Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber hasn’t contributed anything yet to the National League Division Series, as he didn’t play in game two, and went 0-3 with two Ks in game one. The numbers and statistics show that he’s due soon. Perhaps that impact comes today in game three versus the Washington Nationals at Wrigley Field.
It’s possible we could see a SCHWARBOMB! or a SCHWARBLAST! from the SCHWARBEAST! tonight. more than any other Cub, he can inspire the ALL CAPS hockey style tweets.
Also don’t forget about the SCHWARBALL that he crushed onto the tippy top of the then brand new scoreboard in right field of the Friendly Confines during the 2015 NLDS.
Schwarber entered this postseason with a .727 slugging percentage and a 1.178 OPS lifetime in the playoffs. In that National League Division Series with the St. Louis Cardinals, he slugged 1.100 with an OPS of 1.683. He also put up a very robust .471 slugging percentage and .971 OPS in last year’s World Series.
Schwarber has the 14th most popular selling jersey in all of Major League Baseball this season, despite having to be sent down to the minor leagues this season in order to find his way again.
Adnan Virk, ESPN on-air personality and host of Baseball Tonight graciously joined us for a podcast, and during the session he articulated perfectly what makes Kyle Schwarber such a beloved figure, why his popularity greatly exceeds his actual accomplishments.
“Schwarber absolutely is a popular guy because he just swings for the fences,” Virk said.
“He looks like a dirt ball, short, stocky, he’s got a chaw going- that’s the face of baseball. That’s a guy a fan will like even if he hits below .200 and gets sent down to the minors.”
That’s very true, Kyle Schwarber doesn’t exactly look like a finely tuned, world class professional athlete, or an elite physical specimen. That’s a huge part of his appeal, as when you see him standing next to a normal, everyday person that other person, depending on who it is, might actually look more like an athlete than Schwarber.
You can hear the entire podcast with Virk over at this link.
“I adore Jose Altuve of the Astros, he’s brilliant. He’s endearing but he’s not wildly popular,” Virk continued.
“To the average fan they’re like ‘how about that little guy what is he 5’6”? He’s led the league in hits four straight years, he’s awesome.’
“But the big guy the Ruthian blasts- that’s what going to get a lot of attention. The irony is that Alutve is going to probably win the MVP, even though his jersey is nowhere near as popular as Aaron Judge’s.”
The Kyle Schwarber conversation was a natural transition from the Aaron Judge discussion, which you can read at this link.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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