New York (August 2nd)- World Series Champion and Major League Baseball All-
Star Nick Swisher of the New York Yankees will be adding one more credit to
his professional resume – recording artist. On August 9th, Swisher will release
his first full-length, twelve song kids CD entitled “Believe” through digital outlets.
A portion of the proceeds will be going to Swish’s Wishes, Nick’s charitable
foundation which is dedicated to enriching lives and lifting the spirits of children
who are facing vital health issues.

“I had an absolute blast working on this project, but I couldn’t have done it
without having a true pro as my producer, Loren Harriet,” said Swisher.  “I have
a tremendous amount of respect for all of the talented artists and musicians that
performed on this album, but most of all I want to thank the kids.  They sound
amazing and I’m honored just to have been given this opportunity.”

On “Believe,” Swisher is joined in the recording studio by an all-star band
of musicians including drummer Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, Melissa
Etheridge), bassist Leland Sklar (James Taylor, Phil Collins), guitarist Tim Pierce
(Goo Goo Dolls, Michael Jackson) and keyboardist Matt Rollings (Tim McGraw,
Lyle Lovett). Special musical guests playing guitar on the album include former
New York Yankee and Latin GRAMMY Nominee, Bernie Williams and San
Francisco Giants pitcher, Barry Zito. Also accompanying Nick on the album
is a group of talented kids ages eight to thirteen years old who sing backup
vocals on each song. Included are kids from the nationally acclaimed music
education franchise, “School Of Rock” as well as thirteen-year-old Natalie Prieb,
granddaughter of Major League Baseball Commissioner, Bud Selig.

Believe was produced by Loren Harriet, who also helmed Bernie Williams’ two
critically acclaimed albums.

From Tom Petty and Bill Withers to the Beatles and Three Dog Night, Swisher
brings his fun and energetic personality and voice to some of the most
popular and most recognized songs in music. Selecting all the repertoire
himself, Swisher’s song list includes the David Bowie classic “Heroes”, John
Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, a tribute to Nick’s hometown of

Parkersburg, West Virginia and “Hang On Sloopy”, a shout out to Swish’s alma
mater, the Ohio State University.

Believe Track Listing

1. Heroes
2. I Won’t Back Down
3. Where The Green Grass Grows
4. Lean On Me
5. With A Little Help From My Friends
6. Everyday People
7. Proud Mary
8. Take Me Home, Country Roads
9. Joy To The World
10. Hang On Sloopy
11. Jumpin Jack Flash
12. Believe

For More Information, Please Contact Josh Goldberg at ICON Sports Group 310-
525-3755

This is a charity auction to benefit Swish’s Wishes foundation.

Click HERE for more information and to place a bid!

Join in promoting this campaign by voting and encouraging your friends, family and co-workers to vote Swisher now.

By casting your ballots for Swisher, you’ll also be supporting my campaign to become his official MLB.com Final Vote Campaign Manager.

Thanks for your support!

Click HERE to vote

Swish’s Wishes, my foundation dedicated to helping children in need and helping people cope in difficult times, will donate 100% of the proceeds from this auction to families that lost love ones in the April 5, 2010 tragic coal-mining disaster in West Virginia.

Also, remember to check back on July 6th to find out about a very special chance to bid on a once in a lifetime Yankee experience!

Update – The winner of my biggest fan of the month has been picked!  Congrats to Erica Winn! Check out the video below where I called and surprised her at work to inform her she is the winner!

Just as spring training kicked off, Nick Swisher sat down with the New York Daily News’ Mark Feinsand to talk about what he’s been up to during the off season and what fans can expect from the Yankee in 2010. As usual, Nick didn’t hold back and gave fans a good look at where he’s at and where he’s going.

To nobody’s surprise, Swisher has a lot to say

By Mark Feinsand

I spoke with Nick Swisher this week for a story that appears in today’s Daily News, and as you can imagine, once you get Swisher going, it’s hard to stop him.

As is typically the case, Swisher had a lot more to say than I had room to write, but that’s the great thing about this blog – I get to share it with you anyway.

I decided that the best way to go about this was to present it in Q&A form, so without further ado, here’s the starting right fielder on his clubhouse persona, his game and why being a Yankee is so important to him.

Daily News: What kind of impact do you think you had on the Yankees clubhouse last year?

Swisher: “It’s nice to be recognized for that stuff in the clubhouse, but I want to be recognized for what I do on the field as well. I feel like I had a monster year last year compared to the year before, and it was a great stepping stone to get me going in the right direction.”

Daily News: Did you prepare any differently this winter than you have in the past?

Swisher: “I felt if I wanted to take my game to the next level, I had to change some things. I made some adjustments, changed the way my body looks, changed my batting stance a little bit. I think the confidence factor is there, and I’m really excited to have that back.”

Daily News: Looking back a year later, how tough was your year in Chicago?

Swisher: “I don’t have any bad feelings about anything that happened to me in Chicago. Chicago is a great city and a great organization, it just wasn’t the spot for me. When I got the call from Brian Cashman last offseason, I was like, ‘All right man, here we go.’

“Last year definitely brought back the fun for me and let everybody else know how fun baseball can be. I’m an emotional guy; I wear my heart on my sleeve and you’re going to know what kind of day I’m having.”

Daily News: Could you have imagined landing in a better situation?

Swisher: “I wake up every morning and feel amazing. I play for the greatest franchise in sports, my family is amazing and I have a beautiful girlfriend – I love my life. I don’t want to sound cocky in any sense of the word, but I feel that my life is perfect. There is nothing else I’d rather be doing, and I know how many people out there would give their left arm to change spots with me. Every time I come to the ballpark, this is my getaway and I want to have as much fun as I can.”

