Today our journey through the Rookie Cups takes us to the 1961 AL Rookie of the Year and 1962 Topps RHP Rookie Cup representative Don Schwall
1962 Topps #35 Don Schwall (RC)
A fine card with the familiar 1962T wood panel design that I have always liked and the old school Rookie Cup tophat. I have place Schwall on a page from Robby Incmikoski and Kyle Fager coffee table book "Sacred Grounds". The time has a bunch of large full page photos of stadia that should make for good card backdrops.
But things get real interesting on the back...
flip
1962 Topps #35 Don Schwall (b-side)
First off I want to briefly cover that we have Don's Rookie of the Year Award mentioned in the comic.
Schwall earned the award by posting a 15-7 record with a fine 3.22 ERA (129 ERA+!!). The righthander's 15 Ws led all rookies while his W-L Pct and ERA both ranked 2nd. The most marginal number was Don's 92 strikeouts (5th). Perhaps Ken McBride has a complaint about Schwall's selection but that will need to be left to another column.
Hoop
Now, lets move onto the juicy first line of the text:
"A former basketball star in college where he once OUTSCORED WILT CHAMBERLAIN"
Yes, prior to signing a MLB contract with the Boston Red Sox Don Schwall was a lauded collegiate basketball player.
As a forward for the 1956-57 Oklahoma Sooners Schwall led the team in free throws while finishing 2nd in scoring overall. During Schwall's only full season with Oklahoma they faced the Kansas Jayhawks, who were led by future NBA HOF legend Wilt Chamberlain, three times.
1961 Fleer #47 Wilt Chamberlain (IA/rc - image stolen from psa)
Wilt and the Jayhawks (24-3, AP #2 Overall) won all three contests, but the Sooners held their own. Specifically Don Schwall did quite well vs Kansas and outplayed Wilt in the season series:
Boxes
Thanks to the Des Moines Register we have Columns & Box Scores from the three games:
Newspaper clippings from Des Mones Register (1957 Feb 19 via Proquest)
These first two clippings are from the February 18 1957 game where Don Schwall scored 30 points, Wilt Chamberlain fouled out with 11. It's blurry Oklahoma is the away team listed first, Schwall the fourth name "Schw'l". His line stands out with the 11 field goals as the only one in double digits. On the Kansas side we see Wilt listed 5th with the 5 fouls in the final column.
Newspaper clippings from Des Mones Register (1956 Dec 29 & 1957 Feb 19 via Proquest)
These are clippings also from the Des Moines Register for the other two games. Fortunately both of these boxes are clearer.
1957+
Schwall returned to Oklahoma in the fall of 1957 but only played 3 basketball games before...
Newspaper photo and caption from New York Daily News (1957 Dec 12 via Proquest)
On December 10th Don Schwall withdrew from Oklahoma after signing a professional contract with the Boston Red Sox. The 50k listed in the above caption is $595000+ in 2026 dollars.
Within four years Don Schwall would be pitching for the Red Sox. The following spring he appeared on his first baseball card - a Rookie Cup Card!
Sacred Grounds - Incmikoski & Fager
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