Post by glasspoet on Nov 27, 2011 19:45:37 GMT -5
Cap Anson played 5 years in the top Pro league (of that time) and 22 years in the NL! He was the team Captain for almost all of those years. That title meant more then, they made all the substitutions and were the only one allowed to argue an umpire's call. He became the face and soul of the NL with his constant eruptions with the umpires and his loud, constant banter with the opponents and the fans. He put on quite the show.
On top of that he once hit .399 and when they told him he was washed up--he hit .388 at the age of 41! He had a career avg of .333 and though he vocally thought the sacrifice bunt was "unmanly"--he only struck out a total of 302 times! In the 100 years since his run, he yet remains 7th in hits, 8th in runs, 14th in doubles, 28th in career average, and 64th in triples. More than anything else--he was known for being a CLUTCH HITTER! He remains 3rd in RBIs--only Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron ever topped him!
On the bad side, he was such the face of the league--he was finally able to change the league into a segregated one by 1900. Almost singly because of him we will never know how good M.Dihigo, J.Gibson, S.Paige, J.Rogan, O.Charleston, J.Wilson, L.Santrop, C.Torriente, A.Cooper, C.P.Bell, P.Lloyd, R.Dandrige, and so many others would have been in a full year of head to head play in the major leagues (though we can guess)!
After he retired, he did some vaudeville for awhile then created a minor league team in Chicago, where he actively played until he was 56 years old! In that league his team faced many segregated teams and even one totally black team---and he never voiced a single complaint!
On top of that he once hit .399 and when they told him he was washed up--he hit .388 at the age of 41! He had a career avg of .333 and though he vocally thought the sacrifice bunt was "unmanly"--he only struck out a total of 302 times! In the 100 years since his run, he yet remains 7th in hits, 8th in runs, 14th in doubles, 28th in career average, and 64th in triples. More than anything else--he was known for being a CLUTCH HITTER! He remains 3rd in RBIs--only Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron ever topped him!
On the bad side, he was such the face of the league--he was finally able to change the league into a segregated one by 1900. Almost singly because of him we will never know how good M.Dihigo, J.Gibson, S.Paige, J.Rogan, O.Charleston, J.Wilson, L.Santrop, C.Torriente, A.Cooper, C.P.Bell, P.Lloyd, R.Dandrige, and so many others would have been in a full year of head to head play in the major leagues (though we can guess)!
After he retired, he did some vaudeville for awhile then created a minor league team in Chicago, where he actively played until he was 56 years old! In that league his team faced many segregated teams and even one totally black team---and he never voiced a single complaint!