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====Oakland Athletics (2004–2007)====
[[File:Swisher.jpg|thumb|
Swisher made his MLB debut in 2004 for the Athletics, playing in 20 games. Retaining his rookie status for 2005,{{#tag:ref|Though Swisher debuted with the Athletics in 2004, he qualified as a rookie in 2005, as he had less than 130 at-bats during the 2004 season.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/about_mlb/rules_regulations.jsp|title=MLB Miscellany: Rules, regulations and statistics|publisher=MLB Advanced Media|accessdate=June 5, 2012}}</ref>|group=lower-alpha}} Swisher hit 21 home runs and recorded 74 RBI in 131 games for the 2005 Athletics. He finished 6th in the [[American League]] [[Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award|Rookie of the Year]] voting. Teammate [[Huston Street]] won the award, while fellow 2002 Oakland draftee [[Joe Blanton]] finished seventh.<ref>[http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2216645 Street wins AL Rookie of Year; Howard wins NL] ESPN.com</ref>
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====New York Yankees (2009–2012)====
[[File:Nick Swisher batting 2009.jpg|thumb|left|Swisher batting in 2009, his first year with the Yankees]]▼
On November 13, 2008, Swisher and minor league pitcher [[Kanekoa Texeira]] were traded to the [[New York Yankees]] for utility man [[Wilson Betemit]] and minor league pitchers [[Jeffrey Marquez]] and [[Jhonny Núñez]].<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20081113&content_id=3678229&vkey=pr_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy |title=Yankees acquire 1B/OF Nick Swisher and Kanekoa Texeira from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for INF Wilson Betemit and two Minor League pitchers, 11/13/2008 |publisher=Major League Baseball |date=2008-11-13 |accessdate=2011-07-22}}</ref> Swisher was acquired to be the Yankees starting first baseman. However, the Yankees signed [[Mark Teixeira]] later in the offseason, who took the starting role.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081223&content_id=3727096&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp|title=Yanks feel fortunate to land Teixeira: Move delivers a convincing warning to the American League East|first=Bryan|last=Hoch|work=MLB.com|date=December 23, 2008|accessdate=June 1, 2010}}</ref> At the end of spring training, manager [[Joe Girardi]] announced that [[Xavier Nady]] would be starting in right field while Swisher would be a bench player.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090323&content_id=4053172&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy|title=Girardi: Nady leading in right-field race: Swisher now projects as reserve outfielder, first baseman|first=Bryan|last=Hoch|work=MLB.com|date=March 23, 2009|accessdate=June 1, 2010}}w</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/sports/baseball/24yanks.html|title=Yankees’ Right-Field Competition Ends With Nady as the Winner|first=Tyler|last=Kepner|work=New York Times|date=March 23, 2009|accessdate=June 1, 2010}}</ref> Due to the perceived logjam, many teams reportedly pursued Swisher,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090108&content_id=3737609&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp|title=Giants, Swisher would be nice match: Yankees could be shopping outfielder after signing Teixeira|first=Chris|last=Haft|work=MLB.com|date=January 8, 2009|accessdate=June 1, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/17/sports/baseball/17yankees.html|title=Yankees Hearing Offers for Swisher and Nady|first=Tyler|last=Kepner|work=New York Times|date=January 16, 2009|accessdate=June 1, 2010}}</ref> but the Yankees opted to keep him as a reserve outfielder and first baseman.
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On April 13, 2009, in a game against the [[2009 Tampa Bay Rays season|Tampa Bay Rays]], Swisher pitched one inning in relief, allowing one hit and one walk before retiring the next three batters in a row, including a strikeout against [[Gabe Kapler]] in his first pitching appearance in the major leagues.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=290413130&page=plays |title=MLB – New York Yankees/Tampa Bay Rays Box Score Monday April 13, 2009 – Yahoo! Sports |publisher=Sports.yahoo.com |date=2009-04-13 |accessdate=2010-06-02}}</ref> He was the first Yankee position player to pitch since [[Wade Boggs]] in [[1997 Major League Baseball season|1997]] and the first Yankee to homer and pitch in the same game since [[Lindy McDaniel]] did it in [[Tiger Stadium (Detroit)|Detroit]] on September 28, [[1972 Major League Baseball season|1972]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/preview?gameId=290414130 |title=New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays – Preview – April 14, 2009 – ESPN |publisher=Sports.espn.go.com |date=2009-04-14 |accessdate=2010-06-02}}</ref>
▲[[File:Nick Swisher batting 2009.jpg|thumb|left|Swisher batting in 2009, his first year with the Yankees]]
Swisher hit his first postseason home run in the [[2009 World Series]]. He got his first championship title as the Yankees eventually won the World Series against the [[Philadelphia Phillies]] in 6 games.
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