Milwaukee’s Best, Part 2: The 50 Best To Play For Braves, Brewers: 40-31
By Phil Watson
38. Dave Nilsson, C-RF-1B
Brewers 1992-99
Dave Nilsson was one of the first Australians to make his way to the United States to play baseball after he was signed as an international free agent by the Brewers in 1987.
He reached the bigs in May 1992 and the left-handed batter with a bit of pop eventually became an All-Star.
Nilsson was a regular behind the plate, in right field and at first base in his eight years in Milwaukee, hitting .331/.407/.525 with a career-high 84 RBI in 1996 and slugging a career-best 21 homers while making his lone All-Star appearance in 1999, becoming the first Australian to play in the Midsummer Classic.
His .331 batting average was sixth in the American League in 1996.
Nilsson walked away from the majors after that season, at age 29, signing with the Chunichi Dragons of the Japan Central League, but was released after just 18 games with a .180/.206/.262 batting line.
He did, however, represent Australia in the 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney, hitting .565 with six RBI in seven games.
In 2004, he made a brief comeback in the U.S., signing with the Atlanta Braves. He played in just 16 games at Triple-A before he was sidelined with injuries.
In 2005, he was one of the inaugural inductees into the Baseball Australia Hall of Fame and played for Australia again in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
Here are Nilsson’s statistics from his eight seasons with the Brewers:
| Year | Age | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 22 | 51 | 183 | 164 | 15 | 38 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 25 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 18 | .232 | .304 | .354 | .658 | 86 |
| 1993 | 23 | 100 | 340 | 296 | 35 | 76 | 10 | 2 | 7 | 40 | 3 | 6 | 37 | 36 | .257 | .336 | .375 | .711 | 93 |
| 1994 | 24 | 109 | 440 | 397 | 51 | 109 | 28 | 3 | 12 | 69 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 61 | .275 | .326 | .451 | .777 | 95 |
| 1995 | 25 | 81 | 294 | 263 | 41 | 73 | 12 | 1 | 12 | 53 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 41 | .278 | .337 | .468 | .804 | 103 |
| 1996 | 26 | 123 | 516 | 453 | 81 | 150 | 33 | 2 | 17 | 84 | 2 | 3 | 57 | 68 | .331 | .407 | .525 | .932 | 131 |
| 1997 | 27 | 156 | 629 | 554 | 71 | 154 | 33 | 0 | 20 | 81 | 2 | 3 | 65 | 88 | .278 | .352 | .446 | .798 | 106 |
| 1998 | 28 | 102 | 347 | 309 | 39 | 83 | 14 | 1 | 12 | 56 | 2 | 2 | 33 | 48 | .269 | .339 | .437 | .776 | 103 |
| 1999 ★ | 29 | 115 | 404 | 343 | 56 | 106 | 19 | 1 | 21 | 62 | 1 | 2 | 53 | 64 | .309 | .400 | .554 | .954 | 141 |
| TOTALS | 837 | 3153 | 2779 | 389 | 789 | 157 | 10 | 105 | 470 | 15 | 18 | 320 | 424 | .284 | .356 | .461 | .817 | 110 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/18/2015.
Next: 37. Debuted At Age 19, An All-Star At 21