South Africa

South Africa is a country located in southern Africa. While the dominant baseball power in Africa, South Africa has not been competitive in other international venues. They played in the first two editions of the World Baseball Classic, but after going winless in the two tournaments, they failed to advance to the main draw when qualifiers were introduced prior to the 2013 World Baseball Classic. They have occasionally beaten European teams, however. The first South African to reach the major leagues was Gift Ngoepe, in 2017, followed two years later by Tayler Scott.

For a number of years starting in the 1970s, South Africa was an international pariah on the international sports scene, due to its policy of Apartheid - legalized segregation that relegated blacks and other persons of color to second-class status. This changed following the coming to power of former political prisoner Nelson Mandela in 1994, who abolished all racially-discriminatory laws.

People born here

• Neil Adonis, South African national team designated hitter and manager
• Clint Alfino, South African national team outfielder
• Francisco Alfino, South African national team infielder
• Alessio Angelucci, minor league pitcher
• Barry Armitage, minor league pitcher
• Paul Bell, minor league infielder
• Vaughn Berriman, South African national team pitcher
• Ulrich Bojarski, minor league outfielder
• Darren Boltman, South African national team infielder
• Kyle Botha, Bundesliga catcher
• Brandon Bouillon, South African national team outfielder
• Jason Carelse, South African national team outfielder
• Darryn Chalmers, South African national team pitcher
• Jason Cook, South African national team outfielder
• Kieran Cree, South African national team pitcher
• Errol Davis, South African national team outfielder
• Simon de la Rey, South African national team infielder
• Dylan De Meyer, minor league pitcher
• Michael Dempsey, South African national team outfielder
• Nick Dempsey, minor league infielder
• Dion Desaunois, South African national team infielder
• Ashley Dove, South African national team pitcher
• Nicholas Eagles, South African national team infielder
• Rowan Ebersohn, minor league outfielder
• Brandon Edmunds, South African national team outfielder
• Shannon Ekermans, South African national team pitcher
• Jared Elario, South African national team pitcher
• Justin Erasmus, minor league pitcher
• Kyle Ettisch, South African national team catcher
• Dayle Feldtman, South African national team designated hitter
• Gavin Fingleson, minor league infielder
• Ted Gerard-Thesingh, British Hall of Fame umpire
• Darryl Gonsalves, South African national team catcher
• Ryan Groves, South African national team pitcher
• Brian Harrell, South African national team pitcher
• Richard Harrell, South African national team pitcher
• Tim Harrell, minor league pitcher
• Donavon Hendricks, minor league pitcher
• Ian Holness, South African national team outfielder
• Wesley Hoskins, South African national team infielder
• Duncan Izaaks, Bundesliga infielder
• Dean Jacobs, South African national team pitcher
• Kevin Johnson, South African national team infielder
• Michael Johnson, Great Britain national team pitcher
• Willem Kemp, Bundesliga catcher
• Damon King, South African national team pitcher
• Tyrone Lamont, minor league pitcher
• Justin Lazarus, Bundesliga infielder
• Robert Lewis-Walker, minor league pitcher
• Roddi Liebenberg, Great Britain national team pitcher
• George Lintern, Great Britain national team outfielder
• Will Lintern, Bundesliga catcher
• Kieran Lovegrove, minor league pitcher
• Morne Mackay, South African national team infielder
• Liall Mauritz, South African national team pitcher
• Daniel Mendelsohn, Bundesliga pitcher
• Carl Michaels, minor league pitcher
• Mark Miller, minor league catcher
• Faizel Moosa, South African national team outfielder
• Glen Morris, South African national team pitcher
• Mitch Neunborn, minor league pitcher
• Gift Ngoepe, infielder
• Victor Ngoepe, minor league infielder
• Callan Pearce, minor league pitcher
• Alan Phillips, South African national team pitcher and manager
• Anthony Phillips, minor league infielder
• Jonathan Phillips, minor league infielder
• Allan Randall, South African national team infielder
• Hein Robb, minor league pitcher
• Ashley Scott, South African national team infielder
• Tayler Scott, pitcher
• Brandon Smith, South African national team player
• Darryn Smith, South African national team pitcher
• Tyler Smith, Extraliga infielder
• Raymond Tew, South African national team manager
• Kevin Townend, South African national team pitcher
• Michael Trask, Great Britain national team outfielder
• Ryan Trask, Great Britain national team outfielder
• Dylan Unsworth, minor league pitcher
• Russell van Niekerk, South African national team pitcher
• Liam Vincent, South African national team pitcher
• Darren Wedel, South African national team player
• Konrad Weitz, minor league catcher
• Brett Willemburg, minor league infielder

Further Reading

• Geoffrey York: "Diamond mining in Africa: Along with a promising lode of talent on a new frontier, MLB-sponsored camps are unearthing lots of unexpected passion for the game", The Globe and Mail, December 21, 2016. [1]