Parke Swartzel
Pitcher
Born: (1865-11-21)November 21, 1865
Knightstown, Indiana
Died: January 3, 1940(1940-01-03) (aged 74)
Los Angeles, California
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 17, 1889, for the Kansas City Cowboys
Last MLB appearance
October 14, 1889, for the Kansas City Cowboys
MLB statistics
Earned run average4.32
Record19-27
Strikeouts147
Teams

Parke B. Swartzel (November 21, 1865 – January 3, 1940) was a professional baseball pitcher who played one season in Major League Baseball for the American Association's Kansas City Cowboys in 1889. In addition to his one major league season, he played six seasons of professional baseball at the minor league level.

Career

Born on November 21, 1865, as Parke B. Swartzel in Knightstown, Indiana, US, he began his first of professional baseball season in 1886, at the age of 20, with the Leavenworth Soldiers of the Western League.[1][2] He began the 1887 season with the Soldiers, however he is also credited with playing for the Lincoln Tree Planters, another Western League team.[2] For the 1888 season, Swartzel played for the Kansas City Blues of the Western Association, a class-A level league.[2]

His only season in Major League Baseball came in 1889 with the Kansas City Cowboys of the American Association.[1] He made his major league debut on April 17, a 7–4 victory over the Louisville Colonels in the team's season opener.[1][3] The Cowboys finished the season with a win–loss record of 55–82 with two ties with Swartzel making 48 appearances as a pitcher, starting 47 and completing 45.[1][4] Swartzel had a win–loss record of 19–27, 147 strikeouts and a 4.32 ERA, in 4101⁄3 innings pitched, and allowed a league-leading 481 hits, and 21 home runs, along with 334 runs, 197 earned runs and 117 bases on balls.[5] He made his final major league appearance on October 14, a 7–5 victory over the Colonels.[1][3]

Swartzel returned the Blues for the 1890 and 1891 seasons, then split the 1892 season with the Rochester Flour Cities of the Eastern League and the Minneapolis Minnies of the Western league.[2] This was his last season, on record, of his professional baseball career, although he was noted to have been released by the Grand Rapids Rustlers of the Western League in May 1896.[2][6] He died on January 3, 1940, in Los Angeles, California, US, and is interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Parke Swartzel". retrosheet.org. Retrosheet, Inc. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Parke Swartzel". baseball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  3. ^ a b "The 1889 Kansas City Cowboys Regular Season Game Log". retrosheet.org. Retrosheet, Inc. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  4. ^ "The 1889 Season". retrosheet.org. Retrosheet, Inc. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  5. ^ "Parke Swartzel". baseball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  6. ^ "Comiskey's Boy Wonder To Play With Burlington". The Saint Paul globe. The Library of Congress. May 29, 1896. Retrieved July 18, 2010.

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