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| Joe Gedeon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Second baseman | |
| Born:(1893-12-05)December 5, 1893 Sacramento, California, U.S. | |
| Died: May 19, 1941(1941-05-19) (aged 47) San Francisco, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| May 13, 1913, for the Washington Senators | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 3, 1920, for the St. Louis Browns | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .244 |
| Home runs | 1 |
| Runs batted in | 171 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| |
Elmer Joseph Gedeon (December 5, 1893 – May 19, 1941) was asecond baseman inMajor League Baseball. He played for theWashington Senators,New York Yankees, andSt. Louis Browns.
Born inSacramento, California, Gedeon started his professional baseball career in 1912 in thePacific Coast League. He won a job with the Senators the following season. Gedeon hit poorly in limited action and went back to the PCL in 1914. In 1915, he had the best offensive season of his career with theSalt Lake City Bees, batting .317 and slugging .514 in 190 games.[1]
For most of the next five seasons, Gedeon was a regular with the Yankees and Browns. He was an above-average defensive player, leading allAmerican League second basemen in assists once (1918) andfielding percentage twice (1918 and 1919). In 1920, he led the AL in sacrifice hits with 48; this total is still a Browns/Orioles single season record.
Gedeon – who was a friend of Black Sox conspiratorSwede Risberg – was present during a meeting with gamblers, as they were discussing the plot to fix the1919 World Series. He was later called as a witness in the trial. On November 3, 1921, Gedeon was banned for life from organized baseball for"having guilty knowledge" of theBlack Sox Scandal.[2]
He died inSan Francisco, California at the age of 47, having suffered fromcirrhosis of the liver. The official cause of death wasbronchial pneumonia. His nephew,Elmer Gedeon, was one of only two Major League Baseball players to be killed inWorld War II, dying in 1944.