Cap Anson

At 69 years old, Cap Anson has this physical status:

Adrian Constantine Anson (April 17, 1852 – April 14, 1922), nicknamed "Cap" (for "Captain") and "Pop"), was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman.

He played a remarkable 27 seasons, including his time in the National Association (NA).

Anson was regarded as one of the best players of his time and one of the game's first superstars.

Anson spent the majority of his time with the Chicago Cubs (then called the "White Stockings" and later "Colts"), serving as the club's manager, first baseman, and, later in his tenure, minority owner.

In the 1880s, he led the team to six National League pennants.

Anson was one of baseball's first great hitters and likely the first to reach over 3,000 hits in a career. Historical scholars have characterized him as being instrumental in the establishment of the racial segregation of professional baseball, which continued into the late 1940s.

Anson has declined to play when the opposing roster contained black players on several occasions.

Anson may have influenced the most notable vote in nineteenth-century professional baseball in favour of segregation: By the high-minor International League's ban on signing new black players, Anson did briefly lead the New York Giants.

He owned several businesses in Chicago, including the opening of a billiards and bowling hall as well as the management of a semi-professional baseball team he referred to as "Anson's Colts."

Anson has performed monologues and songs on the vainville circuit.

Many of his company ventures failed.

As a result, Anson's ownership interest in the Colts (now known as the Cubs) was diluted and filed for bankruptcy.

In 1939, Anson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Early life

Anson was born in Marshalltown, Iowa. After being sent by his father in the hopes of curbing his mischievousness, starting in 1866, he spent two years at the University of Notre Dame's high-school age boarding school. His time away did not do anything to discipline him. His father returned home soon after, but his father told him to leave the University of Iowa, where his bad behavior led to him being kicked out of the school, requiring him to leave after one semester.

Personal life

In 1872, the 20-year-old Anson met Virginia Fiegal, the daughter of a Philadelphia bar and restaurant owner whose son died on November 21, 1876. The marriage continued until her death in 1915. The couple lived in Chicago during the baseball season and Philadelphia during the off-season, but then moved to Chicago on a year-round basis.

The Ansons had seven children, three of whom died in infancy. Grace was born in October 1877; son Adrian Hulbert was born in 1882 and died four days later; daughter Dorothy was born in 1889 and died four days later; and sister Virginia Jeanette was born in 1899.

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Professional career

Anson competed in several youth baseball teams before deciding to play in the National Association (NA) at the age of 19, primarily third base for the Rockford Forest Citys, one of the Association's original teams. He was a tall and strong guy, 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) tall and weighing about 220 pounds (100 kg).

Anson was ranked in the NA's top five in batting, on-base percentage (OBP), and on-base plus slugging after being traded to Philadelphia Athletics in 1872 and 1873. (OPS): In 1872, he was the NA in OBP. He dropped only marginally between 1874 and 1875, but Chicago White Stockings secretary-turned-president William Hulbert begged him to help his team grow for the 1876 season. Hulbert broke league rules by negotiating with Anson and several other actors during the 1875 season, which culminated in the creation of the new National League to avoid any discipline.

Anson, who had been engaged to a Philadelphia native in the meantime, had second thoughts about going west, but Hulbert kept Anson to his work, and he later warmed to the Windy City.

The White Stockings captured their first league championship but they slowed down the pace in the ensuing two seasons. Anson, a good hitter at the time, but not quite a superstar. Since Anson was appointed captain-manager of the club in 1879, both his fortunes and those of his squad will change.

His new position gave rise to the nickname "Cap," although journals more commonly used the term "Captain Anson" or "Capt." Anson: "Anson" is a play that describes Anson. The White Stockings won five pennants between 1880 and 1886, with Anson leading the way. They were introduced to the roles by new leadership techniques, including the use of a third-base coach, one fielder back up another, signaling batters, and the rotation of two key pitchers. Anson ran the bases aggressively in the first half of the 1880s, aided by quick players like Mike Kelly, causing the opposition to make mistakes. He retroactively claimed to use some of the first "hit and run" plays when the expression first became popular in the 1890s.

