Simon Eissens

Simon Eissens

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 196 lb.

• Born January 10, 1968 in Liverpool England

Biographical Information

Simon Eissens has represented both Australia and Britain on the international stage.

Eissens debuted for the Perth Heat in the 1990-1991 Australian Baseball League, going 2-1 with a 2.81 ERA and .174 opponent average. He pitched for the Australian national team in the 1991 Asian Championship. Simon was 5-0 with two saves and a 3.89 ERA in 1991-1992. He tied for third in the league with 17 appearances.

After a year off, he returned to go 9-1 with a 2.88 ERA and .210 opponent average in 1993-1994. He was 5th in the league in lowest average, was second to Brad Cornett in wins (one shy of the pace) and just missed the top five in ERA. He was named the second-team All-Star starting pitcher behind Cornett. In the 1994 Baseball World Cup, the 26-year-old allowed four runs in nine innings for Australia, getting no decisions.

Simon again lost only one game, in 1994-1995, going 8-1 with a save and a 3.24 ERA for Perth. He finished fourth in ERA behind Jesus Martinez, Phil Dale and Brett Cederblad. In 1995-1996, the veteran hurler faded fast, to 3-1, 8.75 with 38 hits and 15 walks in 23 2/3 innings. He surrendered 10 hits in 8 innings in 1996-1997 and the end appeared near for the 29-year-old.

Eissens recovered somewhat in 1997-1998 with a 5-2, 5.40 record and 13 walks in 55 innings. Simon went back to the doldrums in 1998-1999 when the Heat hurler was just 4-8 with a 6.07 ERA.

In the 1989-1999 run of the Australian Baseball League, Eissens had been 9th in innings (370 2/3), 10th in appearances (106), 5th in wins (36, trailing Dale, David White, Adrian Meagher and Cederblad), failed to crack the top 20 in losses, was 14th in strikeouts (between major leaguers Cam Cairncross and Graeme Lloyd) and was 4th in homers allowed (57). Only Lloyd had a better winning percentage for Perth.

The Liverpool native was in the 1999-2000 International Baseball League of Australia with the Western Australia Heelers, going 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA. He was 1-0 with a save and six shutout innings in the 2002 Claxton Shield. He was 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA n the '03 Claxton Shield at age 35.

Eissens then joined the British national team to represent his birthplace at the 2003 European Championship. He promptly led the team with a 0.90 ERA, getting a win over Germany and walking none in 10 innings.

Simon was 1-0 with one hit and six shutout innings in the 2005 Claxton Shield after missing 2004. In the 2005 European Championship, the right-hander had a 2.35 ERA in two outings for the Great Britain squad. In the 2006 Claxton Shield, the old-timer allowed a homer but no other hits in 4 1/3 innings. The next year, he was 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA for the Heelers. To that point, he was 39-16 with four saves and a 4.35 ERA in 119 games in Australia from 1991-2007.

Simon's son, Calvin, played for the Perth Metro North team at the 2014 Little League World Series.

Sources

• Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanac
• Great Britain Baseball Scorers Association