Cap Anson was a larger-than-life figure who came to personify major-league baseball during its first quarter-century. He is generally recognized as the greatest 19th-century player, and his accomplishments on the field remain impressive over one hundred years after his retirement. He played 27 years at the highest levels the game then had to offer, and was a regular the entire span. He was the embodiment of the National League its first 22 seasons, all played for Chicago.

Anson is probably the single most important figure in Cubs history, and one of the handful of most important in the game's history. He was the preeminent figure in Chicago sport for nearly half a century, remaining a national celebrity long after his retirement from the majors. In that time he progressed from "Baby", to "Captain", to "Pop". The team was named the "White Stockings" by its founders, but its succeeding apellations were acquired based on Anson's trials and tribulations. They became the "Colts" when Anson's veterans were sold, and the "Orphans" when he left, in bitterness and anger.

Anson's life is the saga of the America he lived in. Born on the frontier, he became an urban sophisticate, a world traveler, a paragon of the virtues and values of his era; including great flaws for which history would be unforgiving. Our modern judgments of Anson, as a player and a man, would have astounded his contemporaries, and differ dramatically from what they were even a generation ago. It is an object lesson on the transience of even the most secure credoes and reputations.

Strictly as a player, Anson has cause to be ranked first in this list. That Ernie Banks remains on top is a reflection on Anson's and Sosa's negatives. Sammy's are well enough known. The baseball of Anson's time is not to be compared, in athletic quality or competitiveness, with the game that developed later. Ernie remains the number one man, in our considered opinion.

"I've found the prettiest place in Iowa, and here I'll live and lay my bones." -- Henry Anson, 1851

Henry Anson, and untold thousands like him, built the Midwest, and the families that they raised there, in their image. Born in New York, raised in Michigan, and wed in Ohio, he looked west to make his life. He packed his wife, Jeannette, and two small sons into a prairie schooner and set out for Iowa. He housed his family temporarily in Illinois while he made his final search alone.

The frontier of the 1850s is more usually regarded as the Great Plains and beyond, but most of the new states carved out of, and alongside, the old Northwest Ordinance were equally wild and unsettled. Iowa had been admitted to the Union only five years before. The Black Hawk War had been fought in the area only twenty years before. The Sac and Fox tribes had ceded their land rights by treaty less than a decade earlier. The chieftain Keokuk, a rival of Black Hawk's whose accommodations with the whites would allow Henry Anson and his family to live on the land they chose, had died in his namesake village only three years previously.

Henry Anson chose a tract almost exactly in the center of the state, on high ground along the divide between Linn Creek and the Iowa River. There, in summer, 1851, he raised a log cabin and established his claims. He returned to Illinois to retrieve his family, and they arrived at the homestead that autumn. In that log cabin, Henry's third son was born April 17, 1852, the first white child born in the area. He was named Adrian Constantine, in honor of two Michigan villages in which his father had lived in his youth. Melville and Sturgis, the older sons, had been born in Ohio. Melville would die in Iowa before 1860, aged about ten.

Henry Anson named his settlement Marshall. When informed, at the establishment of the post office, that a Marshall already existed in Iowa, he expanded the name to Marshalltown. He had hoped to found the future state capital, but Marshalltown would become a county seat instead. Henry was not the first settler of any kind, a Potawatomi chief, Che Meuse (adopted name Johnny Green), was living in the area, and proved invaluable in assisting Anson and his followers in their ventures and progress. The children of Che Meuse's tribe would become the first playmates of the young Anson brothers.

Iowa had been admitted to the Union under provisions of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, slavery was illegal there. But the Iowa legislature, as a territory and later as a state, passed restrictive "black codes", forbidding immigration of free African-Americans, and denying basic rights to those already present. All the new states of the Midwest enacted, or had enacted, similar laws. Illinois, though admitted as a free state, (before the Compromise), allowed previous slavery to exist under a "grandfather clause" until 1845. Iowa would not allow the vote to blacks until 1865, and at that was the first midwestern state to do so. These were the values, and the attitudes, prevalent even within the free territory of the North. They were the common currency of Adrian's upbringing, alongside the more usual traditional values of the time.

