Curtis Mead becomes first non-pitching Australian to start in the MLB playoffs

Australians have a long history in major league baseball but it took a 22-year-old from Adelaide to create a bit of history.

Curtis Mead #25 of the Tampa Bay Rays reacts after hitting a single . (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Curtis Mead’s Tampa Bay Rays may have lost the opening game of their Major League Baseball wildcard series but not before the South Australian made a bit of baseball history.

Mead, who made his MLB debut in August, became the first Australian who isn’t a pitcher to start in a playoff game.

The 22-year-old then doubled-up on his history making deeds by becoming the first Australian to get a successful hit in the playoffs.

History: The first @MLB Playoff hit by an Australian belongs to Curtis Mead 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/soNMfvnyY7

— Adelaide Giants Baseball Club (@AdelaideGiants) October 3, 2023

All the other five Australians to play in the MLB post-season, including two-time World Series winner Graeme Lloyd, have been pitchers.

But Mead, who has played mainly at third base this season after his entry to the big-time, started at second base and picked up his hit as the Rays lost to the Texas Rangers 4-0 in game one of their American League wildcard series.

Mead, who last month he became the first Australian in 12 years to hit a major league home run, also picked up a hit with his first major league at-bat two months ago.

He wasn’t a given to be on the Rays roster for the opening playoff game so to get a starting spot was a massive vote of confidence in the rookie who started his baseball career with the Adelaide Giants.

Mead is one of two Australians currently in the league, joining Perth’s Liam Hendriks – a relief pitcher for the Chicago White Sox who has overcome non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer, to continue his career.

Originally published as Curtis Mead becomes first non-pitching Australian to start in the MLB playoffs