Helen Earlene "Beans" Risinger was born in the small town of Hess, Oklahoma, daughter of Lizzie and Homer Risinger, on March 20, 1927. Her nickname “Beans,” was given her by her father, due to her fondness for pork and beans, a staple of the family diet. She first learned the sport of baseball from her father, who played for the local town's team against the teams of other neighboring communities. She continued to play the sport with and against her adult male relatives through high school, and was often found on the pitching mound.

Although she had a love for basketball, she competed for a chance to play for the AAGPBL in Oklahoma City in 1947, after seeing a notice for tryouts in that city's newspaper. Her pitching skills attracted the attention of the League managers during the tryouts, and Risinger was offered a position in 1947. However, it is not until the following year, encouraged by League player Shirley Jameson, that she signed a contract with the Springfield Sallies in 1948, at the age of 21. Low attendance caused the Sallies to fold after that season. During the early part of 1949 Risinger toured with the Americanas, an exhibition team which was playing at that time in South America. Later in 1949, she signed a contract with the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Chicks. She remained with the Chicks until 1954 when the league disbanded.

Risinger was an outstanding pitcher. A right hander, standing at 6'1”, her most memorable game was when she struck out Sammy Sams of the Kalamazoo Lassies with the bases loaded to win the playoffs for the Grand Rapids Chicks in 1953. During the regular seasons Risinger maintained an ERA under 2.40 for five consecutive seasons.

The Grand Rapids Chicks baseball team won the league championship in 1947 and 1953 and a league pennant in 1948. Elwood "Woody" English took over for Johnny Gottselig in May of 1952 as coach for the Grand Rapids Chicks, and stayed there for the remainder of the league's existence. In 1988, the AAGPBL was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Encouraged by the Chicks team physician, Dr. Blackburn, Earlene “Beans” Risinger took college courses to become a medical technician during the winter months. She went to x-ray school at Butterworth Hospital. Then, when the League disbanded, Beans continued to live in Grand Rapids, working in the office of an orthopedics surgeon and continuing in this field until her retirement in 1991. She continued to participate in Chicks reunion events and was a consultant for the movie “A League of Their Own,” which documents the AAGPBL womens' baseball league.

Beans died July 29th, 2008, in Hess, Oklahoma, where she had returned to live near her family in later years.