50Australian Relief Pitcher Grant Balfour competing for Tampa Bay Rays in MLB.
Born in Sydney on December 30, 1977, Grant Balfour developed through New South Wales baseball and attended William Clark High School in Kellyville. He was named Sydney Baseball League Rookie of the Year in 1995 and Pitcher of the Year in 1996. Although he spent part of his amateur career as a catcher, he established himself as a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher and was signed by the Minnesota Twins. Balfour reached the majors with Minnesota in 2001 and later rebuilt his career after significant elbow and shoulder surgery. After brief MLB periods with the Twins and Milwaukee Brewers, he joined the Tampa Bay Rays in 2007 and became an important member of the bullpen that helped the club reach the 2008 World Series. He later became Oakland’s closer, recording a career-high 38 saves in 2013, making the American League All-Star team and setting an Oakland franchise record with 41 consecutive converted save opportunities during the 2012–13 span. Balfour returned to Tampa Bay in 2014 and 2015. He was primarily a late-inning reliever and closer, known for high strikeout totals, an aggressive mound presence and the celebratory “Balfour Rage”. Internationally, he represented Australia at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was inducted into the Baseball Australia Hall of Fame in 2015 for an outstanding international career. His final MLB appearance was for the Rays on April 18, 2015; MLB records also list a Rays minor-league contract in May 2015.
Balfour’s first major professional breakthrough came when the Minnesota Twins signed him and promoted him to the majors in 2001. His international profile was already established through Australia’s 2000 Olympic team and the successful late-1990s national programme.
MLB career: 534 games, 30 wins, 23 losses, 3.49 ERA, 84 saves, 539.2 innings and 571 strikeouts. He was a 2013 American League All-Star. In 2013 he recorded a career-high 38 saves for Oakland and set an Oakland franchise record with 41 consecutive converted save opportunities, extending a streak that began in 2012.
Balfour’s defining MLB period was his 2012–13 run as Oakland’s closer. On July 5, 2013, he matched Dennis Eckersley’s Oakland record of 40 consecutive saves; MLB subsequently recorded the streak as reaching 41 consecutive conversions. He was selected to the 2013 American League All-Star team. His return from major elbow and shoulder surgery and his emergence as a late-career closer were central themes of his career.