Karl Edward Swanson (December 17, 1900 – April 3, 2002) 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 ...

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

during parts of two seasons (1928 and 1929) for the

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 ...

Baseball career

Born in North Henderson, Illinois in 1900, Swanson's first pro team was the 1923

Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in u ...

Bunnies of the

Mississippi Valley League The Mississippi Valley League (MVL) was a baseball Class D level minor league that operated from 1922 through 1933. Playing its last year as a Class B level league, the league franchises were based in Iowa and Illinois. Like many leagues at the ...

, a Class D circuit where he played for the first six seasons of his career. In 1928, he batted .384 (third-highest in the league); in August, he was signed by the White Sox and installed as the club's second baseman. Although solid defensively, Swanson was baffled by big-league pitching and could only manage nine hits (eight singles and a double) in 65 at-bats, for a .138 average. (Swanson was also married that year, on June 16, to Lucille.) After a strong spring training in 1929, however, Swanson came north with the Sox but was used only sparingly, pinch hitting in two games before being returned to the minors in early May. Swanson knocked around the minors for several more years before ending up in the same place he began: with the Cedar Rapids Raiders of the Western League, in 1935. In April 2001, to mark the 100th anniversary of the first

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

game, Swanson threw the first pitch at

Tropicana Field Tropicana Field (nicknamed "The Trop") is a domed multipurpose stadium located in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. "The Trop" was the home of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays season, 1998 to ...

between the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...

and the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

Personal life and Death

Swanson married Lucile Stein in 1928. After retiring from baseball, he and his wife owned Swanson's Market in Rock Island, Illinois. Swanson

turned 100 A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

in 2000. Swanson died on April 3, 2002 at the age of 101 in

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the confluence of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock a ...

.https://www.newspapers.com/image/340768531/?terms=karl%20swanson&match=1 At the time of his death, Swanson was the oldest living former major league player.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swanson, Karl 1900 births 2002 deaths American men centenarians Major League Baseball second basemen Chicago White Sox players Baseball players from Mercer County, Illinois Cedar Rapids Raiders players Cedar Rapids Bunnies players Moline Plowboys players Lincoln Links players Rock Island Islanders players Indianapolis Indians players Beaumont Exporters players Toledo Mud Hens players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Dallas Steers players Quincy Indians players Des Moines Demons players Oklahoma City Indians players Dayton Ducks players Davenport Blue Sox players 20th-century American sportsmen Burials at Riverside Cemetery (Moline, Illinois)

Baseball career

Personal life and Death

See also

References

External links