He was just talking about Schwarber’s baseball season when it seemed every postseason homer broke another Major League Baseball record. Move off Reggie Jackson and make room for the new “Mr. October.”
But Schwarber, 30, a 2011 MHS graduate, also was the Phillies’ nominee for the Robert Clemente Award for his work with Schwarber’s Neighborhood Heroes, which started in 2017 “to express gratitude for the unique sacrifices of first responders and their families by creating positive experiences, as well as funding wellness, education and crisis needs for first-responder families.”
The program has raised more than $625,000 in grants since its inception.
“He’s doing all the right things on and off the field,” Kerns said. “So often, especially lately, there has been so much negative stuff about Middletown. It’s great to see some positive, bright news.”
Watching Schwarber tone his baseball skills as a young boy at Smith Park and later on the high school diamond, Kerns said it’s easy to take Schwarber’s athletic accomplishments for granted. He’s just Kyle, a kid from Middletown.
“Then you see him on the big spotlight and it hits different,” Kerns said.
There’s no bigger spotlight than shining in the playoffs, where Schwarber’s teams have qualified eight of his nine seasons in the majors. He has played for the Chicago Cubs, the team that selected him fourth overall in 2014 MLB Draft out of Indiana University, Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox and Phillies.
He helped the Cubs win the 2016 World Series over the Cleveland Indians, ending their 108-year drought.
“He has the ‘it’ factor, whatever ‘it’ is,” Kerns said. “He’s one of those players who makes everybody around him better. That speaks volumes when you can take your teammates to the next level.”
Former Middletown police Chief Rodney Muterspaw, who worked with Schwarber’s father, Greg, on the Middletown police force, called Schwarber “a natural leader” like a shift supervisor who makes all officers better.
“People are drawn to him,” Muterspaw said. “It makes me proud. His family is good people. He shows how important parenting is. Good things happen to good people.”
Schwarber’s father served as Middletown’s police chief, his mother, Donna, was a police dispatcher and his sister, Lindsay, is a K-9 officer with the Middletown Division of Police.
While Schwarber wears red, his family bleeds blue.
Pastor Lamar Ferrell from Berachah Church in Middletown is close friends with the Schwarber family and has worked with Schwarber on Middie Way Baseball, a youth program that Schwarber supports.
While Ferrell appreciates Schwarber’s eye-popping baseball statistics, he’s more impressed with the man away from the sport.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“It’s not about his legacy in baseball,” Ferrell said. “His legacy with children and the lives of other people. He’s so meaningful in the lives of people.”
Then Ferrell reflected on Schwarber’s 2023 season.
“When the lights get the brightest, he just shines,” the pastor said. “More than just hitting home runs is his leadership on the team.”
During the regular season, Schwarber, who signed a four-year, $79 million deal two years ago, hit 47 homers, drove in 104 runs, struck out a MLB-leading 215 times and batted just .197.
He hit his 200th career home run on April 4 and on Sept. 4, launched his 40th home run of the season, becoming the fifth player in Phillies history to hit 40 home runs in consecutive seasons.
In the postseason, he hit his 19th career homer in the fourth inning of Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Diamondbacks. That broke Jackson’s record for the most career postseason home runs by a left-handed batter in Major League history.
Now Schwarber, his wife, Paige, and their son, Kade, can return to their Ohio roots for another quiet off-season.
Before long, the lights on the baseball field will be bright again and it will be time for Kyle Joseph Schwarber to shine.
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