Baseball Victoria Hall of Fame Players: Matthew Sheldon-Collins

Matthew Sheldon-Collins is one of Australia’s most decorated baseball players and was a reliable infielder and shortstop. An original Waverley Red in the first Australian Baseball League Matthew was a long-standing member of the Waverley and Melbourne Reds, finishing in 1997. 

He was the starting shortstop for the Reds in their inaugural Australian Baseball League championship in 1990 where he was voted Most Valuable Players and was a key player when the Reds won their second championship in 1995. Matthew had a career .275 batting average in the Australian Baseball League and a career lowest .059 strikeout per at bat ratio.

He was a member of the Reds all-decade team.  Matthew represented Australia between 1982 and 1986, including the 1988 and 1996 Summer Olympics. Matthew was one of three Australians to play in the World Amateur All-Star game at Dodger Stadium in August 1991.

Matthew was inducted into the Baseball Australia Hall of Fame in 2007.  He was a long-time director and coach of the baseball program at the Victorian Institute of Sport.  Matthew began his baseball career at the age of 8 at the Waverley Baseball Club and played for them for nearly three decades before moving to Upwey Baseball Club where he won three premierships.