamed in Japan and "Dice ...

to win the semi-final against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

* As of 2012, Kingman was two home runs from breaking the Australian home run record.

1991–1995: Marlins and Australia

Kingman's professional career in Australia began in 1991. A year later, he joined the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

and hit .281/~.450/.294 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 scoring system us ...

and DH for the GCL Marlins. With the same club in 1993, Kingman batted .261/~.383/.421 as a

corner infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

. He hit .319/574/.670 in the 1993–1994 Australian Baseball League with a league-leading 17 home runs for the

Sydney Blues The Sydney Storm, originally Sydney Blues were a team in the now defunct Australian Baseball League (1989-1999), Australian Baseball League. The franchise featured in every post season throughout its existence and won the Claxton Shield once. ...

. He made the All-Star team at third base; fellow All-Star infielders

Homer Bush Homer Giles Bush (born November 12, 1972) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played for the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball from 1997 to 2002 and in 2004. He was a pa ...

and

Greg Jelks Gregory Dion Jelks (16 August 1961 – 6 January 2017) was an American Australian baseball player who played with the Philadelphia Phillies. He spent the majority of his career in the minor leagues, and was most notable playing with the Austr ...

would play or had played in the major leagues. Moving into full-season ball, Kingman batted .263/.342/.372 for the

Kane County Cougars The Kane County Cougars are an independent professional baseball team located in Geneva, Illinois and are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball (MLB). They play their ho ...

. With

Kevin Millar Kevin Charles Millar (; born September 24, 1971) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) and is a current analyst for MLB Network. He played in MLB for the Florida Marli ...

at first base, Kingman played primarily DH. Kingman moved up to the

Brevard County Manatees The Brevard County Manatees were a minor league baseball team of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League from 1994 to 2016. They were based in Viera, Florida, and played their home games at Space Coast Stadium. The team left Brevard County afte ...

in 1995 and hit .289~.368/.421. Now a full-time DH, his 9 home runs were second on the club to Millar.

1995–1998: Australia's successful power hitter

The Marlins let Kingman go after the 1995 season. In 1995–1996, Brendan hit .292/?/.528 to help Sydney to an ABL title. In the 1996–1997 season, Kingman hit .325/?/.716 for the Blues and was selected as an All-Star outfielder. He led the league in slugging percentage and home runs (21). His 62 RBI were one behind league leader Ronny Johnson. He was 7 for 26 with a homer as the primary Australian RF in the 1997 Intercontinental Cup when the country won its first Medal (a Bronze) in a worldwide event. Kingman's career really took off in 1997–1998 when he broke every ABL record in the Triple Crown categories with a .487 average, 28 home runs and 66 RBI (tied for the lead). He led in slugging with a record 1.083 mark, 174 total bases in 156 AB. The closest player in the batting title race was Adam Burton, 99 points behind, with Jelks 108 points back. Kingman shattered John Jaha's batting average record in the ABL by 43 points. He was both the All-Star DH and MVP that year. It earned him a return ticket to Organized Baseball as the Seattle Mariners signed him.

1998–2002: Back in the US and international competition

Kingman's return to the US was an impressive one. He batted .340/~.393/.524 for the Lancaster Jethawks. He won the California League batting title, beating out Jarrod Patterson, for his second batting crown in the span of a year. He scored 91 runs, hit 30 doubles and 16 home runs. He also hit into the most double plays (20). Kingman was named the All-Star DH in the California League that year. In 1999, he moved up to AA with the New Haven Ravens. He led Eastern League first basemen in fielding percentage (.993) and hit .279/~.314/.377. After 11 games with New Haven in 2000 (.282/.317/.359), he moved to the independent leagues. Kingman hit .280/.387/.480 for Australia in the 1999 Intercontinental Cup, the first international event in which they won a gold medal. Australia faced Cuba in the Final of the Intercontinental cup and in the top of the 9th inning the scores were locked at 5–5, with one out Kingman hit a double to the left field fence and was replaced by a pinch runner, this runner was consequently knocked in by a single by Gary White. Grant Balfour was credited with the save in the bottom of the 9th after closing down the formidable Cuba line-up, the final out recorded with a K2. Kingman hit .238/?/.262 in limited action for the 2000 Catskill Cougars. In 2001, Kingman batted .278/?/.416 as a 3B/1B for the Bridgeport Bluefish. His 74 runs tied for the team lead. During the 2001 Baseball World Cup, he hit .262/.241/.250 as the Australian 1B. In 2002, he returned to Bridgeport and hit .234/?/.332 in his last season in the US.

2003–2008: Claxton Shield and many international tournaments

In 2003, Kingman hit 3 home runs for the New South Wales Patriots, tying for the lead in the Claxton Shield for his 4th home run crown in Australia. He was named to the All-Star team at third base. The first baseman for Australia in the 2004 Olympics, he hit .282/.344/.370 and 1 home run for the silver medalists.Brendan Kingman at Sports Reference
/ref> In the semifinals, Kingman's single to right against Daisuke Matsuzaka scored Brett Roneberg with the lone run of the semifinals, impressing the favoured Japanese team and handing Chris Oxspring the win. Kingman produced at a .429/.500/.476 clip in the 2005 Baseball World Cup, finishing fifth in the tournament in batting average. Kingman was 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts and an RBI for Australia in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, playing one game at third instead of Glenn Williams and pinch-hitting once for Dave Nilsson. He hit .250/.333/.333 in the 2006 Intercontinental Cup. Kingman even pitched three scoreless innings. Kingman was back for the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament, going 6 for 15 with a walk, 2 doubles and 6 RBI while splitting first base duties with Williams. Australia went 4–3 in the tournament and failed to earn a spot in the 2008 Olympics Kingman's battle with injuries has forced him into a temporary premature involuntary retirement from representative baseball following the 2008 Claxton Shield. He continued to play Sydney Major League with the Canterbury Bankstown Vikings and Petersham of the Sydney Winter League. In 2005, Kingman coached the Under 16s NSW Squad at the National Championships in Mount Gambier, leading them to a first-place finish.

Sydney Blue Sox

In the

inaugural

season, Kingman played four games going 5 for 11. Since the

2010–11 Australian Baseball League season The 2010–11 Australian Baseball League season was the inaugural Australian Baseball League (ABL) season, and was held from 6 November 2010 to 13 February 2011. It came 12 years after the Australian Baseball League (1989–99), ...

, Brendan has been a coach with the Blue Sox. Kingman did not play again until he was activated as a pitcher at the age of 44 at the end of the 2017–18 Australian Baseball League season where he pitched the final inning in relief, retiring all three batters he faced.

Personal life

Kingman is married with three children.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingman, Brendan 1973 births Living people Australian expatriate baseball players in the United States Brevard County Manatees players Bridgeport Bluefish players Baseball coaches Baseball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Catskill Cougars players Gulf Coast Marlins players Kane County Cougars players Lancaster JetHawks players Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics New Haven Ravens players Olympic baseball players for Australia Olympic medalists in baseball Olympic silver medalists for Australia Sydney Blue Sox players 2006 World Baseball Classic players Baseball players from Sydney Sportsmen from New South Wales