Don Schwall

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Donald Bernard Schwall (born March 2, 1936 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher who played with the Boston Red Sox (1961-62), Pittsburgh Pirates (1963-66) and Atlanta Braves (1966-67).

Schwall was selected an All-Big Eight basketball star at the University of Oklahoma in 1957. A year later, he signed with the Red Sox.

In 1961, Schwall posted a 15-7 record with 91 strikeouts and a 3.22 earned run average, for a Boston team that finished 33 games out of first place and ten games under .500. He won his first six decisions, extended the dazzling first-year stats to 13-2, and won Rookie of the Year honors. At Fenway Park, on July 31, he pitched three innings in the first All-Star Game tie in major league baseball history (1-1), occurred when the game was stopped in the 9th inning due to rain.

After a sub-par 1962 season (9-15), Schwall was sent to Pittsburgh. He went 6-12 in 1963, and later switched to a reliever, recording a career-best 2.92 ERA while winning nine games in 1965. He finished his career in Atlanta.

In seven seasons, Schwall compiled a 49-48 record with 408 strikeouts, a 3.72 ERA, 18 complete games, five shutouts, four saves, and 743 innings pitched in 172 games (103 as a starter).

Highlights

All-Star (1961)
Rookie of the Year (1961)

Fact

Don Schwall was the second Red Sox player to be named the AL Rookie of the Year, joining Walter Dropo (1950), Carlton Fisk (1972), Fred Lynn (1975) and Nomar Garciaparra (1997).