Justin Erasmus (born 22 January 1990) is a South African Australian

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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Heidenheim Heideköpfe Heidenheim Heideköpfe is a German baseball and softball club from Heidenheim an der Brenz, Baden-Württemberg. The club was established in 1992 as the baseball arm of Heidenheimer Sportbund (SB), a parent organization that contains several clubs ...

of the

Baseball Bundesliga The Baseball-Bundesliga is the professional elite competition for the sport of baseball in Germany. In it, the men's German championship is determined annually. Like most European sports leagues, the Bundesliga uses a system of promotion and ...

. Although Erasmus was born in South Africa, he grew up in

Brisbane 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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

where he started his baseball career and has represented both countries.

Career

Erasmus was signed by the Red Sox as an international free agent in 2007. He was named to the

South Africa national baseball team The South African national baseball team is the baseball team which represents the Republic of South Africa in international baseball competitions such as the World Baseball Classic and the Summer Olympics. The governing body of the team is the S ...

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 ...

where he started against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, giving up an RBI double and two-run home-run to

Adrián González Adrián González Savín (born May 8, 1982), also known by his nicknames "A-Gon" and "Titán", is a Mexican-American former professional baseball first baseman He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, ...

, finishing the tournament 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA. Erasmus spent and with the

Gulf Coast League Red Sox The Florida Complex League Red Sox are a professional baseball team competing in the rookie-level Florida Complex League (FCL) of Minor League Baseball. The team is owned and operated by the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior ...

. While in the Gulf Coast League, Erasmus kept his ERA to 2.09 while pitching over 56 innings. In Australia, Justin debuted 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 ...

on 13 November 2010 against the

Perth Heat The Perth Heat is a baseball team in the current Australian Baseball League and a foundation member of the Australian Baseball League. It is now the most successful team in ABL, winning 15 Claxton Shields. Australian Baseball League (1989–19 ...

. In 6 games, including 3 starts he conceded a 6.38 ERA over 18.1 innings in the hitter-friendly

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 ...

.Justin Erasmus
Australian Baseball League In Erasmus was promoted to the

Greenville Drive The Greenville Drive are a Minor League Baseball team based in Greenville, South Carolina. They are the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and are a member of the South Atlantic League. They play their home games at Fluor Field at the West En ...

in Low-A where he pitched an even more outstanding 1.11 ERA over 40.2 innings. His performance earned him a callup to the

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

2011 Baseball World Cup The 2011 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 39th 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 ...

where he conceded 1 earned run over 2 innings, picking up the win against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Erasmus's brother

Bradley Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English. Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular. It is also an Anglicisation of t ...

represented South Africa as a catcher in the

2006 World Baseball Classic The 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was the inaugural tournament between national baseball teams that included players from Major League Baseball. It was held from March 3 to 20 in stadiums that are in and around Tokyo, Japan; San Juan, Puerto ...

References

External links

1990 births Living people Australian expatriate baseball players in Germany Australian expatriate baseball players in the Netherlands Australian expatriate baseball players in the United States Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Brisbane Brisbane Bandits players De Glaskoning Twins players Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks players Gateway Grizzlies players Gulf Coast Red Sox players Greenville Drive players Joliet Slammers players Melbourne Aces players Schaumburg Boomers players South African emigrants to Australia South African expatriate baseball players in the United States South African expatriate sportspeople in Germany South African expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Sportspeople from Johannesburg White South African people 2009 World Baseball Classic players 2017 World Baseball Classic players {{SouthAfrica-baseball-bio-stub