Cap Anson
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Cap-anson.jpg
Anson spent a year at the University of Notre Dame before he started playing professionally in 1871 in the National Association. His best years in the NA were 1872 and 1873, when he finished in the top 5 in batting, OBP (leading the league in 1872), and OPS both years. He fell off a little after that, but was still good enough that he was sought by White Stockings Secretary-turned-President William Hulbert as he strove to improve his club for the 1876 season. Hulbert broke league rules by negotiating with Anson and several other stars while the 1875 season was still in progress, ultimately founding the new National League to forstall any disciplinary action. Anson, who had married 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. With Anson pacing the way, the White Stockings won five pennants between 1880 and 1886. They were helped to the titles using new managerial tactics, including the rotation of two star pitchers. After the expression first became popular, in the 1890s, he retroactively claimed to used some of the first "hit and run" plays, and, especially aided by clever base runner Mike Kelly in the first half of the 1880s, had his players run the bases in a way that forced the opposition into making errors. In a modern sense of going South right before a season, he shares credit as an innovator of spring training along with then-Chicago President Albert Spalding. An aggressive captain and manager, he regularly helped players play better, and his contributions helped make baseball a higher-quality sport, while at the same time making it more popular with fans. 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 an incredible 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 runs, five homers in two games, and four doubles in a game, as well as being the first to perform two unassisted double plays in a game. He is one of only a few players to score six runs in a game, a feat he accomplished on August 24, 1886.
Unfortunately, Anson was well known to be a racist. While baseball would have become segregated without him, his regular refusal to play in exhibition games versus dark-skinned players helped to usher in segregation. Despite this, Anson remained very popular in Chicago while playing for the White Stockings, which were increasingly known as the Colts starting with an influx of new players in the mid-1880s. 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 the 1898 one), but his best years were behind him. He led the league in walks in 1890 and garnered his eighth and final RBI crown in 1891, but declined precipitously thereafter. On the managerial front, he failed to win another pennant. He also mellowed enough that his nicknames became "Uncle" and "Grandpa." When he was fired as manager after the 1897 season, it also marked the end of his 27-year playing career. The following season, the Colts were called the Orphans to reflect Anson's departure.
There is much controversy as to whether he became the first player ever to make 3,000 hits in a major league career; for many years, recognized statistics credited him with precisely that total, but researchers in the 1990s argued that he was incorrectly credited with 20 extra hits in 1879, dropping him to 2,995 according to statistics officially recognized by Major League Baseball. However, if one counts his 423 earlier hits in the NA, the major leagues' predecessor (which Major League Baseball does not), he is well over the mark. He was, by any standard, the first player to make 3,000 hits in his professional career.
Anson briefly made a return to baseball managing the New York Giants in June and July of 1898, but fully retired afterward. He was later named president of a new American Association, but he scuttled the venture at the first sign of trouble, leaving him a laughingstock. He was later elected city clerk of Chicago in 1905, and failed in the Democratic primary to become sheriff in 1907. After going bankrupt, he toured in vaudeville and as late as 1920 had delusions of becoming commissioner of baseball. 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 hits and runs. In addition, the White Sox owe their name to the team he made famous, the White Stockings of the 19th century and Anson, in part motivated by his dislike for the current management of the Chicago National League club, played an unorthodox role in helping Charles Comiskey place the White Sox in Chicago for the 1900 season.
