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To My Father Henry Anson of Marshalltown, Iowa, to whose early training and sound advice I owe my fame
To My Father Henry Anson of Marshalltown, Iowa, to whose early training and sound advice I owe my fame
CONTENTS CHAP. I.—MY BIRTHPLACE AND ANCESTRY. II.—DAYS AT MARSHALLTOWN III.—SOME FACTS ABOUT THE NATIONAL GAME IV.—FURTHER FACTS AND FIGURES V.—THE GAME AT MARSHALLTOWN VI.—My EXPERIENCE AT ROCKFORD VII.-WITH THE ATHLETICS OF PHILADELPHIA VIII.—SOME MINOR DIVERSIONS IX.—WE BALL PLAYERS GO ABROAD X.—THE ARGONAUTS OF 1874 XI.—I WIN ONE PRIZE AND OTHERS FOLLOW XII.—WITH THE NATIONAL LEAGUE XIII.—FROM FOURTH PLACE TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP XIV.—THE CHAMPIONS OF THE EARLY '80S XV.—WE FALL DOWN AND RISE AGA
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CHAPTER I. MY BIRTHPLACE AND ANCESTRY.
CHAPTER I. MY BIRTHPLACE AND ANCESTRY.
The town of Marshalltown, the county seat of Marshall County, in the great State of Iowa, is now a handsome and flourishing place of some thirteen or fourteen thousand inhabitants. I have not had time recently to take the census myself, and so I cannot be expected to certify exactly as to how many men, women and children are contained within the corporate limits. At the time that I first appeared upon the scene, however, the town was in a decidedly embryonic state, and outside of some half-dozen
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CHAPTER II. BOYHOOD DAYS AND MEMORIES.
CHAPTER II. BOYHOOD DAYS AND MEMORIES.
What's in a name? Not much, to be sure, in many of them, but in mine a good deal, for I represent two Michigan towns and two Roman Emperors, Adrian and Constantine. My father had evidently not outgrown his liking for Michigan when I came into the world, and as he was familiar with both Adrian and Constantine and had many friends in both places he concluded to keep them fresh in his memory by naming me after them. I don't think he gave much consideration to the noble old Romans at that time. In f
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CHAPTER III. SOME FACTS ABOUT THE NATIONAL GAME.
CHAPTER III. SOME FACTS ABOUT THE NATIONAL GAME.
Just at what particular time the base-ball fever became epidemic in Marshalltown it is difficult to say, for the reason that, unfortunately, all of the records of the game there, together with the trophies accumulated, were destroyed by a fire that swept the place in 1897, and that also destroyed all of the files of the newspapers then published there. The fever had been raging in the East many years previous to that time, however, and had gradually worked its way over the mountains and across t
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CHAPTER IV. FURTHER FACTS AND FIGURES.
CHAPTER IV. FURTHER FACTS AND FIGURES.
The professional player of those early days and the professional player of the present time were totally different personages. When professionalism first crept into the ranks it was generally the custom to import from abroad some player who had made a name for himself, playing some certain position, and furnish him with a business situation so that his services might be called for when needed, and so strong was the local pride taken in the success of the team that business men were not averse to
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CHAPTER V. THE GAME AT MARSHALLTOWN.
CHAPTER V. THE GAME AT MARSHALLTOWN.
If my memory serves me rightly it was some time in the year 1866 that the Marshalltown Base-Ball Club, of which my father was a prominent member, sprung into existence, and among the men who made up the team at that time were many who have since become prominent in the history not only of Marshalltown but of Marshall County as well, among them being Captain Shaw, Emmett Green, A. B. Cooper, S. R. Anson and the old gentleman himself, it being owing to my father's exertions that Marshalltown acqui
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CHAPTER VI. MY EXPERIENCE AT ROCKFORD.
CHAPTER VI. MY EXPERIENCE AT ROCKFORD.
I can remember almost as well as if it were but yesterday my first experience as a ball player at Rockford. It was early in the spring, and so cold that a winter overcoat was comfortable. I had been there but a day or two when I received orders from the management to report one afternoon at the ball grounds for practice. It was a day better fitted for telling stories around a blazing fire than for playing ball, but orders were orders, and I obeyed them. I soon found that it was to test my qualit
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CHAPTER VII. WITH THE ATHLETICS OF PHILADELPHIA.
CHAPTER VII. WITH THE ATHLETICS OF PHILADELPHIA.
