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Nick Swisher's journey to the Parkersburg High School Sports Hall of Fame differed from fellow inductees Susan Gardner and Amy Deem.
Whereas both Deem and Gardner grew up in the city and spent time at Big Red sporting events learning the culture and history of the school, Swisher didn't have such an extensive background.
"You have to remember I had just moved down to Parkersburg my freshman year at Hamilton and was still really learning what Parkersburg was all about," said Swisher. "But once I got on campus as a sophomore for my first football practice and two-a-days I really understood what it was to be and what it took to be a Big Red."
Boy did he ever.
Everyone in the Mountain State knew his name and of his prodigious athletic ability by the time he left "The School of Champions."
Swisher graduated from PHS in 1999 as arguably the greatest baseball player in the history of the program with three first-team all-state selections, he also had two first-team all-state football honors, and was a letterman in basketball.
"I definitely think for me Parkersburg High is winning," when asked about his memories of the school. "Winning is what we did 鈥� we didn't lose. Maybe once or twice to be frank.
"We took a lot of pride in who we were and what we stood for and it takes more than one person to make something what it is and it was so awesome for me to have guys like Eric Grimm, Mike Lerch, Steve Haught and Lee Powell with me who were pretty good athletes to have some amazing seasons with because it wouldn't have been the same without those guys."
He credits his time in Parkersburg for helping him prepare for the major leagues, because of the expectations on the school's sports programs.
Of course, Swisher would go on to play baseball at Ohio State, and from there would be the 16th pick in the 2002 Major League Baseball amateur draft, selected by the Oakland Athletics.
Overall, he played for five teams (the Yankees twice) in 11 seasons. He retired from the pros on Feb. 7, 2017.
During his time in the majors, he hit .249 with 245 home runs and 803 runs-batted-in. Swisher also helped New York win the 2009 World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Game 2 captures his exclamation point in the annals of the Fall Classic. Phillies' rookie J.A. Happ served up a 0-2, 92 MPH fast ball Swisher smacked out of the park for a home run in the sixth inning.
"It was just a magical year just to be able to be a part of that," said Swisher of the championship. "Just to be a guy who could pitch in when it was needed. I think for myself I learned a lot from guys like Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira.
"There is a reason why people are as successful as they are and after being able to spend as much time around those guys as I did everything in my life moving forward changed. Those guys know how to do it and for myself it was an honor to be around that."
I remember watching the game and actually rooting for a Yankee ball to leave the yard. It is a pretty cool thing to see someone from your hometown hit a bomb in the World Series.
Despite retiring from the field, Swisher isn't out of baseball as he is currently an analyst for Fox.
While the committee's selection criteria was unknown to him, Swisher joked he probably just made the cut.
But in all seriousness, he is grateful for his selection to the small group.
"Well 鈥� I feel like anything that has to do with your hometown where you feel like you matured and grew for myself is such an honor," said Swisher. "You never know if anything like this is going to happen, but I think for myself to be able to share this honor with my father is also something really, really special to me.
"I am just blessed that moving to Parkersburg, West Virginia was one of the greatest decisions I have ever made in my life."
Ironically, his father was the person to tell him of his induction, and now Nick is working on a speech as cool as his dads.
"In everything I am so humbled. I can't wait to get back home, it has been a while," said Swisher. "I can't wait to see some faces I haven't seen and hand out some hugs. Humbled and honored are the two words that come to mind."
"This is going to be amazing," added Swisher of Thursday night's event, which there are still tickets available for purchase at PHS鈥圡emorial Fieldhouse. "My wife is making the trip with me and a couple of my best friends are coming and this is something I am taking a lot of pride in. We are flying in and going to have a good time and I am really going to soak this up."
In memory of his time as a Yankee, I would like to leave my readers and him with my own John Sterling (the team's play-by-play announcer) home run call 鈥�
"Swish hits a wish to send him around the bags and across the dish!"
Contact Joe Albright at jalbright@newsandsentinel.com.