Ernest Evar Swanson (October 15, 1902 – July 17, 1973) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. He played

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

in the Major Leagues from to . He would play for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

. In the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

, he played

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for the

Rock Island Independents The Rock Island Independents were a professional American football team, based in Rock Island, Illinois, from 1907 to 1926. The Independents were a founding National Football League franchise. They hosted what has been retrospectively designated ...

Milwaukee Badgers The Milwaukee Badgers were a professional American football team, based in Milwaukee, that played in the National Football League from 1922 to 1926. The team played its home games at Athletic Park, later known as Borchert Field, on Milwaukee ...

, and

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

from 1924 to 1927. He went to college and played three sports at

Lombard College Lombard College was a Universalist college located in Galesburg, Illinois. History Lombard College was founded in 1853 by the Universalist Church as the Illinois Liberal Institute. In 1855, however, a major fire damaged much of the college, p ...

in Galesburg, Illinois. Swanson was one of the fastest men in baseball in his time. During a contest held on September 15, 1929, between games of a doubleheader, he circled the bases in 13.3 seconds and that record still stands. (Some sources claim his time was 13.4.) A year later, on September 21, 1930, in a minor league field meet in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, Swanson circled the bases in 13.2 seconds, giving him both the fastest time as a minor leaguer.

References

External links

Football-Reference.com
* 1902 births 1973 deaths Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from DeKalb County, Illinois American football running backs Chicago White Sox players Cincinnati Reds players Chicago Cardinals players Milwaukee Badgers players Rock Island Independents players American people of Swedish descent Players of American football from Illinois Sportspeople from DeKalb, Illinois Lombard Olive football players Columbus Red Birds players Mission Bells players Mission Reds players Moline Plowboys players Vernon Tigers players 20th-century American sportsmen {{runningback-1900s-stub