Kyle Schwarber, one of the most decorated players in Indiana University baseball history, has been selected for the IU Athletics Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Schwarber learned of the honor this summer while at breakfast in Chicago with his wife and former IU teammate Luke Harrison. A text from IU Associate Athletic Director Jeremy Gray prompted a phone call with Athletic Director Scott Dolson, who delivered the news.
“I was kind of shocked,” Schwarber said Friday. “It wasn’t even on the radar. Once they tell you, you get the chills. You start thinking back to everything throughout the three years, what we did there, the team that we had, just how special it was.”
From 2012 to 2014, Schwarber was the offensive powerhouse behind an IU team that won 125 games. In 2013, he helped lead the Hoosiers to their first-ever College World Series appearance. The team followed that historic season by earning a national seed in the 2014 NCAA tournament, winning both the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles in Schwarber’s final two years.
During his collegiate career, the Middletown, Ohio native hit 40 home runs, recorded 149 RBIs, and maintained a 1.044 OPS. His 93 extra-base hits underscored his dominance at the plate.
His success led the Chicago Cubs to select him as the No. 4 overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft. Two years later, he was a key member of the Cubs’ World Series-winning team. Now with the Philadelphia Phillies, his 11-season major league career also includes stints with the Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox. His 321 career home runs are the most by any former Hoosier.
Schwarber joins a seven-person class that includes his former classmate, basketball star Cody Zeller. He will become the 17th IU baseball player inducted into the Hall of Fame. Due to his ongoing season with the NL East-contending Phillies, for whom he has hit 37 home runs so far this year, Schwarber will defer his official induction from the planned September 5th ceremony to a future date.
He has remained connected to his alma mater, attending a 10-year reunion for the 2013 College World Series team and serving as the guest picker for ESPN’s “College GameDay” during its first visit to Bloomington last fall.
Schwarber credits his time at Indiana for shaping his winning mentality. “A lot of that started young in my life, but I think a lot of that started at Indiana,” he said. He recalled advice from former Cubs teammate Jon Lester on the importance of winning. “He said, ‘How do you get paid? You get to be known as a winner, because if you win, that means you’re doing something good.’ Try to win the day. Try to win that game. If you’re doing that, you’re probably doing something good for your team.”
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