Magnus Jönsson

Magnus Jönsson

• Bats Left, Throws Right

• Born October 4, 1974

Biographical Information

Magnus Jönsson played for the Swedish national team for over a decade. He was a teammate of the similarly-named Magnus Jansson in the 1990s.

Jönsson played in the 1993 European Championship. The 18-year-old debuted as a pinch-hitter for Kent Sterner in a loss to the powerful Dutch national team and took over at third base. He was 0 for 3 on the day and finished the Euros 1 for 12 with a double, steal and a RBI for the Bronze Medal winners, making two errors in nine chances. In the 1994 Baseball World Cup (Sweden's first Baseball World Cup), he split left with Ove Johansson and backed up Rickard Reimer at short. He was 2 for 17 with two RBI and fielded .850. He even pitched once, allowing six runs (four earned) in 4 1/3 IP. He hit .143/.250/.143 with two runs and a RBI in seven games in the 1995 European Championship and made seven errors in seventeen attempts. He also pitched once, getting a win (7 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 K, 4 BB), going the distance to beat Sergei Makarov and Ukraine in a mercy rule game. He tied Rudi Brouwers for the event lead in errors.

In the 1999 European Championship, he batted .238/.333/.238 and handled 13 chances error-free as the starting third baseman for the Swedes. He led third baseman in fielding; David Sheldon was also at 1.000 but only in five chances. He hit .172/.207/.200 at the 2003 European Championship, fielding .875. Elitserien stats prior to 2003 are not available online (as of 3/27/22). In the 2003 Elitserien, he produced at a .343/.352/.592 clip in limited time for the Leksand Lumberjacks.

Magnus hit .347/.384/.547 with 18 doubles, 35 runs and 36 RBI in the '04 Elitserien, fielding .889 at short for the champs. He was 10th in average (between Olle Öijen and Elias Sölveling), led in doubles (one ahead of former minor leaguer Tony Dermendziev), was third in runs, ranked 8th in slugging and tied Magnus Pilegård for the RBI lead. He helped Leksand repeat in 2005, when he hit .436/.471/.517 with 29 runs and 31 RBI, fielding .973 at short. Had he qualified (he was one game short), he would have led shortstops in fielding, .048 ahead of Sölveling. He was second in average (.123 behind Pilegård), led in runs (one ahead of Pilegård), led in hits (38, 3 ahead of Dean Lindberg), tied Daniel Husband for fifth in doubles (7), was 6th in slugging (between Dermendziev and Matt Merrifield), was 7th in OBP (between Öijen and Petter Diurlin), tied Rickard Reimer for the most sac flies (4) and was second in RBI (one shy of Lindberg).

His batting line in the 2005 European Championship was .188/.278/.281 but his six RBI were one shy of team leader Björn Johannesen. His .950 fielding at third tied former major leaguer Ivanon Coffie for second in the event there, behind Denys Ogapos. In the 2005 Baseball World Cup, he hit .154/.313/.231 with a run and two RBI in six games, with four errors in ten chances; he split third with Rickard Ljung. He ended his career with the 2006 Lumberjacks, batting .317/.338/.373. He fielded .938 at short and would again have led had he qualified.