Along with Albert Spalding, the Chicago club's president, Anson gives credit for the creation of modern spring training. They were one of the first to send their teams to warmer climates in the South to prepare for the season, beginning in 1886 in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Anson was the team's best hitter and run producer on the track. He won two batting titles (1881, 1888) and finished second four times (1880, 1882–1887). He led the league in runs batted in (RBIs) seven times during the same period (1880–82, 1888, 1888). In 1881, his best season was in 1881, when he led the league in batting (.399), OBP (.462), OPS (.952), total bases (175), and RBIs (82). In addition to being the first to perform two unassisted double plays in a game, he was the first player to achieve three consecutive home runs, five home runs in two games, and four doubles in a single game. He is one of the few people to score six runs in a game, a feat he achieved on August 24, 1886.

Anson began his employment in 1888 with the White Stockings (which, due to a typographical mistake, he was unable to detect until the 1897 season rather than 1898). In 1890, he dominated the league in walks and earned his eighth and final RBI crown in 1891. On the administrative front, he failed to win another pennant.

The club had begun to trade away its young players in favour of younger ones, with the exception of veteran Anson. "Anson's Colts," or even "Collects," in local newspapers before the decade was out. With the establishment of the Players' League in 1890, what little talent the team still had was drained away, and the team's nickname "Colts," though not officially established, became common usage in local newspapers, as well as variants such as (Anson's) White Colts and (Anson's) Broncos.

He mellowed enough that he became a fatherly figure, and he was often referred to as "Pop" by some. It was also the end of his 27-year playing career when he was fired as boss after the 1897 season. The Colts were dubbed "orphans" by newspapers after they had lost their "Pop" during the following season.

Despite the fact that the decision to prohibit black players from the National League and (minor) International League was made behind closed doors by the team's owners, Anson was the most outspoken player and adamant advocate for segregation long before the ban was announced. His reputation as a leading player and team boss was considerable. Kevin Blackstone, a baseball analyst, said "I don't think anyone has had a greater influence on baseball than Anson" for his part in baseball's racial discrimination. Nevertheless, baseball historian Bill James denied that any one player was the prime mover, saying, "It's highly likely that Jim Crow would have played in baseball even if Cap Anson never was born."

Anson refused to play an exhibition game against the Toledo Blue Stockings because their catcher, Moses Fleetwood Walker, was black. Anson retaliated when Blue Stockings Manager Charlie Morton told Anson that if they didn't play, they would forfeit the gate receipts, but not before uttering the word nigger on the field and promising that his team would not play in such a game again.

Chicago hosted an exhibition game at Toledo, which was then in the American Association, a major league, in 1884. Walker was not sure whether he was trying to calm Chicago or due to illness; Jimmy McGuire did the catching instead. The Toledo Blade had said a few days earlier that they had swollen hands. Walker was obviously the more injured of the two catchers, as he did not participate in Toledo's second-most recent game. This one is unusual in that private correspondence provides insight into Anson's events. John A. Buchan, the city's treasurer-secretary, was arrested three months before the game. Brown told Toledo manager Charlie Morton that "the Chicago Ball Club's leadership have no personal opinion about the situation," although "the players have most strongly oppose the decision and maintain harmony in the team, so it is imperative that [Walker] does not play a single role in your nine on July 25." I have no doubt that such is your meaning [sic]; only your letter does not express in complete [sic]. I have no desire to repeat the events of last season, but I do need your pledge to this endeavor."

Walker and his brother Welday were cut from their squad later this year, and Welday and his teammates were last playing on August 6 and Fleet on September 4th. The Chicago White Stockings held an exhibition game against the Newark Little Giants on July 14, 1887. George Stovey, an African-American, was listed in the Newark News as the scheduled Newark starting pitcher. Anson protested, but Stovey did not pitch. In addition, the International League owners voted 6-to-4 at a 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. meeting in Buffalo on the morning of the game to prohibit African-American players from future contracts.

Anson was authoritarian as a boss, marching his players into the field in military formation and banning alcohol use during the playing season. He bet on baseball, mainly because his team's chances of winning the pennant, beginning in the late 1880s. This would be incongruous with a moral outlook today. However, players took bribes to purposefully miss games in that period. Betting by players, managers, and owners was considered acceptable so long as they did not bet against their team's success or associate with gamblers.

