Former Australian Olympic and Major League Baseball pitcher and World Series champion Graeme Lloyd will join the sporting elite when he is inducted into the prestigious Sport Australia Hall of Fame next week.
After representing Australia at both junior and senior level, Lloyd joined the Milwaukee Brewers in 1993. One of the first and most successful Australian baseball exports, he then spent a decade playing Major League Baseball with a number of clubs, including 1996 and ’98 World Series Championships with the New York Yankees.
Lloyd will receive the highest national sporting honour that can be bestowed when he is officially inducted at The Sport Australia Hall of Fame Annual Induction and Awards Gala Dinner, proudly presented by Etihad Airways, on Thursday, 10 October at Crown Melbourne.
In 2004, Lloyd was a part of the silver medal winning team at the Athens Olympic Games – the first and only Olympic baseball medal Australia has won. Since returning to Australia he has been a successful coach with Perth Heat.
“I am very excited and thrilled to be inducted into The Sport Australia Hall of Fame. I’m nearly 50 years old and I couldn’t wait to get off the phone to call mum and dad. It was a great feeling,” Lloyd said of his induction.
“To be inducted in this company and to be recognised by your peers is a great honour.”
“I suppose I look at myself as a pioneer along with David Nilsson, Craig Shipley and others in the late eighties who were able to solidify positions in the major league,” Lloyd said.
“To think that anyone is following in my footsteps because of what I have done is a tremendous feeling and satisfaction.”
Lloyd rates winning an Olympic silver medal for his country as one of the true highlights of his career.
“It was certainly a pinnacle moment in my career,” Lloyd said.
“The Yankees were a special team to play for, but to play for your country; it was such a different feeling.”
Robert de Castella MBE, Chairman of The Sport Australia Hall of Fame selection committee recognised Lloyd as “a real pioneer for Australia.”
“He was underrated and probably not fully appreciated for his achievements here in Australia. But for us to have an Australian who was recognised and played for so many of the Major League teams and win two World Series is again an incredible achievement to represent Australia in that League.”
“It has also paved the way for some many other young Australian baseballers who are now following in his footsteps and make careers for themselves,” de Castella added.
David Hynes, President of Baseball Australia labelled Lloyd as “one of the legends of Australian baseball – not only for his outstanding success on the field, but also for his longstanding and ongoing contribution to the sport.”
“Graeme is an outstanding person and everyone involved in the sport of baseball is rightly proud of his well-deserved induction into The Sport Australia Hall of Fame,” Hynes added.
Lloyd joins Ron Sharpe and David Nilsson as the only three baseball Members of The Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
Established in 1985, The Sport Australia Hall of Fame aims to preserve and celebrate the history of Australian Sport and excite the next generation of Australians to achieve their potential both in sport and in life.
With a vision and values built around the words of the first Inductee and Legend, Sir Donald Bradman AC, The Sport Australia Hall of Fame is determined to carry to all Australians everywhere the symbol of excellence, as represented by its 518 Members across all sports and genders.
