Scouting in Australia…sometimes you stumble upon an unexpected gold mine, other times you end up masturbating out a hotel window for 40 minutes.

However, the Phillies scouts seem to have kept their pants on down under and have  unearthed some solid prospects. The Philadelphia Daily News has the story.

With three Aussies in major league spring training - Harman, a second baseman; Snelling, an outfielder; and pitcher Travis Blackley - and six more throughout the organization, the Phillies are well aware of the fertile recruiting ground Down Under. And in recent years, they have increased their efforts to tap the country’s rapidly expanding talent base and capitalize on the numerous advantages of signing players who call Australia home.

One of my good friends here in Korea is Australian. He doesn’t know the first thing about baseball but was drawn in by Johnny Damon during the 2004 World Series. He loved the wild  beard and hair and called him a “madman.”  That was about the extent of it for Shane, but the Aussies have a growing interest in the game. The Claxton Sheild  is a  huge, yearly  regional baseball tournament played in January, won this year by the team from New South Wales.    

In general, Aussies are becoming more common in the majors:

Of the 25 Australians who have suited up in a major league game, 16 have debuted in the last 8 years. Two are on the Phillies’ 40-man roster: Snelling, who has hit .240 in various stints with Seattle, Washington and Oakland the past 4 years; and Blackley, a lefthander who started six games for the Mariners in 2004 and two games for the Giants last season.