Cap Anson
Encyclopedia
Adrian Constantine Anson (April 17, 1852 – April 14, 1922), nicknamed "Cap" (for "Captain") and "Pop", was a National Association
and Major League Baseball
first baseman
. He played a record 27 consecutive seasons, and was regarded as one of the greatest players of his era and one of the first superstars of the game.
Anson spent most of his career with the Chicago Cubs
franchise (then known as the "White Stockings" and later the "Colts"), serving as the club's manager, first baseman and, later in his tenure, minority owner. He led the team to five National League
pennants in the 1880s. Anson was one of baseball's first great hitters, and was the first to tally over 3,000 career hits.
His contemporary influence and prestige are regarded by historians as playing a major role in establishing the racial segregation
in professional baseball that persisted until the late 1940s. On several occasions, Anson refused to take the field when the opposing roster included black players.
After retiring as a player and leaving the Colts, Anson briefly managed the New York Giants
. He ran several enterprises in Chicago, including opening a billiards and bowling hall and running a semi-professional baseball team he dubbed "Anson's Colts". Anson also toured extensively on the vaudeville circuit, performing monologues and songs. Many of his business ventures failed, resulting in Anson losing his ownership stake in the Colts (by then called the Cubs) and filing for bankruptcy.
Anson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939
.
. Beginning in 1866, he spent two years at the high-school age boarding school of the University of Notre Dame
after being sent there by his father in hopes of curtailing his mischievousness. His time away did little to discipline him, and soon after he returned home his father sent him to the University of Iowa
, where his bad behavior resulted in the school asking him to leave after one semester.
(NA) at the age of 19. His best years in the NA were and , when he finished in the top five in batting
, OBP
(leading the league in 1872), and OPS
. His numbers declined slightly the following two seasons, but he was still good enough that Chicago White Stockings
Secretary-turned-President William Hulbert
sought him to improve his club for the season. Hulbert broke league rules by negotiating with Anson and several other stars while the season was still in progress and ultimately founded the new National League
to forestall any disciplinary action. Anson, who had become engaged to a Philadelphia native in the meantime, had second thoughts about going west, but Hulbert held Anson to his contract and he eventually warmed to the Windy City.
The White Stockings won the first league title, but fell off the pace the following two seasons. During this time, Anson was a solid hitter, but not quite a superstar. Both his fortunes and those of his team would change after Anson was named captain-manager of the club in 1879, hence the nickname "Cap", although the newspapers typically called him by the more formal "Captain Anson" or "Capt. Anson". With Anson pacing the way, the White Stockings won five pennants between and . They were helped to the titles using new managerial tactics, including using a third-base coach, having one fielder back up another, signaling batters, and the rotation of two star pitchers. In the first half of the 1880s, aided by speedy players like Mike Kelly
, Anson had his players aggressively run the bases, forcing the opposition into making errors. After the expression first became popular, in the 1890s, he retroactively claimed to used some of the first "hit and run" plays. Edward Achorn wrote of his influence in this period:
Anson shares credit as an innovator of modern spring training
along with then-Chicago President Albert Spalding
, as they were among the first to send their clubs to warmer climates in the South to prepare for the season. On the field, Anson was the team's best hitter and run producer. In the 1880s, he won two batting titles (1881, 1888) and finished second four times (1880, 1882, 1886–87). During the same period, he led the league in RBIs seven times (1880–82, 1884–86, 1888). His best season was in 1881, when he led the league in batting (.399), OBP (.442), OPS (.952), hits (137), total bases (175), and RBIs
(82). He also became the first player to hit three consecutive home run
s, five homers in two games, and four doubles in a game, as well as being the first to perform two unassisted double play
s in a game. He is one of only a few players to score six runs in a game, a feat accomplished on August 24, 1886.
Anson signed a ten-year contract in 1888 to manage the White Stockings (which, because of a typographical error he failed to spot, ended after the 1897 season instead of 1898), but his best years were behind him. He led the league in walks in 1890 and garnered his eighth and final RBI crown in , but declined precipitously thereafter. On the managerial front, he failed to win another pennant.
