When he retells the story of the night he got his 1,000th major league hit, there’s a good chance Nick Swisher, his trademark grin extending ear to ear, will use the phrase “laser-beam double.”
The fact he blooped a ball that should have been caught in front of Mets right fielder Lucas Duda during the seventh inning of Saturday night’s 4-3 Yankees victory won’t matter at all. The details aren’t going to ruin Swisher’s moment.
The Yankees used Swisher’s milestone, originally ruled a single and an error but later changed, to build a four-run inning and erase a 3-0 Mets’ lead en route to a win which snapped the visitors’ three-game losing streak.
Swisher’s moment got better following the game when his cell phone rang and his father, Steve, was on the other end.
“Not only did we come in here and get a win,’’ Swisher said before last night’s game with the Mets at Citi Field, “but to have your dad, a guy who was in the big leagues, call and tell you how proud he is of you, that’s like the best feeling ever. It was the icing on the cake, man.’’
Steve Swisher, who played nine seasons in the majors with three different National League teams, knows as well as anyone how tough the big leagues can be. The former catcher collected just 305 hits in his career while batting .216. He made the All-Star team with the Cubs in 1976 at the age of 24, but was out of the game by the time he was 30.
“Him calling meant the world to me,’’ Swisher said. “My dad taught me how to play this game. He’s taught me everything I know about this game.
“When he called me after the game it put a huge smile on my face — like I didn’t have one anyway.’’
Although he knew he was close because the Yankees media relations staff had made him aware, Swisher said he didn’t know the hit was his 1,000th until he saw his teammates gesturing from the dugout for him to ask for the ball. That’s when it sunk in.
“I’m not a stat guy,” he said. “I don’t pay attention to that stuff. But when I saw them I said, ‘Oh, that’s what that was.’ That’s pretty cool.’’
Only 2,000 more to go, right?
“When I got to the big leagues just getting here wasn’t my goal. I wanted to contribute. I wanted to do my thing because I love this game. I catch a lot of stuff for being a guy who enjoys the game and loves it. But I’m pretty good at this game. I enjoy it. I love it. I take pride in my craft.”
“I just keep banging away and we’ll see what happens at the end of all this. That’s my first real treasure ball, I guess you call it — 1,000 hits.
“It’s crazy. We’ve got a guy [Derek Jeter] in here with 3,500 hits and I’m excited about 1,000. But I’ll just keep taking it how it comes and just enjoy it. I’ve got free agency coming up after this year so I’m going to enjoy this. Just ride it out and see what happens.’’
