Baseball History Podcast

Ronald Alan Swoboda was born June 30, 1944 in Baltimore, MD

As a 20-year-old Met rookie in 1965, Swoboda hit a career-high 19 home runs.  Though his subsequent career performance was a relative disappointment, he was a key member of the 1969 “Miracle Mets.”  He collected half of his 52 Runs Batted In in the last five weeks of the season, and hit two home runs to beat Steve Carlton 4-3 the night Carlton struck out 19.

Welcome to the Baseball History Podcast:  Featuring This Week in Baseball History, baseball dictionary and a tour of baseball cities.  I’m your game announcer Bob Wright.

This is game 21 of the 2010 baseball season

In the first inning let’s take a look at This Week in Baseball History for the 4 week of May.

May 23
1965 Mets’ outfielder Ron Swoboda takes up his position wearing a batting helmet – on his foot. After kicking the protective head gear it got stuck on his spikes, and manager Casey Stengel ordered the young player to go out to the field.

Ronald Alan Swoboda was born June 30, 1944 in Baltimore, MD

As a 20-year-old Met rookie in 1965, Swoboda hit a career-high 19 home runs.  Though his subsequent career performance was a relative disappointment, he was a key member of the 1969 “Miracle Mets.”  He collected half of his 52 Runs Batted In in the last five weeks of the season, and hit two home runs to beat Steve Carlton 4-3 the night Carlton struck out 19.

In Game Four of the World Series, Swoboda’s daring ninth-inning diving catch of Brooks Robinson’s line drive in right-center field saved the day for New York. A vivacious character with an engaging sense of humor, Swoboda became a sportscaster after his career ended.

The casual fan of the game might know Ron Swoboda for “The Catch” in the 1969 World Series, or for his home run heroics against Carlton, or for Casey Stengel’s early summation: “He will be great, super, even wonderful.  Now if he can only learn to catch a fly ball.”  The true fan of the man will also know Ron Swoboda for his wit, heart and humility, and for his drive to become the best outfielder he could be.

In 1963, the summer following his first year at the University of Maryland, he played in a tournament in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.  Following a good performance in that tournament, Swoboda was offered a $35,000 contract to sign with the New York Mets, which he did on September 5, 1963.

Ron was invited to major league spring training in 1964 and made a good showing with a home run outburst.  He was assigned to the Mets’ Triple-A club, the Buffalo Bisons in the International League.  In his first professional game, Swoboda had three hits including a home run in five at bats.  In his second game, he struck out four times.  When he reflected on that somewhat inauspicious start to his professional baseball career, Ron would say, “That’s about how my career went.  That was it in a microcosm.”
On April 12, 1965, he made his debut with the New York Mets.  Ron’s first major league manager was Casey Stengel.  Ron was fascinated by Stengel.  Here was a boy of 20 with so much to learn being managed by a man of 75 with so much to teach.  Ron remembers Casey’s teaching style.  While Casey appeared to be talking to the reporters he would often deliver a message to his ballplayers by directing an instructive or critical remark about that player to the reporter when he knew the player was within earshot. 

And then there was a less fondly remembered lesson Casey taught Ron.  On May 23, 1965, in a game against the Cardinals in St. Louis, the Mets took a 3-0 lead into the 9th inning.  The bases were soon loaded.  Dal Maxvill lifted a fly ball out to right field, but Ron lost it in the sun.  The ball got by him, and all three Cardinal runners scored.  When Ron batted in the 10th, he didn’t get on base.  As the Mets took the field in the bottom of the 10th, Swoboda’s pent-up frustration seemed to burst.  When he reached the top of the dugout steps, he angrily stomped on a batting helmet with the intent of smashing it.  Instead, his foot stuck in the helmet, and he continued to kick at it to shake it off while taking the field.  Casey rushed over to him, grabbed him by the shirt and hollered, “When you missed that fly ball, I didn’t go looking for your watch to break it.  So quit busting up the team’s equipment.  You’re done for today.”  In the locker room, Ron thought he just blew his major league chance.  He sat there, alone, and cried. 

So many of his 73 career home runs were memorable.  As a rookie in 1965, in only his second major league at bat, the right-handed hitting slugger hit a long, pinch-hit home run over the back wall of the bullpen at Shea Stadium.   He hit four home runs in his first sixteen at-bats and ten in his first ninety at-bats.  Swoboda hit a career-high 19 home runs that year, which led the Mets, and was the most home runs hit by a Mets rookie until Daryl Strawberry hit 26 in 1983. 