The winter of 1871 and 1872 I spent in Philadelphia, where I put in my time practicing in the gymnasium, playing billiards and taking in the sights of a great city. The whirligig of time had in the meantime made a good many changes in the membership of the Professional League, for in spite of the fact that 1871 had been the most prosperous year in the history of base-ball, up to that time, many clubs had fallen by the wayside, their places in the ranks being taken by new-comers, and that several
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CHAPTER VIII. SOME MINOR DIVERSIONS.
CHAPTER VIII. SOME MINOR DIVERSIONS.
Philadelphia is a good city to live in, at least I found it so, and had I had my own way I presume that I should still be a resident of the city that William Penn founded instead of a citizen of Chicago, while had I had my own way when I left Marshalltown to go into a world I knew but little about I might never have lived in Philadelphia at all. At that time I was more than anxious to come to Chicago and did my best to secure a position with the Chicago Club, of which Tom Foley, the veteran bill
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CHAPTER IX. WE BALL PLAYERS GO ABROAD.
CHAPTER IX. WE BALL PLAYERS GO ABROAD.
The first trip that was ever made across the big pond by American ball players and to which brief reference was made in an earlier chapter, took place in the summer of 1874. London was, as a matter of course, our first objective point, and I considered myself lucky indeed in being a member of one of the organizations that was to attempt to teach our English cousins the beauties of America's National Game. The two clubs selected to make the trip were the Bostons, then champions, and the Athletics
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CHAPTER X. THE ARGONAUTS OF 1874.
CHAPTER X. THE ARGONAUTS OF 1874.
The players that made the first trip abroad in the interest of the National Game may well be styled the Argonauts of Base-ball, and though they brought back with them but little of the golden fleece, the trip being financially a failure, their memory is one that should always be kept green in the hearts of the game's lovers, if for no other reason than because they were the first to show our British cousins what the American athlete could do when it came both to inventing and playing a game of h
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CHAPTER XI. I WIN ONE PRIZE AND OTHERS FOLLOW.
CHAPTER XI. I WIN ONE PRIZE AND OTHERS FOLLOW.
If it is true, as some people allege, that marriage is a lottery, then all I have to say regarding it is that I drew the capital prize and consequently may well be regarded as a lucky man, for truer, fonder, and more sensible wife than I have, or a happier home cannot be found even though you search the wide world over. It was in Philadelphia that I wooed and won her, and I was by no means the only contestant that was in the field for her heart and hand. There were others, and one in particular
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CHAPTER XII. WITH THE NATIONAL LEAGUE.
CHAPTER XII. WITH THE NATIONAL LEAGUE.
It was some time in the fall of 1875 and while the National League was still in embryo that I first made the acquaintance of William A. Hulbert, who afterwards became famous as the founder of that organization and the man whose rugged honesty and clear-headed counsels made of base-ball the National Game in the truest and broadest sense of the word. At that time Mr. Hulbert was the President of the Chicago Base-Ball Club, and in company with A. G. Spalding he came to Philadelphia for the purpose
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CHAPTER XIII. FROM FOURTH PLACE TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP.
CHAPTER XIII. FROM FOURTH PLACE TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP.
The year 1878 saw but six clubs in the league race, there being the Boston, Cincinnati, Providence, Chicago, Indianapolis and Milwaukee clubs, and they finished in the order named, the Hub's representatives winning by a margin of four games from their nearest competitor. The early part of the year saw the Cincinnatis in the lead, with Chicago well up toward the front, and it looked for a time as though the honors of the season might be carried off by the Western clubs. The Cincinnati Club went i
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CHAPTER XIV. THE CHAMPIONS OF THE EARLY EIGHTIES.
CHAPTER XIV. THE CHAMPIONS OF THE EARLY EIGHTIES.
The team that brought the pennant back to Chicago in the early '80s was a rattling good organization of ball players, as the "fans" who remember them can testify, and while they were the cracks of that time, and perhaps as strong a team as the League had seen up to that date, yet they were not as strong either as a team or as individual ball players as the team that represented Chicago several years afterward. The secret of the club's success in those days lay in its team work, and in the fact t
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CHAPTER XV. WE FALL DOWN AND CLIMB AGAIN.
CHAPTER XV. WE FALL DOWN AND CLIMB AGAIN.
At the annual meeting of the League held in Providence R. I., December 6th, 1882, the Worcester and Troy Clubs resigned their membership, neither of them being cities of sufficient size to support a team as expensive as one good enough to have a chance for championship honors in such company must of necessity be, and New York and Philadelphia were elected to fill the vacancies. At the same time A. G. Mills was elected to fill the vacancy in the League Presidency caused by the death of Mr. Hulber
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CHAPTER XVI. BALL-PLAYERS EACH AND EVERY ONE.