As the privileged son of the founding father of the region, Adrian Anson grew up confident, secure, and arrogant. The town grew with, and around him; his father was farmer, surveyor, land agent, justice of the peace, hotelier, and county supervisor. Young Anson romped in the woods with his Potawatomi pals. It was a boyhood of the sort later found in storybooks. Adrian was headstrong by nature, and was a wild, overbearing child. He was also a physical prodigy, large from an early age, finding satisfaction only in athletic challenge and competition. Chores and responsibility, essentials on the frontier, were beneath his youthful dignity.

Jeannette Anson died in 1859, and Henry's sister Emily moved to Marshalltown to help raise the brothers. In an effort to impose some structure onto his sons' characters, Henry Anson sent them to Notre Dame, and later to State University in Iowa City. These sojourns did nothing to tame Adrian's nature, he was asked to leave both institutions after brief stays. (Both allowed, at that time, prep enrollments as young as 14, Adrian's age when he entered ND). Adrian and Sturgis played ball for these colleges, and joined the town team, the Marshalltown Stars, upon returning home.

The Stars, anchored by Henry Anson and his sons, became a local powerhouse, winning the Iowa state championship in 1868. Adrian was second team until 1866, and his desire to make the "varsity" changed his attitudes and behavior. Adrian had now found his passion, to which he would bring his energy, newfound discipline, and moral code. But there was nothing in Marshalltown to further the professional ambitions of a ballplayer, Adrian would need a chance from elsewhere. And then, in the summer of 1870, one came marching straight into town.

In 1870 the Forest City professional baseball club, based in Rockford, Illinois,led by Albert Spalding, the greatest pitcher of the day, embarked on a tour of the Midwest. They stayed two days in Marshalltown, and played two games with the local team, winning by the surprisingly competitve (by Forest City standards) scores of 18-3 and 35-5. They were impressed by the play of the Ansons, and sent contract offers to all three after the tour was completed. Henry had no intention of leaving the town and businesses he had founded, and Sturgis, too, preferred to make his future in Iowa. But Adrian saw his life's chance, and in the spring of 1871, aged barely nineteen, he began his professional career in Rockford, at a salary of $66 per month.

Rockford belonged to the newly-formed National Association, regarded by many historians as the first major league. It was certainly recognized at the time as a league outranking all others. Spalding had departed for the east coast, playing for Boston; and Rockford, deprived of its biggest star and gate attraction, finished last in its initial, and only, NA season. Rockford was the smallest, and most westerly, of the Association's cities, and hence the most vulnerable. The team folded at the close of `71, after compiling a 4-21 record within the league. Anson had emerged as the team's undisputed star, leading the club by a wide margin in almost every batting category. Anson was offered a position on the Philadelphia Athletics for 1872, at a huge raise, and accepted. In the fall of 1871, Anson became a big-city boy for good, moving to Philadelphia, at the new salary of $1250 per season.

Anson played for Philadelphia 1872-75, the remaining years of the NA, and became, over that time, one of the biggest stars in the game. As baseball itself gained in popularity, the quality of players, salaries, and facilities followed suit. Philadelphia was competitive in these years, but Boston, led by Spalding, was the power of the league, winning all four pennants `72-'75.

Anson was an all-purpose infielder in these earliest days, but his reputation, then and later, would be made with his bat. In his last year at Philadelphia, his salary rose to $1800 per season. He also acquired his first experience as a manager, piloting the Athletics at the end of the season on an interim basis.

In the summer of 1874, Anson was part of the Spalding-organized exhibition tour of England, Scotland, and Ireland, an attempt to proselytize the game in what was hoped to be fertile foreign soil. The Boston and Philadelphia teams made the trip, playing in Liverpool, Manchester, London, Sheffield, and Dublin. The two teams would play one another in a competitve baseball game, then combine to play a cricket match against a local British team. The English were not impressed by baseball ("Why, it's only rounders", said the future Edward VII), but were taken with the American skill at cricket, the "colonials" won several of the matches.

