Steven Eugene Swisher (born August 9, 1951) is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
former professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
player and minor league
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
. He played in
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), ...
as a
catcher
Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...
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 ...
,
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...
, and
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
from 1974 to 1982. Swisher was elected to the 1976
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
All-Star team with the Cubs but did not play in the game. He is the father of former
MLB
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), ...
first baseman
A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...
Nick Swisher
Nicholas Thompson Swisher (born November 25, 1980) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a switch hitter who threw left-handed, and played for the Oakland Athletics, Chica ...
.
College
Swisher attended
Ohio University
Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...
for a degree in education and played baseball. During his freshman season, the team went to the
College World Series
The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...
. Swisher was named an all-
Mid-American Conference
The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...
player for three of his seasons.
Major league career
Swisher was drafted in the first round in June 1973 by the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
. He spent his first year of professional baseball with the
Knoxville Sox
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...
and six games with the
Iowa Oaks, batting .211 and .286 respectively. He was traded along with
Steve Stone and
Ken Frailing
Kenneth Douglas Frailing (January 19, 1948 – August 26, 2022) was an American professional baseball player, a left-handed pitcher who appeared in 116 Major League games for the Chicago White Sox (1972–1973) and Chicago Cubs (1974–19 ...
from the White Sox to the crosstown Cubs for
Ron Santo
Ronald Edward Santo (February 25, 1940 – December 3, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman who played for the Chicago Cubs from 1960 through 1973 and the Chicago White Sox in 1974. In 1990, Santo became a member of the ...
on December 11, 1973.
Jim Kremmel
James Louis Kremmel (February 28, 1949 – October 12, 2012) was an American left-handed pitcher who spent two seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Texas Rangers (1973) and Chicago Cubs ( 1974).
Born in Belleville, Illinois, on ...
was also sent to the Cubs to complete the transaction one week later on December 18.
"White Sox Finish Trade for Santo," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Tuesday, December 18, 1973.
Retrieved October 30, 2020 Swisher was selected as the Cubs' representative for the 1976 MLB All-Star Game; he hit .236 that season with five home runs
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
and 42 runs batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...
.[ In a 2014 piece for ]ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc.
History
Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including: ...
, Jim Caple
Jim Caple is a former columnist and senior writer for ESPN.com. He has worked previously with the ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' and the '' St. Paul Pioneer Press''.
Caple attended R.A. Long High School in Longview, Washington. He graduated from ...
listed Swisher as one of the "five worst players named All-Stars".
Swisher, who had appeared in 109 games in his All-Star season, saw his playing time drop to 74 games in 1977, while batting just .190 with five home runs. In December 1977, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...
in a four-player deal and played sparingly over the next three seasons. In late 1980, he was sent to the San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
in a multiplayer trade. Swisher never appeared in more than 45 games in a season with the Cardinals or Padres. He was granted free agency after the 1982 season and never played in the major leagues again.[
]
Managerial career
Swisher spent several seasons as a minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...
manager. He started in Class A with the Waterloo Indians
The Waterloo Indians were a minor league baseball team that played from 1977 to 1988 in the Midwest League. They played their home games at Riverfront Stadium and were affiliated with the Cleveland Indians. They were located in Waterloo, Iowa
Wa ...
in 1985 and 1986. He managed Class AA and Class AAA teams in the Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
organization through 1988, including the Buffalo Bisons
The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...
, Williamsport Bills
The Williamsport Bills were a Class AA Eastern League baseball affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, and New York Mets from 1987 to 1991 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in the United States. They played their games in Bowman Field, ...
and Colorado Springs Sky Sox
The Colorado Springs Sky Sox were a Minor League Baseball team in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The team played in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and was the Triple-A affiliate of the major league Milwaukee Brewers (2015–2018), Colorado Rockie ...
. Swisher moved to the New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
organization in 1989, where he managed the Class AA Jackson Mets
The Jackson Mets were a professional baseball team based in Jackson, Mississippi, from 1975 through 1990. As of 2010, they were the longest-tenured club to be based in the Jackson metropolitan area. For their entire sixteen seasons of existence, t ...
. In 1991, Swisher was the manager of the Tidewater Tides
The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's location on the Chesapea ...
, and he held the same position with the Binghamton Mets in 1992 and 1993.[
He subsequently spent single seasons as the manager of the Class AAA ]New Orleans Zephyrs
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
(1997) and Class AA Reading Phillies
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
(2005). After being hired by Reading in late 2004, Swisher suffered a fall down a staircase and was rendered comatose. He had recovered enough to manage Reading in 2005, but his tenure there was punctuated by personality conflicts and the team did not renew his contract after that season.
References
External links
Steve Swisher Baseball Biography
:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swisher, Steve
1951 births
Living people
Baseball players from West Virginia
Binghamton Mets managers
Buffalo Bisons (minor league) managers
Chicago Cubs players
Colorado Springs Sky Sox managers
Iowa Oaks players
Knoxville Sox players
Major League Baseball catchers
National League All-Stars
New York Mets coaches
Norfolk Tides managers
Ohio Bobcats baseball players
Sportspeople from Parkersburg, West Virginia
Reading Phillies managers
Richmond Braves players
St. Louis Cardinals players
San Diego Padres players
Wichita Aeros players
Williamsport Bills managers
Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players