As the end of the 1880s approached, the club had begun trading away its stars in favor of young players, with the exception of the veteran Anson. Local newspapers had started to call the team "Anson's Colts", or just "Colts", before the decade was out. With the advent of the Players' League in 1890, what little talent the club still had was drained away, and the team nickname "Colts", though never official, became standard usage in the local media along with variants such as (Anson's) White Colts and (Anson's) Broncos.
He also mellowed enough that he became a fatherly figure and was often called "Pop". When he was fired as manager after the season, it also marked the end of his 27-year playing career. The following season, newspapers dubbed the Colts the "Orphans", as they had lost their "Pop".
Anson refused to play in exhibition games versus dark-skinned players. On August 10, 1883 Anson refused to play an exhibition game against the Toledo Blue Stockings
because their catcher, Moses Fleetwood Walker
, was African American
. When Blue Stockings Manager Charlie Morton told Anson the White Stockings would forfeit the gate receipts if they refused to play, Anson backed down. The following year, on July 20, 1884, Anson again refused to take the field against Toledo, calling their two black players – Moses Fleetwood Walker and his brother Welday
– "chocolate-covered coons." The Walker brothers were released from their team soon afterwards. On July 14, 1887 the Chicago White Stockings
played an exhibition game against the Newark Little Giants
. African American George Stovey
was listed in the Newark News
as the Little Giants' scheduled starting pitcher. Anson objected, and Stovey did not pitch. Moreover, International League owners had voted 6-to-4 to exclude African-American players from future contracts.
In a 24-page appendix on Anson, a 2006 book concluded that:
while both were players; Spalding was a pitcher
for the Rockford Forest Citys
, Anson played for the Marshalltown, Iowa team. Spalding convinced the 18-year-old Anson to come play for the Forest Citys at a salary of $65 per month.
In 1876, when Anson was playing for Philadelphia, Spalding and William Hulbert
lured Anson to the Chicago team, which Spalding now managed. After signing the contract, Anson had second thoughts (his future wife did not want to leave her family in Philadelphia), and offered Spalding $1,000 to void the contract. Spalding held Anson to the contract, and Anson came to Chicago in March 1876.
Spalding retired as a player and manager after the 1877 season, but continued as secretary, and later president, of the White Stockings. Anson became a player/manager of the team in 1879, and by 1889 had a 13% ownership.
In 1888 Spalding announced that the White Stockings, including Anson, and a "picked nine" from the rest of the National League would begin a World Tour after the end of the season. Spalding put up most of the money, but Anson invested $3,750 of his own. James Hart was hired as business manager and Anson developed an intense dislike for him.
After Spalding stepped down as president of the Chicago club in 1891, he appointed James Hart to the position, which Anson felt should have been his despite his dismal business record. Spalding, however, continued to run the club behind the scenes.
In December 1892, Hart, with Spalding's blessing, reorganized the White Stockings into a stock company. Anson was required to sign a new contract, which ended in 1898 instead of 1899 as the previous one had. Anson spotted the error later but said nothing, trusting that Spalding would honor the previous terms.
Hart began to undermine Anson's managerial decisions by reversing fines and suspensions imposed by Anson. By 1897 Anson had little control over his players; after Anson demanded a sportswriter print that Anson thought "the Chicago ball club is composed of drunkards and loafers who are throwing him down", his days as manager were numbered. Spalding invited Anson and his wife on a four week journey to England in late November 1897. Spalding dropped many hints on the voyage, encouraging Anson to voluntarily retire, but Anson had no intention of doing so. Things remained in limbo until January 29, 1898 when the Associated Press printed a statement by Spalding: "I have taken pains as a mediator to find out from Chicagoans how they feel about a change of management. There has been a decided undercurrent in favor... Lovers of baseball think that Anson has been in power too long."
When the first edition of Macmillan's
Baseball Encyclopedia was published in 1969, it disregarded a rule in place only for the season which counted base-on-balls
(walks) as hits and times-at-bat instead of 0's in both categories as they were before and have been since. Anson's 60 walks were removed from his 1887 hit total, resulting in a career mark of 2,995, though later additions of the Encyclopedia would still add 5 more hits to exactly 3,000.
The other controversy over Anson's total hits had to do with his five years in the National Association. Neither the Macmillan Encyclopedia editions nor Major League Baseball itself at that time recognized the NA as being a true major league. Only recently has Major League Baseball accepted the NA as a de facto major league; the MLB.com website now includes the NA years in Anson's record, placing major league hits total as 3,418. Anson is officially placed at seventh in the all-time leaders in hits.
