American baseball player
Baseball player
Ralph Richard "Blackie" Schwamb (August 6, 1926 – December 21, 1989) was an American professional baseball pitcher and convicted murderer. He played for the St. Louis Browns of Major League Baseball in 1948. Listed at 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) and 198 pounds (90 kg), he threw and batted right-handed.
Biography
Schwamb was nicknamed "Blackie" while in grade school, due to his habit of wearing black clothing, a practice he adopted after watching Western movies and seeing the "bad guys" wearing black.[1]: 21–22 He served in the United States Navy during World War II,[2] receiving a bad conduct discharge after hitting an officer.[1]: 3–5
Schwamb first played in the minor leagues from 1947 to 1949; initially in the Arizona–Texas League and Northern League (both Class C) and later the American Association (Triple-A) and Southern Association (Double-A).[3] In 1948, Schwamb pitched in 12 major league games (five starts) for the St. Louis Browns, recording one win and one loss, while compiling an 8.53 earned run average (ERA).[3] His lone win came in his second start,[4] when he pitched 6+1⁄3 innings at home against the Washington Senators while allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits, benefitting from his team scoring seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.[5] Schwamb had three hits in 10 major league at bats and scored one run.[6]
After the 1948 season, Schwamb killed a doctor in Long Beach, California, named Donald Buge.[7] Schwamb did it to pay off a debt to a Los Angeles mobster, Mickey Cohen.[8] Schwamb was sentenced to life in prison in 1949,[9] but was granted parole in 1960.[10]
In 1961, Schwamb played a final season of minor league baseball, for the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League.[3] Overall, in four seasons of professional baseball, Schwamb pitched in 62 games while compiling a 13–15 record with a 4.44 ERA. His life is the subject of a 2005 book entitled Wrong Side of the Wall.[11]