The tour was a financial loss, but it gave Anson a taste of travel, and a sense of the possibilities within his profession for organizational and leadership roles. He and Spalding renewed acquaintances, and a long-lasting and productive friendship began.

Spalding was plotting a professional coup, along with the owner of the Association's Chicago franchise, William Hulbert. The NA had developed fatal flaws; drunkenness, gambling, and bribery had become common. Hulbert and Spalding were convinced that big-time baseball had a future, provided its financial and moral tone could be elevated. They saw themselves as the men to do so, saviors of the new game.

Hulbert assembled representatives of seven other potential ownership groups in New York City in February, 1876, and presented his proposal, and constitution, for a new league. The National League, with a membership of eight clubs, was founded February 2, 1876, adopting Hulbert's constitution almost without change. The NL forbade use of alcohol by players, or its sale at parks. It forbade gambling, with a lifetime ban imposed on players caught "fixing" games. It forbade scheduled games on the Sabbath. All these measures were necessary at that moment, but most would become anachronisms within a few years. Hulbert handed the presidency of the league to a figurehead for the first year, then assumed it himself in 1877, turning the Chicago team presidency over to Spalding.

Hulbert and Spalding's first order of business was to assemble a strong hometown team represenatative of their ideas. Spalding himself joined the Chicago club, bringing Boston stars Deacon White, Cal McVey, and Ross Barnes with him. Spalding then recommended Anson to Hulbert. Anson was an attractive catch; a young star, retaining the local fame from his Rockford days, and he had already made a reputation as a moral standard-bearer. Anson did not smoke or gamble, and was a publicly devout man. He was not (yet) a teetotaller, he indulged in an occasional good time. (During one such indulgence, in Philadelphia, he was dressed down by his future wife, who encounted him, inebriated, on the public way).

Hulbert offered Anson a salary of $2000, and a contract was signed. But a complication arose, Adrian's fiancee in Philadelphia, Virginia Fiegal, daughter of a prominent businessman, refused to move to Chicago. Anson went so far as to offer Hulbert $1000 for his release, but was turned down. The differences were eventually smoothed over, Adrian and Virginia were married in November, 1876, and took up residence in Chicago. Their marriage was happy and lasting, although tinged by personal tragedies. The couple had seven children; four daughters survived, three sons died in infancy.

The Chicago White Stockings of 1876, with Spalding as manager and pitcher, won the first NL pennant handily, not necessarily a healthy result for a brand-new league. It hurt the gate, and led to the league's first crises; New York and Philadelphia, assured of losing money, refused to make their final road trips. Louisville players were caught throwing meaningless games. New York and Philadelphia were expelled from the league, the Louisville players were banned. The NL made up the gap by recruiting teams from smaller eastern cities, and was back to eight clubs by 1879.

Anson played at third base in 1876, batting .343. But Spalding was the star, with a record of 47-13, pitching, as was the custom, almost every game. Anson had solid seasons in 77 and78, hitting .337 and .341, playing several positions in the field. But the team declined sharply. Spalding's arm finally broke down in 77, and he retired from the playing field in78, moving permanently to the front office. The aging stars imported from Boston faded quickly, by 1879 Anson was the only remaining player from the original 1876 roster.

Hulbert, Spalding, and Anson were forming a triumvirate of sorts within the league. The two executives promoted their ideas of professional conduct from the front office, Anson from the field. But the league was unhealthy away from the diamond. Five of the original eight franchises had folded or been expelled by 1879, replaced with clubs in cities like Troy, Worcester, Hartford, and Syracuse, places incapable of financially supporting the highest quality teams. In 1879, the NL, although still declaring itself the only "major" league, was in fact of no higher quality than most of the minor leagues with which it competed. The very idea of "major league" baseball was in peril. Anson, from his perspective, saw things his ownership did not, and itched to try his remedies, but neither Spalding nor Hulbert was yet ready to give him the position of authority from which he could implement his ideas.