Other sources credit Anson with a different number of hits, largely because scoring and record keeping was haphazard in baseball until well into the 20th century. Beginning with the publication of the Baseball Encyclopedia, statisticians have continually found errors and have adjusted career totals accordingly. According to the Sporting News baseball record book, which does not take NA statistics into account, Anson had 3,012 hits over his career. The National Baseball Hall of Fame
(which uses statistics verified by the Elias Sports Bureau
) credits Anson with 3,081 hits. This figure disregards games played in the NA, but includes the walks earned during 1887 as hits.
in June and July of . He then attempted to buy a Chicago team in the Western League, but failed after being opposed by Spalding. In , he helped to organize a new version of the defunct American Association
, called the New American Base Ball Association, and was named its president. However, at the first sign of trouble he dissolved the league before a single game was played, drawing heated criticism from other backers.
After a number of failed business attempts, including a handball
arena and bottled ginger beer
that exploded on store shelves, he was later elected city clerk of Chicago in 1905 and then, after serving one term, failed in the Democratic
primary
to become sheriff
in 1907.
In 1907, Anson made another attempt to come back to baseball, acquiring a semi-pro team in the Chicago City League, which he would call "Anson's Colts". Anson initially had no intention of playing for the team, but in June 1907, at the age of 55, Anson started playing some games at first base in an attempt to boost poor attendance. Despite the draw of seeing Anson play, the team did not attract much attendance, and lost money for Anson. In the fall of 1908, Anson assembled a semi-pro football team, also called Anson's Colts. Although the football team won the city championship, they were not a financial success.
Some of Anson's few successful ventures were a combination billiards
hall and a bowling alley he opened in downtown Chicago in 1899. Anson was named vice-president of the American Bowling Congress
in 1903, and led a team to the five-man national championship in 1904. Anson was forced to sell the billiards hall in 1909 when faced with mounting financial problems that led to his bankruptcy. Anson was also an avid golfer.
With the aid of ghostwriter Richard Cary Jr., Anson's memoirs, titled A Ball Player's Career: Being the Personal Reminiscences of Adrian C. Anson, were published in 1900. This book is considered the first baseball autobiography.
Anson began acting during his baseball career. In 1888, he made his stage debut with a single appearance in Hoyt's play A Parlor Match at the Theatre Comique in Harlem. He also played himself in an 1895 Broadway play called The Runaway Colt, written to take advantage of his fame. Later, Anson began touring on the vaudeville
circuit, a common practice for athletes of the time, which lasted up until about a year before his death. He first appeared in vaudeville in 1913 doing a monologue and a short dance. In 1914, George M. Cohan
wrote a monologue for him, and in 1917, Cohan, with Chicago Tribune sportswriter Ring Lardner
wrote another piece for him, titled First Aid for Father. Anson appeared with two of his grown daughters, Adele and Dorothy, and would bat papier-mâché baseballs made by Albert Spalding into the audience. He appeared in 1921 accompanied by his two daughters in an act written by Ring Lardner with songs by Herman Timberg.
Anson retired from vaudeville in 1921, and continued to refuse a pension from Major League Baseball, despite having no other income. In April 1922, he became the general manager of a new golf club in the South Side of Chicago. Following a gland
ular ailment
, Anson died on April 14 at the age of 69 in Chicago, Illinois and was interred at the Oak Woods Cemetery
in Chicago.
Anson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939
, one of the first 19th century players selected. Over 100 years after his retirement, he still holds several Cubs franchise records
, including most career RBI
, runs
, hits
, singles
, and doubles
. Defensively, he also holds the franchise record for putout
s, but also is second in franchise history for errors
.
The Ansons had seven children, three of whom died in infancy. Daughter Grace was born in October 1877, son Adrian Hulbert was born in 1882 and died four days later, daughter Adele was born in April 1884, son Adrian Constantine Jr. was born in 1887 and died four months later, daughter Dorothy was born in 1889, son John Henry was born in 1892 and died four days later, and daughter Virginia Jeanette was born in 1899.
National Association of Professional Base Ball Players
The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , or simply the National Association , was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 season...
and Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
first baseman
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
. He played a record 27 consecutive seasons, and was regarded as one of the greatest players of his era and one of the first superstars of the game.
