Pop Swett

William Edward Swett

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

• Debut May 3, 1890
• Final Game October 4, 1890
• Born April 16, 1870 in San Francisco, CA USA
• Died November 22, 1934 in San Francisco, CA USA

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Biographical Information

Pop Swett played 37 games in the 1890 Players League for the pennant-winning 1890 Boston Reds managed by King Kelly. Swett, Kelly and Morgan Murphy caught for the team.

Swett made his major league debut shortly after he turned 20, and was the youngest player on the team, as well as the fourth-youngest in the league.

He had previously played for a team in San Francisco in 1888-89 and after his year in the majors returned to play more years in California, along with one season at Nashville.

The SABR biography of Norris O'Neill claims that O'Neill learned to steal Swett's signs in 1889 and that that may have "swung the pennant race" between Oakland and San Francisco.

The San Francisco Morning Call of December 1, 1890 gives a column to an exhibition game between the champion Frisco team and a team of Eastern "all-stars" including Swett. Swett was called "the clever young back-stop of the champion Bostons". He batted ninth in the order, and formed a battery with "Van Haltren", almost certainly George Van Haltren from the description.

The Sacramento Daily Record-Union from May 20, 1891 recounts a night of entertainment the previous Sunday at the Pelican Club in Sacramento. The last item of entertainment on the agenda was a fight (called a "set-to") between ballplayers Swett and Mike Fisher, apparently with boxing gloves. Swett was called "the big San Francisco catcher". Fisher landed some blows on the ribs of Swett but Swett eventually knocked Fisher through a large mirror and won the match.

Although "Pop" is a nickname usually reserved for older players, even in 1890 and 1891 (at ages 20 and 21) he was referred to in the papers above as "Pop". Perhaps the derivation is from the colloquialism "he didn't even pop a sweat".