Robert Ferguson had been made Chicago manager in 1878, succeeding Spalding, leading the team to a fourth-place finish. Ferguson's leadership had not impressed, and Spalding was finally ready to hire Anson to the position he had long desired. Anson assumed his duties as manager May 1, 1879.

Anson now began to implement his ideas on the field, and had the ear of the front office for his ideas elsewhere, and Spalding listened. The Chicago club began a systematic program to identify, and sign (sometimes raid), the best players from other teams and leagues. Anson would often scout potential signees personally. On the field, Anson imposed a regimen of strict discipline, disobedience would sometimes be remedied by physical force. In short order, Anson built the greatest team in history to that time, helped in no small measure by the fact that he was himself entering his prime as a player. This was his one and only period as an innovator, and the league imitated and emulated him, to the benefit of all. After 1880, the NL claim to bring "major" was no longer in doubt. New York and Philadelphia were readmitted in 1883 with new franchises, and the smaller venues were gradually eliminated.

Anson, in his prime, looked and acted the very picture of an athlete. He was the biggest man physically in the NL for most of his tenure. He stood 6'1", 220 lbs, all of it muscle, an imposing presence. He was handsome, and stylish in dress and carriage. The manager was the only person, at that time, allowed to address the umpire, and Anson made the most of this, his too-frequent arguments were often deliberately theatrical and sometimes comic. He was not above using his status as the league's most important star to gain leverage with umpires or team officials.

Anson was a right-handed batter and thrower. Although immensely strong, he did not use his power for distance hitting (he occasionally took a full cut, with sometimes spectacular results). Anson was a place hitter, standing with legs together, flicking his bat forward with his forearms and wrists, sending sharp line drives to all parts of the field. His hitting accuracy led to the development of the first hit-and-run plays. His plate discipline was extraordinary, he struck out only once in 78, twice in79. He never struck out more than thirty times in any season. No record exists that he was hit by a pitch his entire career. In the field, Anson was merely adequate, one of his first moves on becoming manager was to place himself permanently at first base. His mobility declined sharply as he aged, but when younger, he was one of several first sackers who initiated playing off the bag, a true fourth infielder. He is sometimes credited as the first to use signs, and the first to devise backup positions for his fielders.

The 1879 White Stockings challenged for the pennant, but faltered at the finish, as Anson missed the final weeks with a kidney infection, incurred, he thought, after an evening of mild alcoholic indulgence. After this, Anson, with the zeal of a convert, added temperance to his list of manly Christian virtues.

1880 was Anson's first full year as manager, and he took the field with a team built with his own hands. Catcher Mike "King" Kelly, pitchers Fred Goldsmith and Larry Corcoran, and outfielders George Gore and Abner Dalrymple were all new arrivals, some personally scouted by Anson. Anson, in fact, had an embarrassment of riches, especially in pitching. Corcoran and Goldsmith could each have been primary starter. So, before the season ended, Anson did something which, remarkably, no one else had thought to do at the major-league level, he alternated them in the lineup, the first rotation. The results were incredible, the 1880 White Stockings breezed to the pennant with a record of 67-17, including a 21-game winning streak June 2-July 8. The .798 percentage is highest in NL history. Anson batted .337, second on the team to Gore. Corcoran pitched the first no-hitter in team history August 19.

Anson's abilities as a run producer led the Chicago Tribune to propose a new stat, runs-batted-in. It would take years to become official, but research would reveal that Anson led the NL in RBI eight times, still the major league record. Chicago's success led to a peace agreement of sorts within the league. The reserve clause was instituted in NL contracts beginning in 1880, Anson's raids would be a thing of the past.

1881 was another pennant-winning year, and the finest of Anson's career as a player. He batted .399 (the only player ever to finish at exactly that), the first of his two batting titles, with 82 RBI. He led the league in hits and total bases. The White Stockings threepeated in 1882, this one a close race, a three-game margin over the rising Providence Grays.

Adrian Constantine Anson