Anson spent most of his career with the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
franchise (then known as the "White Stockings" and later the "Colts"), serving as the club's manager, first baseman and, later in his tenure, minority owner. He led the team to five National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
pennants in the 1880s. Anson was one of baseball's first great hitters, and was the first to tally over 3,000 career hits.
His contemporary influence and prestige are regarded by historians as playing a major role in establishing the racial segregation
Baseball color line
The color line in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Organized Baseball, or the major leagues and affiliated minor leagues, until Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization for the 1946 season...
in professional baseball that persisted until the late 1940s. On several occasions, Anson refused to take the field when the opposing roster included black players.
After retiring as a player and leaving the Colts, Anson briefly managed the New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
. He ran several enterprises in Chicago, including opening a billiards and bowling hall and running a semi-professional baseball team he dubbed "Anson's Colts". Anson also toured extensively on the vaudeville circuit, performing monologues and songs. Many of his business ventures failed, resulting in Anson losing his ownership stake in the Colts (by then called the Cubs) and filing for bankruptcy.
Anson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939
Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1939
The 1939 elections to select inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame were the last ones conducted prior to the Hall's opening that year. Needing just one addition to complete the initial goal of 10 inductees from the 20th century, members of the Baseball Writers Association of America were once...
.
Early life
Anson was born in Marshalltown, IowaMarshalltown, Iowa
Marshalltown is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Iowa, United States. The population was 27,552 in the 2010 census, an increase from the 26,009 population in the 2000 census. -History:...
. Beginning in 1866, he spent two years at the high-school age boarding school of the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
after being sent there by his father in hopes of curtailing his mischievousness. His time away did little to discipline him, and soon after he returned home his father sent him to the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
, where his bad behavior resulted in the school asking him to leave after one semester.
National Association
Anson played on a number of competitive baseball clubs in his youth and began to play professionally in the National AssociationNational Association of Professional Base Ball Players
The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , or simply the National Association , was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 season...
(NA) at the age of 19. His best years in the NA were and , when he finished in the top five in batting
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
, OBP
On base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage is a measure of how often a batter reaches base for any reason other than a fielding error, fielder's choice, dropped/uncaught third strike, fielder's obstruction, or catcher's interference In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) (sometimes...
(leading the league in 1872), and OPS
On-base plus slugging
On-base plus slugging is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player to both get on base and to hit for power, two important hitting skills, are represented. An OPS of .900 or higher in Major League...
. His numbers declined slightly the following two seasons, but he was still good enough that Chicago White Stockings
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
Secretary-turned-President William Hulbert
William Hulbert
William Ambrose Hulbert was one of the founders of the National League, recognized as baseball's first major league, and was also the president of the Chicago White Stockings franchise....
sought him to improve his club for the season. Hulbert broke league rules by negotiating with Anson and several other stars while the season was still in progress and ultimately founded the new National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
to forestall any disciplinary action. Anson, who had become engaged to a Philadelphia native in the meantime, had second thoughts about going west, but Hulbert held Anson to his contract and he eventually warmed to the Windy City.
Chicago White Stockings/Colts
King Kelly
Michael Joseph "King" Kelly was an American right fielder, catcher, and manager in various professional American baseball leagues including the National League, International Association, Players' League, and the American Association. He spent the majority of his 16-season playing career with the...
, Anson had his players aggressively run the bases, forcing the opposition into making errors. After the expression first became popular, in the 1890s, he retroactively claimed to used some of the first "hit and run" plays. Edward Achorn wrote of his influence in this period:
The White Stockings dominated baseball for one overriding reason: their great captain, Adrian Anson, had schooled them to play baseball the Chicago way, using brains, brawn, bravery, and bluster. A gruff, muscular, six-foot-tall leader, and a brilliant and unyielding hitter, surely the greatest of the nineteenth century, Cap Anson drilled his men hard in what came to be known as fundamentals, training them to coordinate their efforts, to back each other up, and to hit the cutoff man on a throw from the outfield. He taught them the hit-and-run play, the suicide squeeze, and how to move a runner along by hitting to the right side of the diamond. He taught them the newfangled hook slide, whereby players threw their bodies away from the bag, tapping the base's edge with a hard-to-tag hand or foot—a play that, for decades to come, sportswriters called “the Chicago slide.” He taught them how to poke an outside pitch for a hit to the opposite field, instead of swinging with all their might and trying to pull the ball. Connie Mack called him the game's consummate general, “the Napoleon of the diamond.”
