“In the Kingdom of Swat” (Headline), Cincinnati Post, March 8, 1901, p3 (Roundup of baseball stories).
“Old King Swat has again come into his own. With snow at Cleveland and a cold drizzle that did not prevent play, but cut down the crowd, in the Mound City, four games in the National League drew 67,168 people and the three American contests attracted 33,026.” “Sportorials,” Kentucky Post (Covingotn, KY), April 15, 1905, p6
“The Chicago players loafed at the Coates house and went sight-seeing to the Long building, while the Local Sons of King Swat sent the day in the lobby of the Centropolis and listened to Burke’s dissertations on the weather.” “The White Sox II Today: The Comiskey Scrubs and the Blue Pins Will Mingle Whit,” Kansas City Star, April 7, 1907, p10 (Refers to a day in Kansas City where the visiting White Sox were set to play the local Kansas City Blues of the American Association.)
NOTE: These terms were used to mean organized baseball in general. “Kingdom of Swat” was sometimes used to mean the group of players batting over .300. “King Swat” was sometimes used to refer to an individual player, although “King of Swat” was older and more common.
These terms are almost certainly a play on the “kingdom” of Swat, now a region of Pakistan, and its ruler. (The ruler was known locally as the akhund but referred to in the west as “king” or “sultan.”)
See also King of Swat and Sultan of Swat
