Paul Russell (Australia)

Paul T. Russell

Paul Russell was a grade A cricket player who instead decided to play baseball. He starred, winning the Helms Award in 1970 for New South Wales. He was offered a contract by the Kansas City Royals in 1971 but turned it down because he was a newlywed and his wife could not accompany him. In 1974, he was offered a deal with a Japanese industrial league team but again turned it down due to family reasons. He was on the Australian national team that won Bronze in the 1975 Asian Championship, Australia's only medal in an Asian Championship. A wrist injury ended his playing career and he became a coach.

Primary Source: 2017 Bellingen-Shine Courier-Times article