Anson shares credit as an innovator of modern spring training
Spring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
along with then-Chicago President Albert Spalding
Albert Spalding
Albert Goodwill Spalding was a professional baseball player, manager and co-founder of A.G. Spalding sporting goods company.-Biography:...
, as they were among the first to send their clubs to warmer climates in the South to prepare for the season. On the field, Anson was the team's best hitter and run producer. In the 1880s, he won two batting titles (1881, 1888) and finished second four times (1880, 1882, 1886–87). During the same period, he led the league in RBIs seven times (1880–82, 1884–86, 1888). His best season was in 1881, when he led the league in batting (.399), OBP (.442), OPS (.952), hits (137), total bases (175), and RBIs
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
(82). He also became the first player to hit three consecutive home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s, five homers in two games, and four doubles in a game, as well as being the first to perform two unassisted double play
Double play
In baseball, a double play for a team or a fielder is the act of making two outs during the same continuous playing action. In baseball slang, making a double play is referred to as "turning two"....
s in a game. He is one of only a few players to score six runs in a game, a feat accomplished on August 24, 1886.
Anson signed a ten-year contract in 1888 to manage the White Stockings (which, because of a typographical error he failed to spot, ended after the 1897 season instead of 1898), but his best years were behind him. He led the league in walks in 1890 and garnered his eighth and final RBI crown in , but declined precipitously thereafter. On the managerial front, he failed to win another pennant.
As the end of the 1880s approached, the club had begun trading away its stars in favor of young players, with the exception of the veteran Anson. Local newspapers had started to call the team "Anson's Colts", or just "Colts", before the decade was out. With the advent of the Players' League in 1890, what little talent the club still had was drained away, and the team nickname "Colts", though never official, became standard usage in the local media along with variants such as (Anson's) White Colts and (Anson's) Broncos.
He also mellowed enough that he became a fatherly figure and was often called "Pop". When he was fired as manager after the season, it also marked the end of his 27-year playing career. The following season, newspapers dubbed the Colts the "Orphans", as they had lost their "Pop".
Racial intolerance
Toledo Blue Stockings
The Toledo Blue Stockings formed as a minor league baseball team in Toledo, Ohio in 1883. They won the Northwestern League championship in 1883. Their home ballpark was League Park....
because their catcher, Moses Fleetwood Walker
Moses Fleetwood Walker
Moses Fleetwood Walker [″Fleet″] was an American Major League Baseball player and author who is credited with being the first African American to play professional baseball.-Baseball career:...
, was African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
. When Blue Stockings Manager Charlie Morton told Anson the White Stockings would forfeit the gate receipts if they refused to play, Anson backed down. The following year, on July 20, 1884, Anson again refused to take the field against Toledo, calling their two black players – Moses Fleetwood Walker and his brother Welday
Welday Walker
Welday Wilberforce Walker was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball, born in Steubenville, Ohio. He, along with his brother Moses Fleetwood Walker, became the first black baseball players to play in the major leagues when they played for the Toledo Blue Stockings of the American...
– "chocolate-covered coons." The Walker brothers were released from their team soon afterwards. On July 14, 1887 the Chicago White Stockings
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
played an exhibition game against the Newark Little Giants
Newark Little Giants
The Newark Little Giants were a professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey in the late 1880s. They played in the Eastern League for one year until moving to the International League in 1887....
. African American George Stovey
George Stovey
George Washington Stovey is considered the best African-American baseball pitcher of the nineteenth century, but discrimination barred him from the majors and led him to move from team to team until he had no further opportunities to play in the minors...
was listed in the Newark News
Newark Evening News
The Newark Evening News was an American newspaper published in Newark, New Jersey. As New Jersey's largest city, Newark played a major role in New Jersey's journalistic history. At its apex, The News was widely regarded as the newspaper of record in New Jersey. It had bureaus in Montclair,...
as the Little Giants' scheduled starting pitcher. Anson objected, and Stovey did not pitch. Moreover, International League owners had voted 6-to-4 to exclude African-American players from future contracts.
