Babawande Onaolapo Olabisi is a former professional baseball player for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

. He played college baseball at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Olabisi is the first Nigerian-born player to be selected in the MLB First-Year Player Draft and the first to play affiliated baseball.

Early life

Olabisi was born in Lagos, Nigeria to Olagoke Olabisi and Juliet Olabisi. At the age of 5, the Olabisi Family moved to the ARAMCO Compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. in 2000, Olabisi represented the country in the

Little League World Series The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children—typically boys—aged 10 to 12 years old, held in the Eastern United States. Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for the Wor ...

where he was selected for the All-Star game and Home Run Derby. Olabisi attended St. Stephen's Episcopal School (Austin, Texas) where he was a four-sport athlete (baseball, football, soccer, and track). After high school, Olabisi attended

where he was called "probably the greatest athlete I've ever had" by head coach,

Mark Marquess Mark Edward Marquess (born March 24, 1947) is an American college baseball coach. He served as the head coach of the Stanford Cardinal baseball team from 1977 to 2017. Early life and professional baseball career Born and raised in Stockton, Cal ...

. Olabisi graduated with an undergraduate degree in Biomechanical Engineering and a graduate degree in Management Science and Engineering.

Professional baseball

Olabisi was selected by the

in the 2009 First-year player draft. The Padres recognized Olabisi as one of the top athletes in the draft. After his rookie season with the

AZL Padres The Arizona Complex League Padres are a Rookie-level affiliate of the San Diego Padres, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona, which is also the ...

, Olabisi was regarded as a top prospect by MLB Prospect Guide. Olabisi's final two seasons were played with the

Fort Wayne TinCaps The Fort Wayne TinCaps are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and play their home games at Parkview Field. They won their lone Midwest Le ...

and the

Lake Elsinore Storm The Lake Elsinore Storm are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The Storm plays their home games at Lake Elsinore Diamond (Pete Lehr Field), which opened in 1994; the park se ...

. During his professional baseball career, Olabisi's off-season activities included the design and development of low-cost high-efficiency medical devices for use in developing countries.

Subsequent career

Since retiring from professional baseball, Olabisi has attended and graduated from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

. He has commenced a career in the business management and investing sectors, working at the consulting firm

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

and subsequently joined Altamont Capital Partners as an Investment Professional.

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Olabisi, Wande Living people Stanford Cardinal baseball players American people of Yoruba descent Yoruba sportspeople Sportspeople from Lagos Nigerian emigrants to the United States Nigerian expatriates in Saudi Arabia Nigerian baseball players Year of birth missing (living people) Harvard Business School alumni