Art and Beauty in the Heartland

Book excerpt: In 1919 eight Chicago White Sox ballplayers teamed up with gamblers to throw the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. The eight players were banned for life from organized baseball for their involvement in or knowledge of the fix, and because of the scandal the players came to be known as the "Black Sox". One of the "Black Sox" was Charles "Swede" Risberg. Swede Risberg came to Minnesota in 1922 with a team called the Mesaba Range Black Sox and he went on to play for Rochester Minnesota in 1923, 1924 and 1926. Swede also played for Scobey Montana in 1925, Watertown South Dakota in 1926 and 1927, Virden Manitoba Canada in 1929, Jamestown North Dakota in 1929 and 1930, and Sioux Falls South Dakota in 1931 and 1932. This book documents the career of Swede Risberg in semi-professional baseball from June 1922 through the 1932 season with the Sioux Falls Canaries. Although this book presents detailed statistical information on Swede's post White Sox career in semi-professional baseball, the book goes beyond a dry accounting of innings pitched, at bats, and hits. Swede played against many different teams and many different individuals. Some of these teams and individuals are themselves interesting stories. Swede would never have played in games against teams with only African-American players or against integrated teams if he had remained in professional baseball, and Swede would not have played on integrated teams if he had remained in the major leagues. Unfortunately, some of the detail about Swede's career in semi-professional baseball is lost forever as newspaper summaries were sometimes not complete, negatives of pictures have been destroyed, and the people that played the games are gone. Even with these limitations, I hope that you enjoy the story of Swede Risberg's life in semi-professional baseball.