In a 24-page appendix on Anson, a 2006 book concluded that:
Anson no doubt deserves some of the blame for baseball's color line. Saying he deserves most of the blame is clearly too strong as, for example, the [all-black] Cuban Giants still played big league teams after his alleged July 1887 demand to Newark of the International League. Also, Anson’s argumentative nature was so well known that it could have been dismissed as hot air and thus not reflective of the thinking of other people, such as his teammates. As far as blaming him for the lack of blacks in baseball starting in the late nineteenth century, his influence by that time was probably negligible. On that score, a fair reading is that Anson deserves some blame only in the sense that he may have precipitated the decline of blacks from organized baseball by a few years. That blacks were clearly on the way out of organized baseball seems obvious by the rise in legal segregation in the 1890s that culminated in the ruling in Plessy [the Supreme Court's 1896 decision in Plessy v. FergusonPlessy v. FergusonPlessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 , is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in private businesses , under the doctrine of "separate but equal".The decision was handed...
. In an 8-to-1 ruling, the court in Plessy upheld the doctrine of "separate but equal," which, as a practical matter, was more like “separate and unequal."]
Albert Spalding and James Hart
Anson first met Albert SpaldingAlbert Spalding
Albert Goodwill Spalding was a professional baseball player, manager and co-founder of A.G. Spalding sporting goods company.-Biography:...
while both were players; Spalding was a pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
for the Rockford Forest Citys
Rockford Forest Citys
Rockford Forest Citys , from Rockford, Illinois was one of the first professional baseball clubs. Rockford played for one season during the National Association inaugural year of 1871.-Origins:...
, Anson played for the Marshalltown, Iowa team. Spalding convinced the 18-year-old Anson to come play for the Forest Citys at a salary of $65 per month.
In 1876, when Anson was playing for Philadelphia, Spalding and William Hulbert
William Hulbert
William Ambrose Hulbert was one of the founders of the National League, recognized as baseball's first major league, and was also the president of the Chicago White Stockings franchise....
lured Anson to the Chicago team, which Spalding now managed. After signing the contract, Anson had second thoughts (his future wife did not want to leave her family in Philadelphia), and offered Spalding $1,000 to void the contract. Spalding held Anson to the contract, and Anson came to Chicago in March 1876.
Spalding retired as a player and manager after the 1877 season, but continued as secretary, and later president, of the White Stockings. Anson became a player/manager of the team in 1879, and by 1889 had a 13% ownership.
In 1888 Spalding announced that the White Stockings, including Anson, and a "picked nine" from the rest of the National League would begin a World Tour after the end of the season. Spalding put up most of the money, but Anson invested $3,750 of his own. James Hart was hired as business manager and Anson developed an intense dislike for him.
After Spalding stepped down as president of the Chicago club in 1891, he appointed James Hart to the position, which Anson felt should have been his despite his dismal business record. Spalding, however, continued to run the club behind the scenes.
In December 1892, Hart, with Spalding's blessing, reorganized the White Stockings into a stock company. Anson was required to sign a new contract, which ended in 1898 instead of 1899 as the previous one had. Anson spotted the error later but said nothing, trusting that Spalding would honor the previous terms.
Hart began to undermine Anson's managerial decisions by reversing fines and suspensions imposed by Anson. By 1897 Anson had little control over his players; after Anson demanded a sportswriter print that Anson thought "the Chicago ball club is composed of drunkards and loafers who are throwing him down", his days as manager were numbered. Spalding invited Anson and his wife on a four week journey to England in late November 1897. Spalding dropped many hints on the voyage, encouraging Anson to voluntarily retire, but Anson had no intention of doing so. Things remained in limbo until January 29, 1898 when the Associated Press printed a statement by Spalding: "I have taken pains as a mediator to find out from Chicagoans how they feel about a change of management. There has been a decided undercurrent in favor... Lovers of baseball think that Anson has been in power too long."
Career hits total
There has been some controversy as to whether Anson should be considered the first player ever to reach the 3,000 hit milestone. For many years, official statistics credited him with achieving that goal.When the first edition of Macmillan's
Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.-History:...
Baseball Encyclopedia was published in 1969, it disregarded a rule in place only for the season which counted base-on-balls
Base on balls
A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...
