Grant Alexander Wesley McDonald (born 23 September 1973 in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

), is an Australian baseball player. He competed at the

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

and

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Australian Baseball League

McDonald first played 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 w ...

ABL team as an 18-year-old in 1991 he took 2 years to establish himself. McDonald became the starting centerfielder and was part of the 1993/94

championship team winning its first ABL title. Over the next 5 seasons playing for the Brisbane Bandits his batting average increased each year .269,.286,.326,.354 to 1998's mark of .359 his best year with 18 home runs and 49 RBI's. In 1999 with the

folding he 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 Ba ...

where he won his second ABL championship. In 2000 McDonald was back in action in the inaugural IBLA season with the

Queensland Rams Queensland Rams compete in the Claxton Shield Baseball Championship in Australia. The Rams were one of the founding teams of the Claxton Shield in 1934 and competed as ''Queensland'' until 1988. Between 1988 and 1999, the Claxton Shield was awar ...

and performed well batting .327. Grant was selected to four 1st team ABL All Star teams in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2000. He also holds the joint ABL record of 6 hits in a game verse the

Hunter Eagles The Hunter Eagles were formed for the ABL 1994-95 season after purchasing the Sydney Wave's licence, who had left the league two seasons earlier. The Eagles played in the ABL until the ABL 1997-98 season, and did not have sufficient funds to ...

at the Maitland Showground 17/01/96. McDonald played 339 ABL/IBLA games from 1991–2000 with a career .313 batting average and 190 RBI's. In 2008 he was selected in the prestigious 75th Anniversary Queensland Baseball All-Star Diamond Team as centerfielder. The team was selected from players that played

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� ...

for Queensland from 1934–2008. McDonald was inducted in 2009 into the Queensland Baseball Hall off Fame.

Australian National Team

In 1994, McDonald was first selected as a centerfielder of the Australian national baseball team at the

1994 Baseball World Cup The 1994 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 32nd international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

in Nicaragua. McDonald continued to represent Australia in baseball at the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

(USA),

1997 Intercontinental Cup The 1997 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 2 December 1997 between Borussia Dortmund, winners of the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League, and Cruzeiro, winners of the 1997 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at the ...

1998 Baseball World Cup The 1998 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 33rd international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

1999 Intercontinental Cup The 1999 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 30 November 1999 between Manchester United, winners of the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League, and Palmeiras, winners of the 1999 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at the ...

and

2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

(Australia). The Australian 1999 Intercontinental Cup team won Australia's first ever gold medal in international baseball competition defeating Cuba in the final 4–3. McDonald whilst playing for Australia won the MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the 1998 Haarlem Baseball Week tournament batting .500 and 9 RBIs in the Netherlands.

Olympics

McDonald was selected and played centerfield for the Australian baseball team at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta. The team finished 7th in Olympic competition. McDonald batted .292 for the tournament and he hit Australia's first ever home run in Olympic competition, against Cuba starting pitcher

Eliecer Montes de Oca Eliecer Montes de Oca Fleitas (born March 28, 1971, in Villa Clara, Cuba) is a Cuban baseball player and Olympic gold medalist. Eliecer Montes de Oca is a one time Gold medalist for baseball, winning at the 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 S ...

in Australia's first game on 20 July 1996 in the second inning. McDonald again played centerfield for the Australian Olympic baseball team in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney batting .304 with 1 HR. McDonald along with

Michael Nakamura is a Japanese-born Australian former professional baseball pitcher who played for the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Yomiuri Giants and Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Pro ...

were the only two baseball players from the 1996 Australian Olympic team who played on the 2000 Australian Olympic team. With McDonald's home run at the Sydney Olympics he was the first Australian to hit home runs in consecutive Olympic Games in 1996 and 2000.

Independent baseball

In 2000 Grant played independent professional baseball with the

Cook County Cheetahs The Windy City ThunderBolts are a professional baseball team based in the Chicago suburb of Crestwood, Illinois, in the United States. The ThunderBolts are a member of the Frontier League, which is a partner league of Major League Baseball. Sinc ...

in the

Frontier League The Frontier League is a professional independent baseball league with teams in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Formed in 1993, it is the oldest currently running independent league in the United States. The le ...

in the USA. McDonald played centerfield and batted a respectable .301 in 45 games.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Grant 1973 births Living people Australian expatriate baseball players in the United States Baseball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Brisbane Bandits players Cook County Cheetahs players Olympic baseball players for Australia Baseball players from Brisbane Sportsmen from Queensland