The Next Swisher – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 2, 2002
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%^$By RUSTY MILLER
%^$AP Sports Writer%^$
%^$COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – There was never much question that Nick Swisher%^$was born to baseball.%^$
%^$His father, Steve Swisher, a catcher for nine seasons with the Cubs,%^$Cardinals and Padres, is also his best friend.%^$
%^$An affinity with the game seemed to follow Nick. One of his earliest%^$recollections is of falling asleep at the age of 6 on the bat rack during%^$one of his dad’s games as a minor-league manager in Waterloo, Iowa.%^$
%^$The bond between father and son remains strong, and is built on many%^$things. Yet baseball always seems to be at the foundation.%^$
%^$”He’s done things that in my life I someday hope to do,” Nick said of%^$his father. “He’s been there and he’s done it all.”%^$
%^$Now Nick is one of the best collegiate players in the country. He’s%^$comfortable with who he is and what he feels he is destined to become. And%^$the Ohio State outfielder, riding a 17-game hitting streak, has always been%^$comfortable walking in his father’s spikes.%^$
%^$”The biggest thing we have in common is our drive to be the best,”%^$Steve Swisher said. “I’m really proud of what he’s done to this point.”%^$
%^$Nick has made a name for himself at Ohio State, where he is second in%^$the Big Ten in hitting with a .410 average. Not coincidentally, the%^$Buckeyes lead the conference by a game and a half.%^$
%^$Ohio State has bobbed in and out of the national rankings all season%^$and is 25-13-1 coming into the final month of the season. Swisher, a%^$6-foot, 200-pound junior from Parkersburg, W.Va., is one of the biggest%^$reasons for that success.%^$
%^$After two glittering seasons with the Buckeyes _ in which he batted%^$.310 with 25 home runs and 104 RBIs _ he has become a better hitter even%^$though most pitchers try to keep the ball away from him.%^$
“It’s definitely hard to pitch to him now,” teammate Christian Snavely%^$said. “They go outside on him and he’ll hit it to the opposite field. If%^$they come inside, he can drive the ball.”%^$
%^$As with many things in a stubborn 21-year-old’s life, it’s taken time%^$to finally catch on. It has not been enough to tell him what to do; he had%^$to discover it on his own. His coaches had been harping on him for more%^$than two years to go up the alley with the outside pitch.%^$
%^$Since coming around, he has been hitting at a .442 clip with three%^$homers and 13 RBIs over his hitting streak.%^$
%^$”Nick started out trying to impress the scouts because obviously he%^$wants the opportunity to play pro baseball,” Ohio State head coach Bob Todd%^$said. “He felt the way to do that was power, hitting home runs. We’ve sat%^$and talked to him and finally, the last month of the season, he’s begun to%^$realize that consistency and showing his athleticism is just as important.”%^$
%^$He remains an enigma _ a power-hitter in a relatively compact and lithe%^$body, a cocky hitter with a hint of self-doubt, a man still trying to shed%^$his boyish ways.%^$
%^$Catcher Joe Wilkins remembers when Nick showed up on campus on his%^$recruiting visit.%^$
%^$”He brought pictures of all his girlfriends,” Wilkins said, laughing at%^$the thought. “And he was real loud. He was just happy to be here, excited%^$to meet everybody. He wanted to fit in right away. That’s the kind of guy%^$he is _ real outgoing.”%^$
%^$Nick denies the part about the pictures, but he pleads guilty to being%^$a guy who has seldom run away from a party or a joke.%^$
%^$”I love to have a good time,” he said. “I wear my heart on my sleeve%^$when I play. I’m a very emotional player. I’m learning to take that and%^$bring it down a notch. I’m learning to yell and scream when it’s time and%^$learning when to shut my mouth at other times. When I’m out on the diamond,%^$that’s the best time of my day.”%^$
%^$Todd, a disciplinarian and old-school teacher and coach, concedes that%^$he and his star player have clashed.%^$
%^$He first met Nick when they lived in the same neighborhood in suburban%^$Columbus and Nick used to play with Todd’s daughter. Todd said in many ways%^$Nick hasn’t change a lot from that playful sixth-grader who always wanted%^$to be the center of attention.%^$
%^$”Nick is a live wire,” he said with a grin. “You just never know what%^$he’s thinking and what’s going to come out of his mouth. He means well, but%^$sometimes his mouth and his actions can dig a hole for him.”%^$
%^$His father wasn’t exactly a shrinking violet, either. Steve was a%^$baseball All-American at Ohio University and a first-round draft choice by%^$the Cubs in 1973. Just three years later, he was a National League%^$All-Star. He went on to play nine years before beating around the bushes%^$for almost that long hoping to become a major-league manager.%^$
%^$”Things didn’t work out and life goes on,” said Steve, now a regional%^$sales manager for an aluminum company.%^$
%^$That major-league dream lives on, however, in the son. Steve attends as%^$many games as he can, making the 90-mile drive from Parkersburg to%^$Columbus. He has been known to pitch batting practice, but he keeps his%^$advice to himself. When he can’t make it to games, he listens patiently to%^$his son on the phone.%^$
%^$”That’s an edge I have on a lot of people,” Nick said. “They can’t say,%^$’Dad, what am I doing wrong?’ He’ll give me a couple of pointers and the%^$next game I’ll go out and get a couple of base hits.”%^$
%^$It has been 20 years since Steve played his last game in a major-league%^$uniform. He’s excited about what lies ahead for his son, who may soon%^$follow a similar path. After the season, the two will sit down and discuss%^$whether Nick will return for his senior year or pursue that big-league%^$dream.%^$
%^$”As far as talent and attitude about and toward the game, I think good%^$things are going to happen to Nick,” Steve said.