Ron’s rookie home run record was actually victimized by an umpiring error.  On April 30, 1965, at a game in Cincinnati, he came to bat in the first inning with the bases loaded and one out against right-handed pitcher John Tsitouris.  Crosley Field had a concrete outfield wall with a bright yellow line at the top.  However, above that home run line and set back about four inches from the concrete wall in center field was a plywood wall installed to prevent the batters from looking into the headlights of the cars on the nearby elevated highway.  Swoboda hit a grand slam home run off the plywood wall–except second base umpire Frank Secory never signaled that the ball left the playing field.  When center fielder Vada Pinson threw the ball back to the infield, one run scored but the other runners held, and all Swoboda got was a long single.  Mets’ coach Yogi Berra was ejected from the game for arguing the call.  Ron recalls Yogi’s famous quote: “Anybody who couldn’t hear that ball hit the wood is blind.”  

On July 4, 1966, he hit a ball onto the leftfield roof in Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.  On August 4th that season, he hit a three-run, pinch-hit, walk-off home run to beat the Giants 8-6 at Shea Stadium.

He hit home runs in four consecutive games for the Mets in April 1968.  Later that month, on April 30th, he homered off Philadelphia’s Chris Short to give the Mets a 1-0 victory.  On September 13, 1969, with the Miracle Mets on their way to their first championship season, Swoboda hit a grand slam home run, his first, in the eighth inning to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-2.

Even more memorable was his performance on September 15, 1969, against Steve Carlton at Busch Stadium.  On a night when the Cardinal southpaw struck out 19 batters, setting a new major league record, Swoboda hit two two-run home runs off Carlton.  In his other two at bats, Swoboda struck out twice to aid Carlton’s record, but his two-run homer in the fourth, with two strikes on him, put the Mets up 2-1, and his two-run homer in the eighth, again with two strikes, gave the Mets the 4-3 victory.
Swoboda was one of the “Youth of America,” Stengel’s expression for the corps of young players who would take the Mets from worst to first in four short years.  Stengel said the Mets were “amazing, amazing, amazing.”  Swoboda knows simply – and humbly — that he was part of something special in that amazing year of 1969: “If you’re lucky enough to get into the World Series, that’s a privilege.  All I was trying to do was play baseball.”
During his early years with the Mets, he acquired the nickname “Rocky” as a result of his less-than-reliable fielding.  Although he possessed a strong, accurate throwing arm, a fly ball hit in his direction was, by no means, a sure out.  However, he always worked hard at improving his fielding technique.

He had 53 outfield assists in his career and a lifetime .972 fielding percentage.  He was the Mets leftfielder in 1965 and 1966 but slid over to right when Tommy Davis joined the Mets in 1967, while Cleon Jones covered centerfield.

When the Mets traded for centerfielder Tommie Agee from the Chicago White Sox in 1968, the Mets were now able to play Jones in left, and Swoboda and newly-acquired Art Shamsky in right. Ron also played 20 games at first base for the Mets in 1967, including opening day. 

After escaping the cellar in 1966, the Mets slipped back to last place in 1967.  Gil Hodges became the Mets manager beginning with the 1968 season.  Hodges became Swoboda’s most influential manager.  He has this to say of Hodges, “Gil was so on top of the game.  There was no one better than Hodges. He was interesting, and creative, but in a way a player could understand.”

Swoboda enjoyed perhaps his best season under Hodges in 1968.  Batting only .242 for the season, he still lead the team in Runs Batted In with 59, triples with 6, and walks with 52, all personal bests.

He played 125 games in right field in 1968 with career highs in total chances, putouts and assists.  However, in 1969, Hodges’ strategy of platooning batters reduced Swoboda’s playing time to 109 games and 327 at bats in that championship year.

By May 21, 1969, the Mets won their third game in a row for a .500 winning percentage 36 games into the season for the first time in franchise history.  This was followed by a five game losing streak that saw the Mets fall into fourth place in the newly aligned National League East.

The Mets then went on an eleven game winning streak that brought them back into second place, seven games back of the Chicago Cubs.  On September 10 the Mets swept a double header against the Montreal Expos.  Coupled with a loss by the Cubs, the Mets jumped into first place for the first time in franchise history.

On September 13, Swoboda hit a grand slam against the Pittsburgh Pirates to propel the Mets to a 5-2 victory.  Two days later, the St. Louis Cardinals’ Steve Carlton struck out a record nineteen Mets batters in a losing effort, as the Mets defeated the Cards 4-3 at Busch Stadium on a pair of two run home runs by Swoboda.  On September 24, facing Carlton and the Cardinals, again- only this time at Shea Stadium, the New York Mets clinched the National League East as Donn Clendenon hit two home runs in a 6-0 Mets victory.  The Mets won 39 of their last 50 games, and finished the season with 100 wins against 62 losses, eight games over the second place Cubs.

