Michael Dunn (Australia)

From BR Bullpen

Michael Dunn

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 5' 7", Weight 180 lb.

Biographical Information[edit]

Michael Dunn played for the Australian national team.

Dunn debuted in the Australian Baseball League in 1991-1992, hitting .247/.353/.315 for the Adelaide Giants then fell to .175/.277/.211 in 1992-1993. He improved to .267/.353/.411 in 1993-1994. [1]

In the 1994 Baseball World Cup, he suited up for Australia, splitting right with David Hynes and center with Grant McDonald. He produced at a .267/.409/.267 clip and handled 16 chances error-free. He led the team with two sacrifice flies. [2] He batted .269/.432/.383 with 24 steals in 26 tries for Adelaide in 1994-1995, fielding .991. He led the league in walks (four ahead of Peter Vogler) and steal percentage (.041 ahead of Earl Johnson), was 4th in steals and third in OBP (after Dave Nilsson and Scott Tunkin). [3]

He had a career year in 1995-1996 at .388/.458/.607. He was third in average (after Adam Burton and Jason Hewitt), first in hits (69, 7 ahead of Andrew Scott), tied Nathan Davison and Vogler for first in runs (41), third in OBP (after Burton and Hewitt) and second in steals (13, 8 behind Aaron Harvey). He joined Hynes and McDonald as the league's All-Star outfielders. [4] He made many news clippings in the US that year when he struck out against a female pitcher, Pam Davis, pitching for the Jacksonville Suns in an exhibition game versus Australia. He credited her pitching and said it was a long walk back to the dugout. [5] Despite his play in the 1995-1996 ABL, he was not on Australia's squad for the 1996 Olympics.

The Adelaide native slipped a bit to .292/.428/.476 in 1996-1997, again going 13-for-17 in steals. He was second with 41 walks, one behind Vogler. [6] He hit .291/.372/.449 in 1997-1998, his final season. He joined Harvey and Vogler as the second-team All-Star outfielders, behind McDonald, Glen Barker and Trent Durrington. [7]

He had batted .291/~.392/.441 in 322 ABL games, with 225 runs, 124 RBI and 76 steals in 96 tries. [8] When the ABL closed up shop after the 1999 season, transitioning to the International Baseball League of Australia (though the ABL would be reborn over a decade later), he was 13th in career runs (between Peter Hartas and Greg Jelks), 4th in triples (10, after Richard Vagg, Hewitt and Steve Hinton), 8th in walks (167, between Scott Tunkin and Hartas), 6th in steals (between Durrington and Harvey), 10th in caught-stealing and 5th in steal percentage. [9]

Sources[edit]

  1. ↑ 1999 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 7-38
  2. ↑ Defunct IBAF site
  3. ↑ 2007 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 4-8
  4. ↑ 2007 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 4-9 and 5-9
  5. ↑ 6/6/1996 Daily News Leader for instance
  6. ↑ 2007 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 4-10
  7. ↑ 2007 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 5-11
  8. ↑ 1999 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 7-38
  9. ↑ 1999 Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac, pg. 3-21
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