Karl Nikolajsen

Karl Mikkel Asbjørn Nikolajsen (October 2, 1988 - August 25, 2016) was a Danish professional baseball pitcher for the Montreal Expos of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Nikolajsen played amateur baseball in and the. He entered the MLB as a free agent in 2009, and the Expos selected Nikolajsen in the first round of the 2009 Major League Baseball expansion draft. After little over a year in the AAA Wilmington Expos, he was called up to the major leagues at the start of the 2011 season, becoming the first Danish-born player to play in the MLB in over a decade, the previous being.

Background
Nikolajsen was born on October 2, 1988 in,. His father, Jeppe Nikolajsen, coaches youth baseball and national teams and promotes the sport in Denmark. He convinced his son to play baseball, despite it not being well known in the country. Nikolajsen stated that since there were "barely any" baseball fields in Denmark, he attended training camps in the to better learn the game. He attended MLB's European Baseball Academy in 2008 and 2009.