Swoboda did not appear in the Mets’ 1969 National League Championship Series three game sweep of the Atlanta Braves to reach the World Series.  The Mets were heavy underdogs heading into the World Series against the mighty Baltimore Orioles, and following a 4-1 loss in the series opener with Cy Young award winning pitcher Tom Seaver on the mound, it seemed as if the Mets had little chance against the Orioles.

This was not the case, as the Mets won the second game of the series in Baltimore.  The 1969 World Series featured brilliant plays by third baseman Ed Charles, shortstop Bud Harrelson and two by center fielder Tommie Agee in game three.

Swoboda’s eighth inning double in the fifth game knocked Cleon Jones in from second base and helped seal the championship for the Miracle Mets.  Yet, this is not the moment in the 1969 Series for which Swoboda is most remembered.

Despite a less than stellar defensive reputation, the single event for which he is best known was made in the field, in the fourth game.  In the top of the ninth, with the Mets holding onto a 1-0 lead courtesy of Donn Clendenon’s second inning home run off Mike Cuellar, Frank Robinson and Boog Powell each singled to put runners on first and third with one out for the Orioles.

Brooks Robinson then hit a smash toward right center that Swoboda raced for and caught backhanded as he dove flat out to his right.  Frank Robinson tagged and scored but Swoboda’s grab prevented the go-ahead run from scoring.

A photograph of Swoboda, stretched almost horizontally, just inches off the ground, became an iconic image for Mets fans.  The Right Field entrance gate of Citi Field, the current ballpark of the Mets, features a metal silhouette of a baseball player making a diving catch similar to the one Swoboda made during the 1969 Series.

The Mets won the game in the 10th inning when pitcher Pete Richert cleanly fielded J.C. Martin’s sacrifice bunt but then hit Martin with the throw to first base, allowing the winning run to score.

On March 31, 1971, Swoboda was traded to the Montreal Expos.  He appeared in just 39 games for the Expos, and on June 25 he was traded to the New York Yankees.  He had this to say of the experience:  “I remember putting on the Yankee uniform and walking out onto the field in the old Yankee Stadium.  I was not prepared to be awed…but I was.”

Swoboda played 152 games for the Yankees, during which he collected 69 hits with 4 home runs.  He played the last game of his career on September 30, 1973, and was released by the Yankees on December 11, 1973.  He was signed as a free agent by the Atlanta Braves on January 3, 1974, but was released before the 1974 season began.

Swoboda finished his nine-year playing career with a lifetime batting average of .242.  He hit 73 home runs and knocked in 344 runs. 

After baseball, Swoboda turned to writing and TV and radio broadcasting.

A large part of this biography comes from the SABR Baseball Biography Project written
by Len Pasculli.  It can be found online at http://bioproj.sabr.org

In this inning we’ll open up the Baseball Dictionary
Under the letter: B

Batting order The official listing of the order in which batters will come to me plate.  The batting order must be submitted to the home plate umpire before the game begins.  Substitutes must be inserted in the batting order in the position of the player being replaced.

For those of you that want to stick around, here’s an
Extra Inning

The following email came from Dave Waggoner and Dave said:

I found your podcasts on I-tunes over the weekend.  I drive a delivery truck for a living and have listened to your podcasts over the last two days and I’m hooked.  I just got done listening to your show with Matt and Jason and was wondering what other podcasts do you listen to?  I am a avid baseball fan and a history buff.  I think the two topics go hand in hand.  I used to own a xm radio that I listened to in the truck, but have changed to listening to podcasts.  I have already downloaded your entire collection and am currently working my way through it.  I have also downloaded Matt’s and currently working on Jason’s.  Thanks for your time and keep up the great work, I have already learned a lot of great info.

Dave Waggoner

The Jason and Matt that Dave is referring to are two podcasting friends of mine.  Jason is Jason Watts of History Podcast.  Jason has a library of over 100 shows on iTunes but is no longer podcasting.  The addition of a baby to his family hampered his ability to continue.

The Matt is Matt Dattilo of Matt’s Today in History.  Matt has over 400 shows on iTunes and still contributes to his library of shows from time to time.

A few years ago the three of us met at a podcasting convention and recorded a show about history and podcasting.

If you would like to a part of Baseball History Podcast, submit your written contribution for the tour segment.  I will only be doing the tour when one is sent in by a listener.  You can do the segment on any stadium or team; past or present; Minor League, Major League, Negro League or any league outside of the US.  Write about 1 page in a conversational tone, send it to me, I will record it, and you will get the credit.

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Well, that’s it for today’s game of Baseball History Podcast.  I’ll see you later at the ballpark.