(walks) as hits and times-at-bat instead of 0's in both categories as they were before and have been since. Anson's 60 walks were removed from his 1887 hit total, resulting in a career mark of 2,995, though later additions of the Encyclopedia would still add 5 more hits to exactly 3,000.
The other controversy over Anson's total hits had to do with his five years in the National Association. Neither the Macmillan Encyclopedia editions nor Major League Baseball itself at that time recognized the NA as being a true major league. Only recently has Major League Baseball accepted the NA as a de facto major league; the MLB.com website now includes the NA years in Anson's record, placing major league hits total as 3,418. Anson is officially placed at seventh in the all-time leaders in hits.
Other sources credit Anson with a different number of hits, largely because scoring and record keeping was haphazard in baseball until well into the 20th century. Beginning with the publication of the Baseball Encyclopedia, statisticians have continually found errors and have adjusted career totals accordingly. According to the Sporting News baseball record book, which does not take NA statistics into account, Anson had 3,012 hits over his career. The National Baseball Hall of Fame
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
(which uses statistics verified by the Elias Sports Bureau
Elias Sports Bureau
The Elias Sports Bureau is an American company that provides historical research and statistical services in the field of professional sports.In 1913, Al Munro Elias and his brother Walter established the Al Munro Elias Bureau in New York City...
) credits Anson with 3,081 hits. This figure disregards games played in the NA, but includes the walks earned during 1887 as hits.
Retirement
Anson briefly made a return to baseball managing the New York GiantsSan Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
in June and July of . He then attempted to buy a Chicago team in the Western League, but failed after being opposed by Spalding. In , he helped to organize a new version of the defunct American Association
American Association (19th century)
The American Association was a Major League Baseball league that existed for 10 seasons from to . During that time, it challenged the National League for dominance of professional baseball...
, called the New American Base Ball Association, and was named its president. However, at the first sign of trouble he dissolved the league before a single game was played, drawing heated criticism from other backers.
After a number of failed business attempts, including a handball
American handball
American handball is a sport in which players hit a small rubber ball against a wall using their hands.- History :...
arena and bottled ginger beer
Ginger beer
Ginger beer is a carbonated drink that is flavored primarily with ginger and sweetened with sugar or artificial sweeteners.-History:Brewed ginger beer originated in England in the mid-18th century and became popular in Britain, the United States, and Canada, reaching a peak of popularity in the...
that exploded on store shelves, he was later elected city clerk of Chicago in 1905 and then, after serving one term, failed in the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
to become sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
in 1907.
In 1907, Anson made another attempt to come back to baseball, acquiring a semi-pro team in the Chicago City League, which he would call "Anson's Colts". Anson initially had no intention of playing for the team, but in June 1907, at the age of 55, Anson started playing some games at first base in an attempt to boost poor attendance. Despite the draw of seeing Anson play, the team did not attract much attendance, and lost money for Anson. In the fall of 1908, Anson assembled a semi-pro football team, also called Anson's Colts. Although the football team won the city championship, they were not a financial success.
Some of Anson's few successful ventures were a combination billiards
Billiards
Cue sports , also known as billiard sports, are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber .Historically, the umbrella term was billiards...
hall and a bowling alley he opened in downtown Chicago in 1899. Anson was named vice-president of the American Bowling Congress
United States Bowling Congress
The United States Bowling Congress is a sports membership organization dedicated to ten-pin bowling in the United States. It was formed in 2005 by a merger of the American Bowling Congress, Women's International Bowling Congress, Young American Bowling Alliance, and USA Bowling...
in 1903, and led a team to the five-man national championship in 1904. Anson was forced to sell the billiards hall in 1909 when faced with mounting financial problems that led to his bankruptcy. Anson was also an avid golfer.
With the aid of ghostwriter Richard Cary Jr., Anson's memoirs, titled A Ball Player's Career: Being the Personal Reminiscences of Adrian C. Anson, were published in 1900. This book is considered the first baseball autobiography.
