Neil Philip Page (born 17 January 1944) is a former Australian baseball representative. A left-hand starting pitcher, he regularly played for Australia from 1964 until 1977.[1]

Career

Page was born in Adelaide, the son of Roy Page, a well-known local baseball identity.[2] As a junior, Page grew up playing for the Glenelg Tigers and Adelaide Angels baseball clubs, before transferring, in 1969, to the Goodwood Indians baseball club in the South Australian Baseball League (SABL).[3] Page attended Adelaide Boys High School from February 1956 to 1960.[4]

On 1 February 1966, Page became the first modern Australian player to sign a professional contract with a Major League Baseball organisation, the Cincinnati Reds.[1][2][3] He remained with the organisation until 16 October 1967, but was released following an arm injury.[5] Page won the Helms Award in 1969, regarded as Australian Baseball's most prestigious award; and is judged based on a players performance in National Claxton Shield competition.[6] He also won the Capps Medal in 1974, for the "best and fairest" player during the regular SABL season (i.e. not including finals matches) as decided upon by umpires votes.[2] Page played for South Australia at 8 Claxton Shields (1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973 & 1974) and Western Australia at 3 Claxton Shields (1975, 1976 & 1977).[1] In 1977, Page won the President's Medal, for the Most Valuable Player in the West Australian Baseball League.[3]

On 16 March 1972, Page was involved in one of the greatest games in Australian baseball history.[1] Under lights at Norwood Oval, in the 1971/72 SABL Grand final between the Goodwood Indians and Port Adelaide Magpies, Page pitched all 19 innings (21 strikeouts, 9 hits & 1 walk), only to lose the game 4 – 2.[7]

In the book, A History of Australian Baseball: Time and Game, Page is described as "one of the greatest pitchers Australia has ever produced".[2] At the 2000 Millennium Sports Award recognising achievements in Australian sport, Page won the Australian Sports Medal for "45 years involvement in Baseball as player and coach, many individual achievements".[8] In 2005, Page was an inaugural inductee into the Baseball Australia Hall of Fame.[9] At the 2009 Baseball Australia Diamond Awards, Page was named as a starting pitcher to the 75th Diamond Anniversary Claxton Shield All Stars team.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Hall of Fame inductees Archived 30 December 2012 at archive.today. Australian Baseball Federation: Neil Page. Retrieved 25 November 2010
  2. 1 2 3 4 Clark, Joe (2003). A History of Australian Baseball: Time & Game. Lincoln, Nebraska, United States: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-6440-2. OCLC 52127597. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 ABF Hall of Fame. Goodwood Baseball Club Inc. Retrieved 27 November 2010
  4. ↑ Email from Adelaide High School dated 30 November 2010 confirming Neil Page's attendance years
  5. ↑ Australian Baseball Federation. Hall of Fame: Neil Page (page 8) Archived 22 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  6. ↑ Wayne Lundgren named 2010 Helms Award winner. Australian Baseball Federation: Helms Award. Retrieved 25 November 2010
  7. ↑ Radbone, Bill (16 March 1972. p. 24). Page magnificent in Goodwood defeat. Adelaide Advertiser. Retrieved via microfiche 2 December 2013
  8. ↑ PAGE, Neil Philip (2000). Australian Government: Australian Sports Medal. Retrieved 30 November 2010
  9. ↑ 2005 Inaugural Hall of Fame Inductees Archived 8 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Australian Baseball Federation: Baseball Australia. Retrieved 25 November 2010
  10. ↑ Diamond Anniversary Claxton Shield. Australian Baseball Federation 2008–2009 Annual Report (page 5). Retrieved 1 December 2010
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