Dad Risley
From BR Bullpen
Dudley C. Risley
- Born 1873 in Lanark, IL USA
- Died September 9, 1950 in Seattle, WA USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Dad Risley played in the minor leagues in 1895, from 1897 to 1899 and from 1901 to 1908. He played in 901 games in his professional career, collecting at least 784 hits in his 12-year career. Perhaps his best season was 1903 with the Iola Gaslighters, when he hit .259 with 130 hits in 128 games.
Risley was a multi-talented ballplayer defensively, spending time at shortstop, second base, first base, right field, third base and left field. He even pitched in 92 games, going 45-42 with at least 55 complete games. In 1897 with the St. Joseph Saints, he went 20-10 in 33 games, completing 26 of his starts. His pitching acumen was not held in high regard to at least one team and its fans, as on June 11, 1896 "a joyous crowd of fans went ... to witness the slaughter of ... Dudley Risley." However, to their surprise, he held his opponent to five hits, pitching a complete game against them.[1]
He managed the Iola Gasbags in 1904, leading them to a first-place finish and a league championship. He also skippered the Oklahoma City Mets for the latter part of the 1905 season and the Springfield Midgets for the beginning of the 1908 season.
He served as the captain (which may or may not mean "manager") of the Inter-Mountain League's Salt Lake City team in 1901 (a title he held until being relieved in early June of that year). He also served as the captain of the Springfield Midgets in 1907.
