Chris Oxspring

Chris Andrew Oxspring (born 13 May 1977) is an Australian professional baseball pitcher who has played Major League Baseball, Nippon Professional Baseball, KBO League, and currently plays in the Australian Baseball League (ABL) for the Sydney Blue Sox.

Chris Oxspring
Sydney Blue Sox
Pitcher
Born: (1977-05-13) 13 May 1977
Ipswich, Australia
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: September 2, 2005, for the San Diego Padres
NPB: April 6, 2006, for the Hanshin Tigers
KBO: July 21, 2007, for the LG Twins
Last appearance
MLB: September 17, 2005, for the San Diego Padres
NPB: August 26, 2006, for the Hanshin Tigers
KBO: October 3, 2015, for the KT Wiz
MLB statistics
Win–loss record0–0
Earned run average3.75
Strikeouts11
KBO statistics
Win–loss record49–40
Earned run average3.90
Strikeouts567
NPB statistics
Win–loss record4–2
Earned run average5.12
Strikeouts51
Teams
As player

As coach

Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2004 Athens Team

Career

Oxspring joined the Hanshin Tigers in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the 2006 season. On 15 December 2006, Oxspring signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. On 10 July 2007, his contract with the Brewers was sold to the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization just one day before serving as the Pacific Coast League's starting pitcher in the 2007 Triple-A All-Star Game.

Internationally, Oxspring was a star for Australia in the 2004 Olympics, pitching 2–0 with wins both against Japan, earning him a silver medal.

Oxspring had the honor of throwing out the first official pitch of the Australian Baseball League to catcher Andrew Graham when the Blue Sox played the Canberra Cavalry on 6 November 2010. Oxspring threw six shutout innings in a game Sydney won 1–0.[1]

On 8 December 2010, while playing with the Sydney Oxspring signed a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring training with the Detroit Tigers. At the end of the 2010–11 Australian Baseball League regular season, he led the league in innings pitched (68.2), game started (11) and strikeouts (71).[2]

In June 2011, Detroit released Oxspring after struggling for their AAA affiliate, the Toledo Mud Hens conceding a 6.53 ERA over 20.2 innings. He shortly after signed with independent team the Somerset Patriots for the remainder of 2011.

In 2013 and 2014, Oxspring played with the Lotte Giants of the KBO League. In 2015, he played with the KT Wiz. From 2016 to 2018, he had served as a pitching coach for the Lotte Giants. On 3 December 2018 Oxspring announced that he will no longer coach the Giants and return to Australia to reunite with his family.

Oxspring returned to the Blue Sox for the 2022–23 Australian Baseball League season at 45 years old[3] and became the oldest Australian born player to play in the league’s history, making the most appearances in his career since the 2012–13 Australian Baseball League season. He overtook 44 year old Brendan Kingman who pitched one inning in the 2017–18 Australian Baseball League season and is the second oldest player to appear in the league after Dae-sung Koo who made two single appearances at age 48 and 53.

References
  1. Sydney vs Canberra Boxscore 6 November 2010 – Australian Baseball League
  2. ABL League Pitching Leaders Archived 11 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine – Australian Baseball League
  3. Laurila, David (27 November 2022). "Sunday Notes: David Forst Looks Back at the Frankie Montas Deadline Deal". Fangraphs. Chris Oxspring has made four appearances and allowed two runs in 10 innings with the Australian Baseball League's Sydney Blue Sox. The 45-year-old right-hander pitched in five games for the San Diego Padres in 2005.
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