Alan Phillips (South Africa01)

Alan Kenneth Phillips

• Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.

• Born June 17, 1956 in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

BR Olympics page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Alan Phillips has played for, coached and managed the South African national team. He is the father of minor league infielders Anthony Phillips and Jonathan Phillips, both of whom played for him in his first stint as South Africa's manager.

He represented South Africa in the 1995 Intercontinental Cup; he was their oldest player, three years ahead of fellow hurler Glen Morris. Despite his age, he led the team in innings pitched (11) and strikeouts (6), starting and losing against South Korea and Mexico. His 9.82 ERA was slightly above the team mean of 9.54. He remained South Africa's oldest player in the 1998 Baseball World Cup, in which he had a 2.79 ERA, much better than the team total of 5.89. His 9 2/3 IP and 9 strikeouts were both second on the team behind Morris. The veteran also batted a few times, going 1 for 5. Oddly, he was not the lone Alan Phillips on the team - the shortstop was Alan C. Phillips.

He also played for South Africa in the 2000 Olympics. At age 44, he was the oldest man ever on an Olympic baseball roster. He made two appearances. He relieved Morris with a 9-0 deficit in the 4th against Italy and allowed three hits, three walks and four runs in two innings before Vaughn Berriman relieved. In his other contest, he replaced Morris in the 4th against South Korea and threw a shutout inning, allowing just one hit, before Richard Harrell relieved.

Alan coached for South Africa in the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament, 2009 Baseball World Cup and 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers then managed them at the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers played in February 2016 in Sydney, Australia; they finished second to host Australia despite being the only one of the four teams in the pool not to have any players with MLB experience.

He has also won a South African record 27 titles in badminton.