A swingman is an athlete capable of playing multiple positions in their sport.
Basketball
In basketball, the term “swingman” (a.k.a. “wing” or “guard-forward”) denotes a player who can play both the shooting guard (2) and small forward (3) positions, and in essence swing between the positions.[1]
Examples include Tracy McGrady, Paul Pierce, Jimmy Butler, Kobe Bryant, DeMar DeRozan, Paul George, Andre Iguodala, Klay Thompson, Khris Middleton, and Andrew Wiggins.
Ice hockey
In ice hockey, a swingman is a player that could play both defenseman and forward, such as Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks, Dustin Byfuglien of the Winnipeg Jets, and Brendan Smith of the New York Rangers .
Baseball
In baseball, a swingman is a pitcher who can work either as a reliever or as a starter. As baseball is a sport with set rotations and bullpen pitchers, swingmen are rarely used. They are most commonly seen in postseason baseball. When a team is in need of a win, a starting pitcher can come back in for relief in any game after a day of them having pitched. For example, the Boston Red Sox won the 2018 World Series and in order to do so, their ace starting pitcher Chris Sale, who had just pitched 2 days before, came into the game in the 8th and 9th inning as a closer in order to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers and win the World Series therefore titling him a swingman for that series.[2] If the pitcher is usually a long reliever, he is called a "spot starter".
Australian football
The term is also used in Australian rules football, typically to describe a player who can play both in attack and in defence, usually as a key position player. Examples include Harry Taylor, Ryan Schoenmakers, Ben Reid and Jarryd Roughead.
See also
References
- ^ S. Trnini and D. Dizdar, System of the Performance Evaluation Criteria Weighted per Positions in the Basketball Game, 2000
- ^ Boston Globe