Cap Anson died in 1922 and was interred in the Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago.
YEAR TEAM AGE G AB R H 2B 3B HR HR% RBI BB SO SB CS AVG SLG OBA OPS 1876 Cubs 24 66 309 63 110 9 7 2 0.65 59 12 8 0 0 .356 .450 .380 .830 1877 Cubs 25 59 255 52 86 19 1 0 0.00 32 9 3 0 0 .337 .420 .360 .779 1878 Cubs 26 60 261 55 89 12 2 0 0.00 40 13 1 0 0 .341 .402 .372 .775 1879 Cubs 27 51 227 40 72 20 1 0 0.00 34 2 2 0 0 .317 .414 .323 .737 1880 Cubs 28 86 356 54 120 24 1 1 0.28 74 14 12 0 0 .337 .419 .362 .781 1881 Cubs 29 84 343 67 137 21 7 1 0.29 82 26 4 0 0 .399 .510 .442 .952 1882 Cubs 30 82 348 69 126 29 8 1 0.29 83 20 7 0 0 .362 .500 .397 .897 1883 Cubs 31 98 413 70 127 36 5 0 0.00 68 18 9 0 0 .308 .419 .336 .755 1884 Cubs 32 112 475 108 159 30 3 21 4.42 102 29 13 0 0 .335 .543 .373 .916 1885 Cubs 33 112 464 100 144 35 7 7 1.51 108 34 13 0 0 .310 .461 .357 .819 1886 Cubs 34 125 504 117 187 35 11 10 1.98 147 55 19 29 0 .371 .544 .433 .977 1887 Cubs 35 122 472 107 164 33 13 7 1.48 102 60 18 27 0 .347 .517 .422 .939 1888 Cubs 36 134 515 101 177 20 12 12 2.33 84 47 24 28 0 .344 .499 .400 .899 1889 Cubs 37 134 518 100 161 32 7 7 1.35 117 86 19 27 0 .311 .440 .414 .854 1890 Cubs 38 139 504 95 157 14 5 7 1.39 107 113 23 29 0 .312 .401 .443 .844 1891 Cubs 39 136 540 81 157 24 8 8 1.48 120 75 29 17 0 .291 .409 .378 .788 1892 Cubs 40 146 559 62 152 25 9 1 0.18 74 67 30 13 0 .272 .354 .354 .708 1893 Cubs 41 103 398 70 125 24 2 0 0.00 91 68 12 13 0 .314 .384 .415 .800 1894 Cubs 42 83 340 82 132 28 4 5 1.47 99 40 15 17 0 .388 .538 .457 .995 1895 Cubs 43 122 474 87 159 23 6 2 0.42 91 55 23 12 0 .335 .422 .408 .830 1896 Cubs 44 108 402 72 133 18 2 2 0.50 90 49 10 24 0 .331 .400 .407 .808 1897 Cubs 45 114 424 67 121 17 3 3 0.71 75 60 0 11 0 .285 .361 .379 .740 TOTALS 2276 9101 1719 2995 528 124 97 1.07 1879 952 294 247 0 .329 .446 .395 .841 LG AVERAGE 8359 1362 2250 336 133 59 0.71 1044 602 618 307 0 .269 .362 .322 .685 POS AVERAGE 8577 1424 2462 403 166 73 0.85 1263 635 545 251 0 .287 .398 .341 .739
YEAR TEAM RC RCAA RCAP OWP RC/G TB EBH ISO SEC BPA IBB HBP SAC SF GIDP OUTS PA POS
1876 Cubs 78 29 26 .709 10.19 139 18 .094 .133 .470 0 0 0 0 0 199 321 3B
1877 Cubs 58 20 26 .696 8.92 107 20 .082 .118 .439 0 0 0 0 0 169 264 3B
1878 Cubs 59 22 24 .707 8.92 105 14 .061 .111 .431 0 0 0 0 0 172 274 LF
1879 Cubs 45 12 7 .642 7.55 94 21 .097 .106 .419 0 0 0 0 0 155 229 1B
1880 Cubs 81 36 27 .756 8.92 149 26 .081 .121 .441 0 0 0 0 0 236 370 1B
1881 Cubs 113 64 51 .827 14.26 175 29 .111 .187 .545 0 0 0 0 0 206 369 1B
1882 Cubs 101 56 41 .821 11.83 174 38 .138 .195 .527 0 0 0 0 0 222 368 1B
1883 Cubs 87 15 -3 .592 7.91 173 41 .111 .155 .443 0 0 0 0 0 286 431 1B
1884 Cubs 138 62 39 .757 11.35 258 54 .208 .269 .569 0 0 0 0 0 316 504 1B
1885 Cubs 114 40 7 .698 9.26 214 49 .151 .224 .498 0 0 0 0 0 320 498 1B
1886 Cubs 173 89 54 .795 14.19 274 56 .173 .339 .640 0 0 0 0 0 317 559 1B
1887 Cubs 138 47 26 .688 11.65 244 53 .169 .354 .623 0 1 0 0 0 308 533 1B
1888 Cubs 135 66 52 .778 10.38 257 44 .155 .301 .591 0 1 0 0 0 338 563 1B
1889 Cubs 133 44 27 .682 9.69 228 46 .129 .347 .568 0 5 0 0 0 357 609 1B
1890 Cubs 134 45 39 .689 10.04 202 26 .089 .371 .562 0 6 0 0 0 347 623 1B
1891 Cubs 114 18 16 .589 7.74 221 40 .119 .289 .510 0 1 0 0 0 383 616 1B
1892 Cubs 96 17 0 .597 6.13 198 35 .082 .225 .448 0 4 0 0 0 407 630 1B
1893 Cubs 90 9 7 .556 8.57 153 26 .070 .274 .503 0 1 0 0 0 273 467 1B
1894 Cubs 100 26 28 .645 12.09 183 37 .150 .318 .634 0 3 7 0 0 215 390 1B
1895 Cubs 99 10 15 .558 7.85 200 31 .086 .228 .508 0 3 13 0 0 328 545 1B
1896 Cubs 85 8 15 .554 8.07 161 22 .070 .251 .522 0 3 5 0 0 274 459 1B
1897 Cubs 71 -5 -8 .480 5.92 153 23 .075 .243 .467 0 4 9 0 0 312 497 1B
TOTALS 2242 730 516 .679 9.49 4062 749 .117 .249 .525 0 32 34 0 0 6140 10119
LG AVERAGE 1426 0 0 .500 6.04 3029 528 .093 .202 .443 0 52 31 0 0 6140 9044
POS AVERAGE 1660 232 0 .575 7.03 3416 642 .111 .214 .471 0 69 25 0 0 6140 9306
External links
- Cap Chronicled - The Cap Anson Website (http://www.capanson.com)
- Baseball Hall of Fame (http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/Anson_Cap.htm)
- Template:Baseball-reference
- Page at Baseball Library (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/A/Anson_Cap.stm)
See also
- Son of Henry Anson one of the founders of Iowa (http://www.marshalltown.k12.ia.us/schools/ansone/capanson.htm) Article at Marshall Town