Anson began acting during his baseball career. In 1888, he made his stage debut with a single appearance in Hoyt's play A Parlor Match at the Theatre Comique in Harlem. He also played himself in an 1895 Broadway play called The Runaway Colt, written to take advantage of his fame. Later, Anson began touring on the vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
circuit, a common practice for athletes of the time, which lasted up until about a year before his death. He first appeared in vaudeville in 1913 doing a monologue and a short dance. In 1914, George M. Cohan
George M. Cohan
George Michael Cohan , known professionally as George M. Cohan, was a major American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer, and producer....
wrote a monologue for him, and in 1917, Cohan, with Chicago Tribune sportswriter Ring Lardner
Ring Lardner
Ringgold Wilmer Lardner was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical takes on the sports world, marriage, and the theatre.-Personal life:...
wrote another piece for him, titled First Aid for Father. Anson appeared with two of his grown daughters, Adele and Dorothy, and would bat papier-mâché baseballs made by Albert Spalding into the audience. He appeared in 1921 accompanied by his two daughters in an act written by Ring Lardner with songs by Herman Timberg.
Anson retired from vaudeville in 1921, and continued to refuse a pension from Major League Baseball, despite having no other income. In April 1922, he became the general manager of a new golf club in the South Side of Chicago. Following a gland
Gland
A gland is an organ in an animal's body that synthesizes a substance for release of substances such as hormones or breast milk, often into the bloodstream or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface .- Types :...
ular ailment
Disease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
, Anson died on April 14 at the age of 69 in Chicago, Illinois and was interred at the Oak Woods Cemetery
Oak Woods Cemetery
Oak Woods Cemetery was established in 1854; it covers an area of and is located at 1035 E. 67th Street in Chicago. The first burials took place in 1860. Soon after the American Civil War, between four and six thousand Confederate soldiers, prisoners who died at Camp Douglas, were buried here...
in Chicago.
Anson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939
Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1939
The 1939 elections to select inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame were the last ones conducted prior to the Hall's opening that year. Needing just one addition to complete the initial goal of 10 inductees from the 20th century, members of the Baseball Writers Association of America were once...
, one of the first 19th century players selected. Over 100 years after his retirement, he still holds several Cubs franchise records
Chicago Cubs team records
The following lists statistical records and all-time leaders as well as awards and major accomplishments for the Chicago Cubs professional baseball club of Major League Baseball...
, including most career RBI
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
, runs
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...
, hits
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....
, singles
Single (baseball)
In baseball, a single is the most common type of base hit, accomplished through the act of a batter safely reaching first base by hitting a fair ball and getting to first base before a fielder puts him out...
, and doubles
Double (baseball)
In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....
. Defensively, he also holds the franchise record for putout
Putout
In baseball statistics, a putout is given to a defensive player who records an out by one of the following methods:* Tagging a runner with the ball when he is not touching a base...
s, but also is second in franchise history for errors
Error (baseball)
In baseball statistics, an error is the act, in the judgment of the official scorer, of a fielder misplaying a ball in a manner that allows a batter or baserunner to reach one or more additional bases, when such an advance would have been prevented given ordinary effort by the fielder.The term ...
.
Personal life
In 1872 the 20 year old Anson met 13 year old Virginia Fiegal, the daughter of a Philadelphia bar and restaurant owner. Anson married Virginia on November 21, 1876, and they remained married until her death in 1915. For the first seven years of their marriage, the couple lived in Chicago during the baseball season and Philadelphia during the off season, but eventually moved to Chicago year round.The Ansons had seven children, three of whom died in infancy. Daughter Grace was born in October 1877, son Adrian Hulbert was born in 1882 and died four days later, daughter Adele was born in April 1884, son Adrian Constantine Jr. was born in 1887 and died four months later, daughter Dorothy was born in 1889, son John Henry was born in 1892 and died four days later, and daughter Virginia Jeanette was born in 1899.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball individual streaks
- List of Major League Baseball hit records
- List of Major League Baseball RBI records
- List of Major League Baseball doubles records
- List of Major League Baseball players with 2,000 hits
- 3,000 hit club
- List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
- List of Major League Baseball players with 100 triples
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1,000 runs
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1,000 runs batted in
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
- List of Major League Baseball runs batted in champions
- List of Major League Baseball batting champions
- List of Major League Baseball doubles champions
- Major League Baseball titles leadersMajor League Baseball titles leadersAt the end of each Major League Baseball season, the league leaders of various statistical categories are announced. Leading the league in a particular category is referred to as a title....
External links
- capanson.com eBook by Anson