Oad Swigart

Oadis Vaughn Swigart

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lb.

• Debut September 14, 1939
• Final Game September 27, 1940
• Born February 13, 1915 in Archie, MO USA
• Died August 8, 1997 in St. Joseph, MO USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Missouri native Oad Swigart spent seven seasons in professional baseball from 1935 to 1946. He also served with the United States Army during World War II. He spent five of those years (1935-1939) in the minor leagues before getting his chance at the big leagues.

Swigart made his debut in the major leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 14, 1939 appearing in three games and went 1-1 with a 4.44 ERA. Oad would get another chance with the Pirates in 1940, again late in the season, appearing in seven games, going 0-2 with a 4.43 ERA and ended his time in the big leagues on September 27th, with a career record of 1-3 while appearing in ten games.

During his seven-year minor league run Swigart had two double-digit winning seasons. The first came in 1937 with the Davenport Blue Sox of the class A Western League when he went 14-12 in 28 games with a 2.67 ERA. Oad came back in 1939 with his winningest season, going 17-10 in 42 games with a 3.90 ERA for the Knoxville Smokies of the Southern Association. He finished up his baseball career, after his military service, with the Birmingham Barons in 1946, with an 0-2 record in five appearances. This gave him a minor league career record of 56-59 and a 3.79 ERA in 206 games.

After baseball, Swigart spent 32 years as an agent for the Missouri Department of Conservation and was instrumental in developing the Honey Creek Wildlife Area near St Joseph, MO. He died on August 8, 1997 at his home in St. Joseph at the age of 82.

He is the only major leaguer named Oad, which is short for Oadis. It is possible that Oadis is a variation of Otis.

Related Sites

• BR Minors page
• Biography of Oad Swigart [1]