When Nick Swisher played Major League Baseball, fans affectionately call him “Swish.” Now, they can call him a coach.
The former World Series champion hasn’t stepped on an MLB diamond in more than a decade, and has instead embraced life as a father to two daughters — and a part-time middle school softball coach to his oldest daughter, Emerson, 12. (Swisher, 45, and his wife, an actress. JoAnna Garciaand shares a daughter with Sailor, 10.)
“I love it,” Swisher, 45, said to himself Us Weekly as part of his partnership with Ford and MLB, joking that some parents might be too quick to draw comparisons between his game and his daughter’s.
“When Emme gets up to hit in a softball game, everybody’s looking at me, like, ‘I didn’t know, bro, she couldn’t hit anyway,'” Swisher said.
While softball may be the most natural way for the former New York Yankees All-Star to bond with Emerson, she’s careful to embrace her daughters’ passions — whatever they may be.
“One of the things I have seen in just 12 years of being a father, you have to let the child lead,” he explained. “I think one of the things we focus on most is love. Obviously, personally, I’m madly in love. I’m madly happy and energetic. And I think that’s where we’ve shepherded our girls.”
He continued, “My oldest daughter may not be into soccer, she may not be into soccer, basketball, but she loves jumping. But I don’t know anything about jumping. The fact that she’s into something like that, and the fact that I can support her in doing that, I’m all for it.”
Swisher added that Sailor is a cheerleader, another discipline in which she has no experience.
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“You’re an airplane,” he said. “So I’m over it, kid. I’m talking about those girls who hold him down. But again, two things I’ve never done in my life…I think if you let a kid take the lead and tell you what their passions are, I think it’s going to help a lot down the road.”
Watching his daughters pursue their dreams is another reason why his partnership with Ford and MLB made sense. During the 2026 campaign, Ford and MLB are launching a season-long celebration of baseball in America, which includes the automaker investing in youth baseball and softball in the cities where it operates.
“What makes this even better is that, for me, as a father of a girl, I can have softball included in that,” Swisher explained. “So the fact that Ford is partnering with MLB just to get kids playing this game, I think it’s really amazing.”
Swisher added that she was excited to see her daughters continue to expand their interests in athletics at a time when leagues like Athletes Unlimited and the upcoming Women’s Pro Baseball League are expanding opportunities for women.
“It seems like, right now, women’s sports are having a moment,” he said. “And I think in general, the fact that Ford understands that and wants to jump on the party … To me, to be able to be a father to a girl, for them to benefit, and Little League baseball players, I think this is really amazing.”
