Hey, you old-timers. What do you remember about Greg Swindell? Didn't he pitch for the Stros in the 90s or something? He's going to be in Lubbock on July 4 for the College Baseball Hall of Fame and I'm going to get his autograph. I know I can look up his record, but I was just wondering if anyone had any personal recollections of him as a Stros pitcher.
He played at Texas back in the day. After a few good seasons in Cleveland, Drayton signed him and Doug Drabek for a lot of money as his first moves as owner of the Stros. Unfortunately, Swindell turned out to be a bust.
IIRC, both Swindell and Drabek were signed before Drayton's first full season as owner. Both were flops, but if I remember, Drabek did better than Swindell did. After his Stros career was over, Swindell ended up being a reliever and lasted a bit longer in the league.
drabek was actually somewhat successful. He was an all-star that year we had a bunch (when Hudek went..I think it may have been in Pitt?) but Swindell..yeah, he maybe had half a good season here? And then he had a lot of high expectations that he never lived up to. But every season, we expected him to pitch like a #2 cause he was paid like one. I remember I got Drabek/Swindell's autographs at Academy during that 1st year they were with the 'stros. No one could question Drayton's spending back then!
I actually played Little League with Greg "peewee" Swindell, that's what we called him then. He used to play firstbase and pitch and if memory is correct was the third pitcher. He definitely didn't stand out then but I have to hand it to him that he had a decent career...
He was part of the promising young group of UT hurlers that came of age in the 80's, including Calvin Schiraldi, Clemens, Bruce Ruffin and Swindell, himself. I followed the Indians quite a bit back then, and remember him getting better and better. He was a power pitcher, who gained a decent amount of weight before becoming an Astro. The signings of Swindell and Drabek (both Texans) were Drayton's attempt to win back fans that were upset with the way the club handled Nolan Ryan's free agency. Unfortunately, it was reminiscent of the Jim Clancy/Rick Rhoden signings a couple of years earlier.
When I was at UT, he came with the Astros caravan one spring. I was in the restroom at the Union and I looked over and he was at the urinal next to me.
I remember being really really excited when drabek and swindell were signed. I also remember being very very dissapointed.
The interesting thing is that the players honored for the College Baseball Hall of Fame are among the best ever at the college level, yet some went on to become pros and some were never heard of. This is their 3rd year of having it- so far, the inductees I've gotten autographs from include Dave Winfield, Robin Ventura, Bob Horner, John Olerud, Fred Lynn, Will Clark, and Jim Abbot. I don't think Pete Incaviglia made it so I couldn't get his sig. This year's class isn't as recognizable as some of the others. I Wiki'd the entire list: Player Inductees Name ↓ Position ↓ University ↓ Year Inducted ↓ Bob Horner Infield Arizona State 2006 Dave Winfield Outfield/Pitcher Minnesota 2006 Robin Ventura Third base Oklahoma State 2006 Will Clark First base Mississippi State 2006 Brooks Kieschnick Outfield/Pitcher Texas 2006 John Olerud First base/Pitcher Washington State 2007 Jim Abbot Pitcher Michigan 2007 Pete Incaviglia Outfield Oklahoma State 2007 Fred Lynn Outfield Southern California 2007 Phil Stephenson First base Wichita State 2007 Derek Tatsuno Pitcher Hawaii 2007 Steve Arlin Pitcher Ohio State 2008 Eddie Bane Arizona State 2008 Floyd Bannister Arizona State 2008 Neal Heaton Pitcher Miami (FL) 2008 Burt Hooten Texas 2008 Dick Howser Florida State 2008 Ben McDonald Pitcher LSU 2008 Greg Swindell Texas 2008 Head Coach Inductees Name ↓ University ↓ Year Inducted ↓ Bobby Winkles Arizona State 2006 Cliff Gustafson Texas 2006 Skip Bertman Louisiana State 2006 Ron Fraser Miami (FL) 2006 Rod Dedeaux Southern California 2006 Chuck Brayton Washington State 2007 Jim Brock Arizona State 2007 Bibb Falk Texas 2007 Jerry Kindall Arizona 2007 Dick Siebert Minnesota 2007 Gary Ward Oklahoma State, New Mexico State 2008 Bob Todd Ohio State 2008 Veterans class Inductees Name ↓ University ↓ Year Inducted ↓ Jack Barry Holy Cross 2007 Lou Gehrig Columbia 2007 Christy Mathewson Bucknell 2007 Joe Sewell Alabama 2007 Jackie Robinson UCLA 2008 Owen Carroll Holy Cross 2008 Billy Disch Texas 2008
Greg was a neighbor (briefly), and a pretty good guy. We worked out together a couple of times and, frankly, he was the anti-Clemens - just wouldn't work hard. I was glad he had some 'relief' success late in his career, I liked him and we got on pretty well - but, he coulda been a champion!
I think a lot of you are selling him short. He wasn't Cy Young. Not a Hall of Famer. But looking at his stats now, he pitched about 200 innings for roughly 6 years in a row. In 1988 he won 18 games and an ERA 3.20, striking out 180. In 1992 he threw in excess of 200 innings and finished with a 2.70 ERA. He was an all star. His seasons here were disappointing, but he had already been in the league for 7 years before he got here. There was a reason we were excited about getting him.
I've got Swindell's autograph on a ball with a lot of other Astros autographs from that time period. Only notable: Bob Watson.
