Swede Risberg
| Swede Risberg | |||
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| Shortstop | |||
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Born: October 13, 1894 San Francisco, California |
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Died: October 13, 1975 (aged 81) Red Bluff, California |
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| MLB debut | |||
| April 11, 1917, for the Chicago White Sox | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 27, 1920, for the Chicago White Sox | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .243 | ||
| Hits | 394 | ||
| Runs batted in | 175 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Charles August "Swede" Risberg (October 13, 1894 – October 13, 1975) was a Major League Baseball shortstop. He played for the Chicago White Sox from 1917 to 1920. He is best known for his involvement in the 1919 Black Sox scandal.
Charles Risberg was born and raised in San Francisco, California. He had very little education growing up and dropped out of school in the third grade. However, he soon developed a reputation as a good semipro pitcher and began his professional baseball career in 1912.
Risberg soon converted to shortstop. In 1914, he hit .366 in the Class D Union Association and was acquired by the Venice Tigers of the Pacific Coast League. He was the club's utility infielder in 1915 and 1916, gaining acclaim for his defensive skills. He was then bought by the American League's Chicago White Sox in early 1917.
Risberg made his debut on April 11, 1917 for the White Sox. He was a below-average hitter, but due to his superb defensive abilities, he won the full-time job at shortstop. Late in the season, though, Risberg went into a terrible slump, and he therefore only pinch hit twice when the Sox beat the New York Giants in the 1917 World Series.
The next season, Risberg briefly returned to California to work in a shipyard as part of the war effort. Although his job was termed essential and enabled him to avoid the draft, it consisted largely of playing baseball, as he batted .308 for the shipyard ballclub.
Risberg returned to the Sox for the pennant-winning 1919 season. In September, he received good press in the Atlanta Constitution, which labeled him a "miracle man" who had "blossomed out as a wonder" after making four plays that were "phenomenal." Chicago was heavy favorites in 1919 World Series versus the Cincinnati Reds. However, a group of White Sox players, including Risberg, decided to intentionally lose the series in exchange for monetary payments from a network of gamblers. Risberg was one of the ringleaders, helping to convince some of his teammates to go along with the scheme. In the eight-game series, he went 2 for 25 at the plate and made a Series-record eight errors.
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