Don Schwall

Who is Don Schwall?

Donald Bernard Schwall is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher who played with the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves.

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, beating out Hall of Fame-bound teammate Carl Yastrzemski. At Fenway Park, on July 31, he pitched three innings in the first All-Star Game tie in major league baseball history, occurred when the game was stopped in the 9th inning due to rain.

After a sub-par 1962 season, Schwall was sent to Pittsburgh. He and catcher Jim Pagliaroni were traded to the Pirates for first baseman Dick Stuart and pitcher Jack Lamabe. 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.