"The time may have been, and probably was, when base-ball was as rotten as horse racing," says the author, but the time has passed by." The men in charge of base-ball matters are of the highest personal character, and no one will say a word against them. I would believe the allegations against any individual player after they were established. Every little [sic] potential has been done to shield the National game's patrons, and no further action in that direction will be stopped. I don't know if there is any crookedness in the ball field. I'd unquestionably say something about it if I did.

From 1876 to 1900, a chronological review of 162 reports of bets on regular season baseball by players, managers, or club executives, as follows:

Anson first met Albert Spalding while both players were playing; Spalding was a pitcher for the Rockford Forest Citys. Anson spent time with the Marshalltown, Iowa team. Spalding persuaded Anson, an 18-year-old boy, to play for the Forest Citys at a salary of $65 per month. When Anson was playing for Philadelphia, Spalding and William Hulbert lured Anson to the Chicago team, which Spalding now controls. Anson had second thoughts about the signing of the deal (his future wife did not want to abandon her family in Philadelphia), and she suggested Spalding $1,000 to terminate the relationship. Spalding held Anson to the deal, while Anson came from Chicago in March 1876.

Spalding resigned as a player and boss after the 1877 season, but the White Stockings retained him as a secretary and later president. In 1879, Anson became a player/manager of the team, and by 1889, it had a 13% interest. The White Stockings, including Anson, and a "picked nine" from the remainder of the National League will launch a World Tour after the season. Spalding provided the majority of the funds, but Anson invested $3,750 of his own. When Anson was hired as the business manager, he developed a strong dislike for him.

After Spalding resigned as president of the Chicago club in 1891, Anson named James Hart to the position, which Anson believes should have been his despite his poor business record. Spalding, on the other hand, continued to operate the club behind the scenes. Hart converted the White Stockings into a stock company in December 1892 with Spalding's permission. As the previous one did not have an old one, Anson was required to sign a new one that began in 1898 rather than 1899. Anson detected the error later in the day but said nothing, confident that Spalding would honor the previous terms.

Hart began to undermine Anson's managerial decisions by reversing fines and suspensions imposed by Anson. Anson had no power over his players by 1897, and after Anson's request that Anson's "The Chicago ball team is made up of alcoholics and loafers who are throwing him down," his days as boss were slim. In late November 1897, Spalding welcomed Anson and his wife on a four-week trip to England. Spalding dropped several hints along the way, causing Anson to safely retire, but Anson had no intention of doing so. Since the Associated Press published a statement by Spalding on January 29, 1898, the situation remained in limbo: "I have taken pains as a mediator to find out from Chicagoans how they feel about a change in leadership." Anson has been in office for too long, according to a decided undercurrent in favour... Lovers of baseball claim that Anson has been in power for too long.

Anson has been criticized over whether or not he should be named the first celebrity to reach the 3,000-hit milestone. Official reports credited him with many years for achieving the target for many years. When the first edition of Macmillan's Baseball Encyclopedia was published in 1969, it disregarded a statute in place only for the 1887 season, which included base-on-balls (walks) as hits and times-at-bat rather than zeroes in both categories as they were before and have been sincere. Anson's 60 walks were stripped from his 1887 total, resulting in a career record of 2,995, although later iter iterations of the encyclopedia added five more hits to exactly 3,000.

The other controversies surrounding Anson's total hits had to do with his five-year membership in the National Association. At that time, neither the Macmillan Encyclopedia nor MLB itself recognized the National Association as a legitimate major league. Anson's time in the NA is not included in his stats, but MLB.com ranks his NL total as 3,011 hits. Anson is ranked 25th on the all-time list.

According to other sources, Anson has a different number of hits, mainly because scoring and record keeping were haphazard in baseball until well into the twentieth century.

Statists have always found mistakes and have adjusted career estimates as a result, beginning with the publication of the Baseball Encyclopedia. Anson had 3,012 hits over his career, according to the Sporting News baseball record book, which does not take NA statistics into account. Anson has earned 3,012 hits during his NL career, including his time in the NA; Anson has been credited with 3,435 hits. Anson is credited with 3,081 hits by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which uses statistics that have been verified by the Elias Sports Bureau. This figure ignores games played in the NA, but it does include the walks that were not popular during 1887.

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