Luke Hughes BIO
Luke Trevor Hughes is an Australian baseball player for Major League Baseball’s Minnesota Twins.
Australian career
Hughes played the 2001-2002 seasons in the International Baseball League of Australia, where he was named as the All-Star second baseman.
He helped the Perth Heat win the 2003 Claxton Shield with a .429 batting average. He also won the Golden Glove in the 2004 Claxton Shield. He currently plays for the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League and grew up playing for the Morley Eagles Baseball Club.
American career
He was then signed to the Minnesota Twins early 2002. He debuted professionally a year later with the GCL Twins, reaching base safely in 19 straight games at one point. He was named to the Gulf Coast League All-Star team at third base. In 2004, he moved to the Elizabethton Twins and played second base.
After two seasons with the New Britain Rock Cats and appearances for the 2007 and 2008 Eastern League All-Star team, he was promoted to AAA with the Rochester Red Wings. He also played in the 2008 All-Star Futures Game and was the only Australian that played for the World team. On 24 April 2010 he was called up to the Minnesota Twins Major League roster.
On 28 April 2010 he debuted for the Twins at third base. In his first Major League at bat he hit a home run against Detroit Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer. In comparison, hitting a first at bat home run is twice as rare as throwing a no-hitter. Hughes’ home run was calculated to have gone 360 feet. He is the 106th person in MLB history to homer in his first major league at-bat dating back to 1855 (less than once per season), and was the 2nd to do so during the 2010 season.
International career
Hughes played for Australia in the 2005 Baseball World Cup where he batted 1 for 15. Again he played in the 2006 World Baseball Classic going 0 from 3. In 2006 he picked up his form in the Intercontinental Cup, the Australian batted .455 and slugged .755. In 5 games at second and four at third, he was error-free.
Hughes hit .333 for Australia in the 2007 Baseball World Cup. Hughes tied a game against the Dutch national team with a 9th-inning sacrifice fly. Against the Venezuelan national team, Luke cracked a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 11th to win the game. He broke open a tie game against Team Canada in the top of the 9th with a double and the go-ahead run.