Donald Bernard Schwall (born March 2, 1936) is an American former professional baseball pitcher player who played seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Initially drafted by the Boston Red Sox, he spent four seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, before ending his career with the Atlanta Braves.
Early life and college
Schwall was born on March 2, 1936, in Hanover Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, a bordering suburb of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It has been mistakenly reported in some places he was born in neighboring Wilkes-Barre.
He attended Ypsilanti High School in Ypsilanti, Michigan, graduating in 1954. He played on the basketball team from 1952 to 1954, which was his principal high school sport, and was one of the state's top scorers. At Ypsilanti, he was All-State in basketball and baseball, and honorable mention for All-State in football. In 2007, he was inducted into Ypsilanti Athletic Hall of Fame.
College
The 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) or 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Schwall attended the University of Oklahoma on a basketball and baseball scholarship, starting in 1955. Schwall's brother John was an Air Force captain stationed in Oklahoma, and had told the Sooner's baseball coach about Schwall's athletic prowess in high school.
Basketball
As a sophomore (1956-57), Schwall set a school scoring record for basketball. In 1957, he was named by the Associated Press (AP) as second-team All-Big Seven, and he also received considerable support in United Press International's (UPI) All-Big Seven voting. Another sophomore who received significant consideration in the UPI's Big Seven poll that year was the University of Missouri's Sonny Siebert, who would go on to pitch in major league baseball like Schwall.
For the 1956-57 season, Schwall was 7th in the Big Seven in scoring, averaging 16 points per game, and 6th in rebounding, averaging 8.7 rebounds per game. Schwall could no longer compete in the 1957-58 basketball season, however, after signing a baseball contract with the Boston Red Sox in December 1957.
Wilt Chamberlain
At the same time he was a sophomore at Oklahoma, future NBA Hall of Fame center Wilt Chamberlain was a sophomore at the University of Kansas, with both Oklahoma and Kansas being members of the then Big Seven. On February 18, 1957, Schwall scored 30 points and Chamberlain only 11 points, in another Kansas win over Oklahoma (76–56). Chamberlain fouled out with almost nine minutes left in the game (something he never did in over 1,000 NBA games).
Summer baseball
Schwall played Ban Johnson League baseball between his freshman and sophomore years. He was seated on the graduation stage, and was given a separate introduction by the dean; receiving a standing ovation from those present. He played Class D ball again in 1959, for the Alpine Cowboys, but improved dramatically with a 23–6 record and 3.36 ERA. He won another three games for Alpine in the playoffs.
Boston Red Sox
In 1961, Schwall pitched in five games for the Triple-A Seattle Rainiers, but was called up to the Red Sox less than two months into the season, and spent the majority of the season on the Red Sox. In his first game on May 21, 1961, against the Chicago White Sox, Schwall pitched eight innings, giving up only six hits and one run in his first major league start and victory. His next game was a complete game 5–0 shutout against the Baltimore Orioles, where he struck out former Oklahoma State basketball adversary Jerry Adair four times. Schwall won his first six decisions, with a 2.09 ERA, before losing a game. His record was 13–2 by mid-August when he had to miss two weeks of play with a kidney ailment. Before the kidney problem struck him, Schwall was selected to the American League team for the second 1961 All-Star game, played at Boston's Fenway Park on July 31. Schwall pitched the middle three innings for the American League, the game ending in a 1–1 tie when it was stopped in the ninth inning due to rain. It was the first All-Star game tie in major league baseball history. Even though he won the Rookie of the Year award in 1961, Schwall said his biggest thrill as a rookie was striking out Stan Musial in the All-Star Game. He and Yastrzemski were teammates in Minneapolis and roommates in Boston during their rookie year. He also came in 14th in Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting that year. In 1964, his season went awry when he was hit in the knee by a line-drive. A sore arm followed, and he was sent to the Triple-A Columbus Jets to work on his arm strength. He pitched less than 50 innings for the Pirates that year (4–3, 4.35 ERA), and started 12 games in Columbus, with a 2–6 record and 4.83 ERA.
In 1965, the Pirates made Schwall a reliever, to replace the injured Elroy Face. In 1966, the Pirates went back to using him as both a starter and relief pitcher. The Pirates traded him to the Braves on June 15, 1966 for left-handed pitcher Billy O'Dell. A friend of Bob Prince, Schwall managed Prince's charitable endeavors in the years after his death.