Background and career
Nicholas Thompson Swisher (born November 25, 1980) is an American professional baseball analyst and former outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a switch hitter who threw left-handed, and played for the Oakland Athletics, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves. He won the 2009 World Series with the Yankees and was an All-Star in 2010. A power hitter with excellent plate discipline, Swisher hit at least 20 home runs in each of nine consecutive seasons from 2005 to 2013, and reached 75 bases on balls on seven occasions in that span. Swisher is the son of former MLB catcher Steve Swisher, who played for various National League baseball clubs in the 1970s and 1980s. Swisher was born in Columbus, Ohio, but grew up in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Before his professional career, Swisher played college baseball for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Drafted by the A's in the 2002 MLB draft, Swisher made his MLB debut with the Athletics in 2004, and played for the team through 2007. After he spent one year with the White Sox in 2008, the Yankees acquired him prior to the start of the 2009 campaign. He played in New York for four years before signing with the Cleveland Indians prior to the 2013 season.
Swisher was born in Columbus, Ohio, the son of Lillian Marie (Vaught) Malizia and Steve Swisher, a Major League Baseball (MLB) player. His mother was of part Italian descent; her grandfather immigrated to the Buffalo, New York, area from the town of Oliveri, in Sicily. Swisher's parents divorced when he was 11 years old. He then went to live with his grandparents in Parkersburg, West Virginia, who raised him during his teenage years.
Swisher attended Parkersburg High School where he was a three-sport star, playing football and baseball, while lettering in basketball. As a strong safety on his football team, he was recruited by several Division I-A college football programs, including the University of Notre Dame, but chose to pursue baseball. Undrafted out of high school, Swisher enrolled at Ohio State University, as that school and Ohio University were the only colleges to recruit him for baseball. Playing for the Ohio State Buckeyes baseball team in the Big Ten Conference, Swisher was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2000, after hitting .299 with 10 home runs and 48 runs batted in (RBI). In 2000, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He was an All-Big Ten selection as a first baseman as a sophomore in 2001, after hitting .322 with 56 RBI and a league-leading 15 home runs. He earned All-Big Ten honors as an outfielder in 2002, after batting .348 with 10 home runs and 52 RBI.
The Oakland Athletics selected Swisher in the first round, with the 16th overall selection, of the 2002 MLB draft. They received the pick from the Boston Red Sox as compensation for the signing of free agent Johnny Damon. Swisher and the Athletics' 2002 draft are heavily featured in Michael Lewis' 2003 book Moneyball. In a book whose key theme is the gulf between orthodox baseball thinking and the new sabermetric-influenced system being implemented by Billy Beane, Swisher was notable as one of the few examples of a player whom traditional scouts and Beane could agree upon. Swisher made his professional debut with the Vancouver Canadians of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League in 2002, batting .250 with two home runs and 12 RBI in 13 games. He was later promoted to the Visalia Oaks of the Class A-Advanced California League, where he batted .240 with four home runs and 23 RBI in 49 games. Swisher started the 2003 season with the Modesto A's, Oakland's new California League affiliate, where he batted .296 with 10 home runs and 43 RBI in 51 games before receiving a promotion to the Midland RockHounds of the Class AA Texas League in June. He batted .230 with five home runs and 43 RBI in 76 games for Midland to finish the season, and then played in the Arizona Fall League for the Mesa Desert Dogs. Swisher played for the Sacramento River Cats of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League for the 2004 season, batting .269 with 29 home runs and 92 RBI in 125 games. That season, he led all minor league baseball players with 103 walks.
Swisher made his MLB debut in 2004 for the Athletics, playing in 20 games. Retaining his rookie status for 2005, Swisher batted .236 with 21 home runs and 74 RBI in 131 games for the Athletics. He finished sixth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting. Teammate Huston Street won the award, while fellow 2002 Oakland draftee Joe Blanton finished seventh. Following his rookie season, Swisher improved in most offensive categories. During the 2006 regular season, Swisher compiled a .254 batting average with 35 home runs and 95 RBI (both career-highs) in 157 games. He also improved his on-base percentage by raising it to .372, as well as boosting his slugging percentage to .493. Swisher finished second for the team in on-base plus slugging (OPS) behind veteran slugger Frank Thomas. Swisher spent about half of his playing time in left field, and the other half at first base. The A's lacked both Dan Johnson and Erubiel Durazo for a large portion of the 2006 season, leaving room for Swisher to move back into his preferred position on a temporary basis. During the season, Swisher wrote a column for ESPN.com about his various baseball experiences called Sophomore Year. This included multiple articles that pertained to his early MLB playing experiences, as well as the MLB Draft of 2002. Swisher made his postseason debut as the Athletics took on the Minnesota Twins in the 2006 ALDS. Swisher got three hits and an RBI during the series as the A's performed a three-game sweep against the Twins to advance to the ALCS. During the 2006 ALCS vs the Detroit Tigers, Swisher had a .100 batting average with one hit as Oakland would eventually lose the ALCS to the Tigers in four games.
On May 11, 2007, Swisher signed a five-year, $26.75 million contract extension with Oakland that included a club option for 2012. On September 16, 2007, Swisher initiated a brawl when he charged the mound after getting hit by a pitch from Texas Rangers pitcher Vicente Padilla. Earlier in the plate appearance, Padilla (who had hit Swisher the prior year) threw two inside pitches with the apparent intention of hitting Swisher. Both players were ejected following the brawl, and Swisher received a three-game suspension.