Daily News: You probably didn’t feel the same way last spring when Xavier Nady was named the starting right fielder, right?

Swisher: “X had a monster year in 2008, so if they thought he was the guy to start, that was that. That was definitely a tough day, there’s no doubt. I just thought to myself, if I get the opportunity to get in there, I would have to make the most of it.”

Daily News: Do you ever worry about your boisterous personality rubbing people the wrong way?

Swisher: “This is all I know. I’m going to bust my (butt) every day and give it everything I’ve got, because I don’t want to sit back when I’m 50 years old and say, ‘Man, I wish I would have done that.’ I want to live my life, have a blast doing it, do things the right way, be a good person and enjoy every second of it.”

Daily News: Is playing in New York different than you thought it would be?

Swisher: “There’s so many things that come along with it. You always think you might not be ready, and I’m not talking about on the playing field. There are a lot of things that come with being a Yankee that don’t come with a lot of other teams. The way you represent yourself on and off the field is a major factor, and I take a lot of pride in that. To be in here with our Core Four, to learn from them, to rub elbows with them in here every day, what’s better than that?”

Daily News: Is it hard not to get caught up in everything that comes with playing in New York?

Swisher: “I’ve been taught my whole life to take things in stride. Baseball isn’t going to be easy, or else everybody would do it. When times are good, you have to stay on that same level. Same thing when times are bad. Look at Derek; he’s the same every single day.”

Daily News: Do you like having the “class clown” image?

Swisher: “I’m going to be me. I think there are times when I’m a little too hyper, but I’m getting older. After bouncing around from team to team the past couple years, coming back here to a family atmosphere is amazing.”

Daily News: With the power numbers you put up, do you ever wonder how you’re hitting eighth?

Swisher: “The guy batting seventh hit .325. That’s how dominant this offense was. It’s all good.”

Daily News: Are the Yankees the favorites in 2010?

Swisher: “I’m sure in some people’s minds, we’re the favorites, but we know we have to go out and prove it.”
The original article was published on March 3^rd, 2010 by New York Daily News.

My new site is live!

Firstly, thanks for checking out my website, I really appreciate it. While I’m currently working hard on my off-season training, I recently collaborated with some talented individuals to create the new and improved NickSwisher.com. Here you will find easy access to everything I’m up to, from on field updates and news stories to everything I’m doing off the field like new videos and events. So come back here often to stay up to date and let’s do some big things in 2010!

-Swish

As the creator of the Swish Salute and a fan favorite with the bleacher creatures, Nick definitely knows what a good cheer sounds like. But if you think you can do better than Swish, head over to Ibeatyou.com and upload your best effort.

May the best cheer win.

At the beginning of February, fans of CBS’ hit show How I Met Your Mother were treated with a special guest appearance by World Series Champion Nick Swisher. During the cameo, the Yankee meets the gang from the hit show and doles out some heart-felt relationship advice.

TAMPA – To get an idea how much everything changed for Nick Swisher last year, consider his new off-season home – Los Angeles. Before last spring training, he had just spent the winter living in his father’s basement in West Virginia, a no-frills existence dedicated to re-discovering his hitting stroke.

Now he’s a world champ with an actress girlfriend – Gossip Girl’s Joanna Garcia – and even did his own television work, doing a cameo on the CBS comedy “How I Met Your Mother.” But while Swisher may have a bit more glamour in his life, he still spent much of the winter doing the same thing – working on his hitting.

Swisher and Yankee hitting coach Kevin Long huddled for two weeks in Arizona in December deconstructing Swisher’s swing. Long stressed that Swisher find a comfortable hitting position with balance, so Swisher tweaked his stance to what he called “a no-stride stance – wait til you see it” and is hoping for even bigger things this season.

“I feel like (Long) understands me and when you run into coaches like that, you really need to lock in with those guys,” Swisher said Friday as he dropped his equipment off at Steinbrenner Field in preparation for Tuesday’s position-player report date. “I said, ‘Hey, man, let’s try to take this thing to the next level.’”

The 29-year-old Swisher had an OPS of .869 last season with 29 home runs and 82 RBI and finished second in the AL with 97 walks, all a “drastic improvement,” he said. He stumbled in the post-season, though, batting .128 with just one homer and two RBI and striking out 15 times in 47 at-bats.

He winced reading stories of how he poorly he hit in the post-season and ultimately said, as he put it, “Who cares – we won!” But he realizes that video of him struggling in the playoffs could be a pitcher’s blueprint this year.

“In the post-season, with a lot of the breaking balls in fastball counts, a lot of people will be looking at that and I worked on that,” Swisher said. “If you want to get better, you have to work on things you’re not good at.”

“I think he can be even more productive than he was and he was pretty productive for us,” Joe Girardi said. “I believe there’s more in there. He worked hard this winter, worked on cutting down some of the movement in his swing and wants to be more productive.”

Swisher moved west to be with his girlfriend and also acknowledged “I can’t do that snow anymore.” While in LA he changed his fitness workouts, which he says has helped him lose 12 pounds, putting him around 203. Restricting trips to his beloved burrito joint, Chipotle, to once a week helped, too, as did shunning pizza and burgers, he said.

“I started doing a lot of boxing and it’s really shed weight,” he said. “I feel quick, I feel strong. I just had a blast with it. It was a controlled atmosphere, it’s not like I was throwing haymakers out there.”

Now he’s just ready for baseball to begin in earnest. “One of the coolest things I’ll always be able to say – I was a champion,” he said. “Now it’s back to work, man. I think we’ve all had that itch for awhile to get back into the rhythm of things, go back to the yard every day.”

The original article was published February 20th, 2010 in the New York Daily News.