David Theodore Swartzbaugh (born February 11, 1968) is an American former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played from 1995 to 1997 for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

Career

Swartzbaugh attended Middletown High School and Miami University of Ohio. In 1988, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Chatham A's The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in t ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. The , 195 pound right-hander was originally drafted by the Cubs in the 9th round (224th overall) of the 1989 draft. He was used both as a starter and

reliever In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather ...

in the minors, and saw success in both roles. For example, in 1991 with the

Winston-Salem Spirits Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

(now the Warthogs), he went 10–4 with a 1.83 ERA as a starter. As a reliever in 1995 with the

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The ...

, he went 3–0 with a 1.53 ERA in 30 relief appearances. He made his big league debut on September 3, 1995 at the age of 27 against the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

. He was perfect in the 2/3 of an inning that made up his debut. He did well the remainder of the season, with seven relief appearances without an earned run, and striking out five in 7 1/3 innings. Swartzbaugh's early success did not carry over into 1996 as the Cubs tried using him as a starter. He appeared in 6 games, starting 5, posting a 6.38 ERA in 24 innings of work, and striking out 13 while walking 14. The Cubs tried using him as a starter again in 1997, but he went 0–1 in 8 innings of work, which included two starts. Swartzbaugh appeared in his final major league game on April 22, 1997, and stuck around in the minors until 1999. In his MLB career Swartzbaugh was 0–3 in 39+ innings of work, had a 5.72 career ERA, struck out 22, and walked 24. He was also 0 for 10 at the plate.

Other information

*Swartzbaugh was teammates with

Steve Trachsel Stephen Christopher Trachsel (born October 31, 1970) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher with the Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets and the Baltimore Orioles between 1993 and 2008. He batted and t ...

for seven professional seasons-longer than any other teammate. *Swartzbaugh earned $153,500 in 1997. *He wore two numbers in his career-36 in 1995 and 1996, and 38 in 1997.

References

Sources

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Retrosheet
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The Baseball Gauge
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Venezuela Winter League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swartzbaugh, Dave 1968 births Living people Baseball players from Butler County, Ohio Chatham Anglers players Chicago Cubs players Geneva Cubs players Iowa Cubs players Jacksonville Suns players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball pitchers Miami RedHawks baseball players Orlando Cubs players Sportspeople from Middletown, Ohio Peoria Chiefs players Tucson Sidewinders players Winston-Salem Spirits players