Billy Swoope

Calvin William Swoope

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.

• High School Norfolk Catholic High School

• Born ~1957

BR minors page

Biographical Information

After reaching AA as a player, Billy Swoope worked as both a college coach and a scout.

Swoope was taken by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 10th round of the 1976 amateur draft. He hit .257/.349/.339 that summer for the Bellingham Dodgers, with 9 passed balls in 19 games at catcher. He would be almost exclusively an outfielder after that. In 1977, he played for the Clinton Dodgers (.287/.398/.388 in 39 G) and Lethbridge Dodgers (.312/.431/.494, 61 R, 45 BB in 61 G), with a combined fielding percentage of .917 in the outfield. In the high-offense Pioneer League, he failed to make the top 10 in average or OBP, though he did tie Tom Runnells for 8th in runs.

Billy was with Clinton for all of 1978, producing at a .256/.318/.382 clip with 30 doubles, 60 runs and 62 RBI while improving his fielding percentage to .960. He was 5th in the Midwest League in doubles (3 of the players with more - Brian Harper, Juan Bonilla and Daryl Sconiers - would be in the majors in the future). In 1979, he hit .276/.352/.469 with 15 homers, 32 doubles and 72 runs for the Lodi Dodgers, while registering 18 outfield assists. He tied Dave Henderson for third in the California League in outfield assists and he tied for third in the league in doubles as well.

Swoope slumped in 1980 with the San Antonio Dodgers (.229/.303/.303), playing mostly DH with Mark Bradley, Dale Holman and Tom Beyers appearing in all but a couple games in the outfield; Swoope's 12 games played in the outfield represent all the games for other outfielders on the team! In 19 games for the 1981 Alexandria Dukes, Billy did very well, hitting .313/.362/.500, to end his career.

Overall, Swoope had batted .268/.349/.405 in 509 minor league games, with 206 walks, 262 runs, 267 RBI, 103 doubles and 40 home runs.

Swoope was head coach of Virginia Wesleyan College in 1985-1986. He later scouted for the Chicago Cubs, winning the Cubs' Stan Zielinski Scout of the Year Award in 2020. He signed Mitch Atkins, Matt Avery, Jason Dubois, Brandon Guyer, Brendan Harris, Justin Jones, Blake Lalli, Sean Marshall, Matt Mervis, Jacob Rogers and Ron Walker.

Sources include 1977-1981 Baseball Guides