James Richard Beresford (born 19 January 1989) is an Australian former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

in 2016 for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

Career

Beresford played with the Waverly Baseball Club where he was named as club MVP before being signed with the Twins organization in 2005 at age 16. He debuted for the

Victoria Aces The Victoria Aces are an Australian baseball team who compete in the Claxton Shield Baseball Championship. One of the founding teams of the Claxton Shield in 1934, they competed until 1988. Thereafter the Claxton Shield was awarded to the winne ...

Claxton Shield 2006 Results and statistics for the 2006 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 sum ...

replacing

Justin Huber Justin Patrick Huber (; born 1 July 1982) is an Australian former professional baseball player. A first baseman and outfielder, Huber has played in Major League Baseball, Nippon Professional Baseball, and the Australian Baseball League. He has a ...

after he withdrew. Due to a torn labrum, he missed the 2006 minor league season. In the

2007 Claxton Shield The 2007 Claxton Shield was the 73rd anniversary of the event, it was held between 19 and 28 January 2007, at Baseball Park in Western Australia, the first to be held outside of Blacktown Baseball Stadium in New South Wales since 2002 when it was ...

, he averaged .304 for

Australian Provincial Australian Provincial compete in the Claxton Shield Baseball Championship in Australia. Provincial were formed for the 2002 International Baseball League of Australia Championship, since 2003 they have competed in the Claxton Shield. In 2008, ...

. He returned to the US in 2007 making his debut and hitting a .288/.349/.302 clip as the starting shortstop for the

GCL Twins The Florida Complex League Twins are the Rookie-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays in Fort Myers, Florida, at the Lee County Sports Complex. Prior to 2021, the ...

. He played again in

Claxton Shield 2008 The 74th Claxton Shield was held from 28 December 2007 to 10 February 2008. The 2008 Shield was conducted on a Home and Away series made up of 2 Divisions; Eastern Division: Australian Provincial, New South Wales Patriots and the Queensland Rams, ...

and went 2 for 7. In the 2008 minor league season, he batted a .246/.345/.285 clip for the

Elizabethton Twins The Elizabethton Twins were a Minor League Baseball team of the Appalachian League and a Rookie-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They were located in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and were named for their major league affiliate. The team playe ...

. In 2009, he was named in the final

Australia national baseball team The Australian national baseball team represents Australia in international baseball tournaments and competitions. It is ranked as the top team in Oceania, and is the Oceanian Champion, having been awarded the title in 2007 when New Zealand wi ...

for the

2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26. Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference ti ...

in March, and was again selected for the

2009 Baseball World Cup The 2009 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 38th 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 ...

in September. In 2009, he was named

Beloit Snappers The Beloit Sky Carp are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Beloit, Wisconsin, and play their home games at ABC Supply Stadium. They previously played at Harry C ...

player of the year. In 2011, he hit for a .270 average in 485 at bats for the

Fort Myers Miracle The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Fort Myers, Florida, and play their home games at the Lee County Sports Complex a ...

following a switch to second. He elected free agency on 6 November 2015. Beresford was promoted to the Major Leagues for September call ups in 2016 and played ten games, hitting .227 for the Twins. The last professional appearance for Beresford was with the

Melbourne Aces The Melbourne Aces are a professional baseball team in the Australian Baseball League based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Their home field is the Melbourne Ballpark in Altona. History On Friday, 20 August 2010 it was announced that ex ...

29 January 2017. He played 54 games and hit .307 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 sh ...

between 2011 and 2017.

Personal

His older brother, Simon Beresford, played minor league baseball for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

organization.Minor League Baseball Reference – Simon Beresford
/ref>

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beresford, James 1989 births 2009 World Baseball Classic players 2013 World Baseball Classic players 2017 World Baseball Classic players Australian expatriate baseball players in the United States Beloit Snappers players Elizabethton Twins players Fort Myers Miracle players Gulf Coast Twins players Living people Major League Baseball players from Australia Major League Baseball infielders Minnesota Twins players Melbourne Aces players New Britain Rock Cats players Rochester Red Wings players Sportspeople from Melbourne People from Mount Waverley, Victoria Sportsmen from Victoria (state)