The Swisher King

Thanks to his dad, Nick Swisher grew up around the game and eventually became a promising college outfielder at Ohio State, where his high on-base percentage caught the attention of A's general manager Billy Beane. This led to the 23-year-old's greatest notoriety thus far when he was painted as the prime object of Beane's draft-day desires in the best-selling book "Moneyball." The switch-hitter spent most of the 2003 season learning about life in the Double-A Texas League at Midland. After a few weeks off, he then headed out west to hone his skills in the Arizona Fall League. And after about a month in the desert, he was ready to let us in on life in the AFL.

Swisher is one of what seems to be a growing number of players in the game with a major league pedigree. His father, Steve Swisher, spent nine seasons as a catcher for the Cubs, Cardinals and Padres in the late '70s and early '80s. He then spent the late '80s and the better part of the '90s riding busses on bad roads as a minor league manager in places like Waterloo, Tidewater and Binghamton. He was also a first round draft pick by the White Sox 29 years before his son was selected in the first round by the A's.

CM: This is your first season in the AFL. How are you liking it so far?
NS: I'm having a great time out here. This is like the next wave of guys that'll be going through the big leagues. Just to be a part of that is a good feeling.

CM: So were you out here in Arizona in the major or minor league camp in spring training last year?
NS: Yeah, I was in the minor league camp.

CM: Well there's kind of a laid-back atmosphere in spring training, but it seems like it's even a little more laid-back out here in the fall.
NS: Yeah, it really is. It's real laid-back. But when it comes down to it, everybody wants to win and everybody wants to play hard. This league is almost like a showcase league, just getting a chance to come out here and show your abilities in front of like forty scouts a game. There's more scouts than people in the stands.

CM: Are you aware of playing in front of very few people?
NS: Yeah, sometimes it's hard to get it going. But once you put on that big league uniform, it's a lot easier.

CM: And once you realize half those people in the stands are scouts, it probably makes it a lot easier to get pumped up.
NS: Yeah!

CM: So what's the level of competition like out here in the AFL?
NS: It's awesome. You've got some guys who've already played in the big leagues who are here. You've got guys who are really close to the big leagues playing. It definitely lets you know what that next step ahead is, what that type of competition is going to be like, and what different pitchers are going to do to you. You've got pitchers who can throw any pitch in any count. That was one of the things I had to get used to. I mean, you see these 2-0 breaking balls.

CM: You can't count on those 2-0 fastballs getting laid in there anymore.
NS: Yeah, those 2-0 fastballs, you ain't getting many of them anymore.

CM: How is it playing with all these different guys from different organizations all on the same team?
NS: This team that I'm on here right now is probably the coolest team I've ever been on. I could play 180 games with these guys and not worry about it. Everybody wants to go out and play hard, everybody wants to win, and everybody wants to compete. And that's a good feeling to have here in the clubhouse everyday.

CM: It's a little strange to see everybody on the same team wearing different uniforms. It's kind of like an All-Star game.
NS: I know. That's what I thought. I thought we were going to have team uniforms. But I come in here and I've got my name printed on the back of a [major league] A's jersey, and I said, "Oh man. This is awesome!"

CM: So have you been keeping your on-base percentage up as the A's philosophy would dictate?
NS: Yep, I've been taking a lot of pitches and getting walks. But it's hard because these pitchers have such good command of their pitches that it's hard to draw a walk sometimes. These pitchers out here have good stuff. And that's one of the adjustments that you have to make as a hitter, to take a couple of those pitches out and just go after a couple that you know you can handle.

CM: Well as long as you keep drawing those walks, you'll keep Billy Beane happy. So how did you feel about being prominently mentioned in a big best-selling book like "Moneyball?"
NS: That was awesome. Just coming from this little town in West Virginia, all of a sudden I'm in this national best-selling book. Holy smokes! But Michael Lewis did a great job writing that book.

CM: Well if they sell any more copies of that book, they'll be turning it into a movie before long.
NS: I'd like to see who they'd get to play me!

CM: Well, they might get you…you might be available cheap enough!
NS: Yeah! But I'll tell you what…this organization is run great. Everything from the farm director to the general manager to the coaches and the players, it's a great organization. And we're gonna pull off one of these World Series before long. We just need that little something to get us over that hump.

CM: Maybe if they just had a young outfielder who got on base a lot…
NS: Yeah!

CM: So what's your favorite kind of music?
NS: Well, I'd definitely have to say my favorite is country music.

CM: Where are you originally from?
NS: Well I was born in Columbus, Ohio, but I live in Parkersburg, West Virginia. But I like it 'cause it's laid back. And I'll tell you what…there's no better looking women than country women.

CM: So who's your favorite female country star?
NS: It's got to be Faith Hill…Faith is just beautiful. Congratulations to Tim McGraw…good work!

CM: So do you have any kind of musical talent yourself?
NS: No, but my Grandpa plays bluegrass. So when I go home, he brings over his buddies and we get on the back porch and it's awesome. When I go home, it's so nice. Where I'm from, there ain't much going on, and I love that. Then I come out here, and there's all this stuff going on!

CM: It's all happening.
NS: But the thing is…now it seems like a lot of country singers are going mainstream.

CM: Yeah, they ain't exactly Hank Williams or Bill Monroe. So is there any kind of music you can't stand?
NS: I'd say that heavy metal death music. I just can't get into it, man. I just feel like I want to go shoot myself.

CM: So do you have any theme music you like to hear playing when you're coming up to the plate?
NS: Well I used to come out to [the theme from] "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly." It's like a showdown.

CM: Do you remember the first CD you ever bought?
NS: I think it might have been Kris Kross. Remember them?

CM: Yeah, the little kids with the overalls…I'm imagining that's probably not in your CD player right now.
NS: Not anymore…times have changed.

CM: Do you remember the first concert you ever went to?
NS: Yeah, I've only been to two concerts. The first concert I ever went to was when I was in eighth grade and I went to see Janet Jackson when she was on the Velvet Rope tour. She would pick somebody from the audience and bring them onstage. I was like, "Pick me! Pick me!" And I used to be a huge Michael Jackson fan, then all this stuff started happening…

CM: So was 2003 your first full season away from home?
NS: Yeah, started in February and still going in November. This is the first time I've really been away from my family for that long, and that's difficult. This is the life that all of us chose to do. We don't like being away from home, but it's part of the job. That's just one of those things that you've got to learn to live with. I'm still learning a lot of things about this game. I think if you stop learning things about this game, it's time to hang 'em up.

CM: It's a game of constant adjustments.
NS: Oh man, you ain't kidding. But it's fun. We're all just a bunch of little kids out there playing. And I think that's the way you need to go about this game, because if you take this game way too seriously, it's gonna kill you.

CM: You might as well get a regular job!
NS: Exactly!