Swede Risberg
Positions: Shortstop, First Baseman and Third Baseman
Bats: Right • Throws: Right
6-0, 175lb (183cm, 79kg)
Born: October 13, 1894 in San Francisco, CA
Died: October 13, 1975 in Red Bluff, CA
Buried: Mount Shasta Cemetery, Mount Shasta, CA
Debut: April 11, 1917 (4,566th in MLB history)
vs. SLB 4 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Last Game: September 27, 1920
vs. DET 3 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Full Name: Charles August Risberg
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject
Players Who Debuted in 1917 Year
Ross Youngs
Dutch Ruether
Hal Carlson
Ira Flagstead
Vic Aldridge
Aaron Ward
Joe Dugan
Hod Eller
Swede Risberg
All-Time Teammate Team
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Notable Events and Chronology for Swede Risberg Career
Biography
Risberg helped destroy a team that might have rivaled the great Yankees of the 1920s. Barred for life for throwing the 1919 Series, he also fixed games in his rookie year and in 1920. Rough and rangy, he once knocked out a minor league umpire with one punch after a called third strike. Though he didn’t have the incredible range he’s sometimes credited with, he had a powerful arm. Risberg’s arrival allowed Buck Weaver to move back to third base, his natural position. Risberg despised his double play partner, Eddie Collins, for his talent, character, education, air of superiority, and above all, salary. He preferred the tough Chick Gandil, who enlisted the young shortstop as his first lieutenant in the fix. During the ensuing trial, Joe Jackson requested protection after Risberg threatened to kill him if he dared talk. “The Swede is a hard guy,” said Jackson.
Later in the 1920s, in an attempt to discredit players he called “white lilies,” Risberg claimed that Detroit had thrown four games in 1917 to help the Sox clinch the flag. Along with other charges, this led to a major investigation of more than 30 players, among them some of the most famous names in the AL. During the hearing, Tiger pitcher Bernie Boland yelled at Risberg, “You’re still a pig!”
When only Gandil and Happy Felsch backed up Swede’s story, Commissioner Landis dismissed the charges. The case, however, resulted in strong anti-betting edicts, a statute of limitations, and the abolition of the common practice of teams rewarding other teams with “gifts” for defeating pennant rivals. During his exile, Risberg played semi-pro ball, worked on a dairy farm, and ran a tavern which proudly displayed his name. He was the last survivor of the eight Black Sox.
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