The 1961 Rookie of the Year in the American League, Schwall spent seven seasons pitching in the majors, compiling a 49-48 record in the process. Schwall came up with the Boston Red Sox in 1961 and made an immediate impact. He went 15-7 with a 3.22 ERA that season for Boston, earning a trip to the All-Star Game and beating his teammate Carl Yastrzemski for top honors amongst rookies. The season, however, would be the best of Schwall’s career. He was 9-15 the following season and was sent to Pittsburgh in 1963. He was 6-12 that year for the Pirates and would never start more than 12 games in a season for the rest of his career, which concluded with the Atlanta Braves in 1967.
Schwall’s All-Star Game story is a great one. Striking out Stan Musial would certainly be a career highlight for a lot of pitchers. Schwall was an All-Big Eight basketball player for the University of Oklahoma before his professional baseball career began.
Don Schwall – career stats
