Nick Swisher: He's the Man...man!

Swishaliscious 

Is Nick Swisher the coolest baseball player in the Big Leagues?

Calm down. No, I’m not converting to the Dark Side and taking up residence in Yankees Universe.  As a fan of that other New York baseball team – you know, the one that's in dire financial straights, the one that's become the butt of all baseball jokes – I despise the New York Yankees with the best of them.

But then again, you certainly won’t see me spewing my Yankee Haterade on the team’s right fielder, Nick Swisher, who has become one of my favorite sports personalities, right up there with the likes of Chad Ochocinco and Giants closer Brian Wilson.

Known for his exuberant personality, mo-hawks and general life-is-good-I’m-married-to-smokin’-hot-actress-Joanna-Garcia mentality, Swisher has given the Yankees a nice facelift since arriving in the Bronx in 2009. He’s been credited with loosening up the team’s traditionally stuffy clubhouse and is a big reason the team gelled effortlessly during its run to a 27^th World Series title.

Joanna Garcia-Swisher

In March, when Yahoo! Sports blogged about the most followed athletes on Twitter, Swisher was the only baseball player on the list, coming in at No. 10, with 1,273,939 followers. That number is now over 1.3 million. 

But even as he continues to struggle at the plate this season, hitting a putrid .218 with just two home runs, the right fielder still seems to have a smile permanently affixed to his face.

Take for instance his post game interview back on April 27. After Bartolo Colon hurled eight innings of one-run ball in a 3-1 win over the White Sox, Swisher provided a ‘swishaliscious’ answer when asked about Colon’s performance.

“You know he’s got a lot to prove still. And he’s definitely doing it, MAN. It’s just so fun to watch him pitch, MAN. Just the way he’s going about everything, that smile on his face, MAN. It’s been great. He’s done a tremendous job for us.”

His response to the routine questioning confirmed what I have been suspecting of Swisher for some time now: he can’t form a sentence without including the word ‘man’ as least 11 times. He simply can’t do it - and I love it!

I can't help but ask whether this guy is the right fielder for the most storied organization in American sports or the Fordham chapter president of the Bro Delta Bro fraternity?

How about when he joined WFAN’s Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts for a telephone interview back on April 11 and warmly greeted the hosts with this gem.

Swisher is like the Rob Dyrdek of Major League Baseball and Yankee Stadium is his Fantasy Factory.

In all seriousness though, perhaps now more than ever, professional sports are dominated by inflated egos and narcissistic super stars (do I really need to mention a certain 6-foot-8 small forward who took his talents to South Beach?), but Swisher is a breath of fresh air for us jaded sports fans.

So while you won’t see me trading in my Mets gear for a Nick Swisher jersey anytime soon, that doesn't mean he's not one of my favorite personalities in sports.

Even if he does wear those awful pin stripes.