Former M’s pitcher Swan dies

KENNEWICK – Russ Swan, a left-handed pitcher who spent parts of six seasons with three major league baseball teams, is dead following a fall in which he hit his head, friends and relatives told the Tri-City Herald.

Swan, 42, a Kennewick High graduate who played for the San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians, died Wednesday at University Medical Center in Las Vegas, said his sister, Michelle, and a longtime friend, Leo Price.

Swan’s sister said he was taken to the hospital April 17 after being found unconscious at the bottom of a stairwell in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., without his wallet or identification papers.

“He had been doing better,” she said. “(April 23) they ran a CAT scan and the data was showing he had been improving. Then (Wednesday) a code blue was called and he was gone. They thought the cause was a blood clot.”

Doctors believed Swan was stabilized before the sudden change, “but they weren’t sure of the extent of the head injury,” Price said.

Swan enrolled at Spokane Community College, then Texas A&M and was drafted three times – in January 1984 by the Houston Astros, that June by the Mariners and in June 1986 by the Giants, with whom he signed.

He made his major league debut with the Giants on Aug. 3, 1989, but the next May was traded to the Mariners. His best season was with Seattle in 1991, when he was 6-2 in 63 appearances with a 3.43 earned run average.

Swan’s playing career ended in 1994 when he was released by the Indians. His career record was 14-22 in 168 appearances. He became a pitching coach at Washington State University and in the Colorado Rockies organization.

Survivors include his wife Mellissa, daughter Erin and son Kelly.