Greg Swindell

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Forest Gregory Swindell (born January 2, 1965 in Fort Worth, Texas) is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who had a 17-year career from 1986 to 2002. He played for the Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox of the American League and the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros and Arizona Diamondbacks of the National League.

Swindell graduated from Sharpstown High School in 1983 [1]. He played on the 1984 Olympic Team and the University of Texas at Austin baseball team. Cleveland selected him in the first round of the 1986 draft. The highly touted player was brought up almost immediately in 1986 and had moderate success. Unfortunately, 1987 was abysmal for him as he started the season 3-8 and then injured his elbow.

He returned in 1988 and over the next four years displayed good form on a horrendous Indians ballclub. His record from 1988-1991 was 52-43, posting an earned run average below 4.00 in three of the four seasons. His best season was 1988 when he went 18-14 with a 3.20 ERA. He struck out 180 and walked only 45. The next year, he was named to the American League All-Star team.

Swindell was traded to Cincinnati after the 1991 season and spent one solid year with the Reds. He returned to his native Texas as a free agent in 1992 with the Astros. At that point, his effectiveness began to wane. In three and a half years, he was 30-35 with an ERA over 4.00. After a shirt stint with Cleveland in 1992, he signed with Minnesota where he reinvented himself as a reliever.

As a relief pitcher, Swindell pitched well for the Twins and Red Sox before he signed with Arizona. He was effective for the Diamondbacks and was a part of the 2001 championship squad. In 2002, he retired from baseball after 17 seasons, never having lived up to the promise that Cleveland saw in him.