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Donald Bernard Schwall
Pittsburgh Pirates
Pitcher
Born: March 2, 1936, Wilkes-Barre, PA
Signed: Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before 1958 season
Major League Teams: Boston Red Sox 1961-1962; Pittsburgh Pirates 1963-1966; Atlanta Braves 1966-1967
Forsaking a career as a basketball player to pitch in the majors, Don Schwall won the American League Rookie of the Year honors in 1961, narrowly defeating Athletics' shortstop Dick Howser (#92). Schwall went 15-7 with a 3.22 ERA that season for a Red Sox team that would lose 86 games. Named to his only All-Star team, Schwall pitched three innings in relief of starter Jim Bunning (#20) in front of his hometown fans at Fenway Park. He allowed a run on five hits in that game, striking out Stan Musial to end the fifth inning. For the rest of his career, Schwall struggled to recapture the success he had found in his rookie season. After losing 15 games in 1962, he was traded to the Pirates with Jim Pagliaroni (#265) for Jack Lamabe (#88) and Dick Stuart (#280). Converted to a relief pitcher, Schwall would pitch in parts of four seasons with the Pirates, appearing in a career high 43 games in 1965 while recording four saves.
He'd finish up his big league career playing two seasons in Atlanta. In 172 big league games, Schwall was 49-48 with a 3.72 ERA and 408 strikeouts in 743 innings pitched.
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (America's Pastime - Fair Lawn, NJ) - Card #493
This is the ninth of 102 cards acquired for our set from the Baseball Card Sports Memorabilia Show, affectionately known as The Philly Show, held in the basement of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia in early March. We went nuts and left the show needing only 12 more cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, and I wrote about the show in detail over at The Phillies Room. This Schwall card was a little over $4 and was one of 13 cards purchased from the dealer America's Pastime from Fair Lawn, New Jersey.
The Card / Pirates Team Set
The cartoon on the back highlights Schwall once outscoring basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain in a game. His SABR biography notes he actually outscored Chamberlain in three different games when Schwall's University of Oklahoma team faced Chamberlain's Kansas Jayhawks during the 1956-57 college basketball season. The back also mentions how Schwall was limited to just 15 appearances in 1964 due to back and elbow injuries.
1965 Season
Schwall was a full-time reliever by 1965, and 42 of his 43 appearances for the Pirates came out of the bullpen. He was 9-6 with a 2.92 ERA while pitching 77 innings. Only closer Al McBean (#25) had more relief appearances for the Pirates than Schwall. He struck out 55 while walking 30 batters.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #35
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1962-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2016 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-DS
39 - Schwall non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/5/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (America's Pastime - Fair Lawn, NJ) - Card #493
This is the ninth of 102 cards acquired for our set from the Baseball Card Sports Memorabilia Show, affectionately known as The Philly Show, held in the basement of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia in early March. We went nuts and left the show needing only 12 more cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, and I wrote about the show in detail over at The Phillies Room. This Schwall card was a little over $4 and was one of 13 cards purchased from the dealer America's Pastime from Fair Lawn, New Jersey.
Depending on my ability to compose five posts a week on the cards acquired at this show, I should be completely caught up by mid-October. So get used to seeing this passage on the blog! It's entirely feasible we complete our 1965 Topps set by the end of 2022, although nine of the remaining 12 cards needed are fairly expensive.
The Card / Pirates Team Set
The cartoon on the back highlights Schwall once outscoring basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain in a game. His SABR biography notes he actually outscored Chamberlain in three different games when Schwall's University of Oklahoma team faced Chamberlain's Kansas Jayhawks during the 1956-57 college basketball season. The back also mentions how Schwall was limited to just 15 appearances in 1964 due to back and elbow injuries.
1965 Season
Schwall was a full-time reliever by 1965, and 42 of his 43 appearances for the Pirates came out of the bullpen. He was 9-6 with a 2.92 ERA while pitching 77 innings. Only closer Al McBean (#25) had more relief appearances for the Pirates than Schwall. He struck out 55 while walking 30 batters.
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First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #35
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1962-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2016 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-DS
39 - Schwall non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/5/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #361 5th Series Checklist 353-429
Previous Card: #361 5th Series Checklist 353-429
Next Card: #363 Bob Johnson - Baltimore Orioles
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