CHAPTER XVI. BALL-PLAYERS EACH AND EVERY ONE.
The team that brought the pennant back to Chicago in the years 1885 and 1886 was, in my estimation, not only the strongest team that I ever had under my management but, taken all in all, one of the strongest teams that has ever been gotten together in the history of the League, the position of left field, which was still being played by Dalrymple being its only weak spot. The fact, however, that "Dal" was a terrific batter made up for a great many of his shortcomings in tile field, which would s
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CHAPTER XVII. WHILE FORTUNE FROWNS AND SMILES.
CHAPTER XVII. WHILE FORTUNE FROWNS AND SMILES.
Should I omit to mention herein the two series of games that the Chicagos played with the St. Louis Browns, champions of the American Association, in 1885 and 1886, somebody would probably rise to remark that I was in hopes that the public had forgotten all about them. Such is not the case, however. The games in both cases were played after the regular season was over and after the players had in reality passed out of my control, and for that reason were not as amenable to the regular discipline
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CHAPTER XVIII. FROM CHICAGO TO DENVER.
CHAPTER XVIII. FROM CHICAGO TO DENVER.
It was a jolly party that assembled in the Union Depot on the night of October 20th, 1888, and the ball players were by no means the center of attraction, as there were others there to whom even the ball players took off their hats, and these were the ladies, as Mrs. Ed. Williamson, the wife of the famous ball player, and Mrs. H. I. Spalding, the stately and white-haired mother of Mr. Spalding, as well as my own blue-eyed wife, had determined upon making the trip that few people have the opportu
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CHAPTER XIX. FROM DENVER TO SAN FRANCISCO.
CHAPTER XIX. FROM DENVER TO SAN FRANCISCO.
Colorado Springs, the fashionable watering place of all Colorado, was to be our next stopping place. Leaving Denver on the night of October 27th, we were obliged to change from the broad-gauge cars in which we had been traveling, into narrow-gauge cars, in which we journeyed as far as Ogden, and they seemed for a time cramped and uncomfortable as compared with the "Q." outfit. We soon became used to them, however, and managed to enjoy ourselves as thoroughly as though we had no end of room in wh
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CHAPTER XX. TWO WEEKS IN CALIFORNIA.
CHAPTER XX. TWO WEEKS IN CALIFORNIA.
We were booked for a stay of two weeks in San Francisco, and that two weeks proved to be one continual round of pleasure for every member of the party. The appearance of the city itself was somewhat of a disappointment to me, and I soon grew somewhat tired of climbing up hill only to climb down again. The really fine buildings, too, were few and far between, the majority of them being low wooden structures that looked like veritable fire-traps. They are built of redwood, however, and this, accor
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CHAPTER XXI. WE VISIT THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.
CHAPTER XXI. WE VISIT THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.
So sang the jolly mariners on the good ship Pinafore, and so might have sung the members of the Chicago and All-American base-ball teams as they sailed out through the Golden Gate and into the blue waters of the Pacific on the afternoon of November 18, 1888. Only at that time we were not in the least sure as to whether the Alameda was a beauty or not, pleasant as she looked to the eye, and we had a very reasonable doubt in our minds as to whether we were sailors "good and true." There was a long
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CHAPTER XXII. FROM HONOLULU TO AUSTRALIA.
CHAPTER XXII. FROM HONOLULU TO AUSTRALIA.
The majority of our party, and among them Mrs. Anson and myself, remained upon the deck that evening chatting of the many beautiful things that we had seen and gazing in the direction of the fast-vanishing islands until they were at last lost to sight behind the mystic veil of the moonlight, and then we sought our stateroom to dream of the wonderful sights that were yet to come. There was now an ocean trip of 3,900 miles before us, before we should set foot on shore at New Zealand, and with neve
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CHAPTER XXIII. WITH OUR FRIENDS IN THE ANTIPODES.
CHAPTER XXIII. WITH OUR FRIENDS IN THE ANTIPODES.
That night after the gentlemen of the party had donned their dress suits and the ladies their best bibs and tuckers, we repaired in a body to the Royal Theater, where a large and fashionable audience had assembled to bid us welcome. The theater, presided over at that time by Jimmy Williamson, an American, was handsomely decorated for the occasion with American flags, and as we took our places in the private boxes and in the section of the dress circle reserved for us, we were greeted with round
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CHAPTER XXIV. BASEBALL PLAYING AND SIGHTSEEING IN AUSTRALIA.
CHAPTER XXIV. BASEBALL PLAYING AND SIGHTSEEING IN AUSTRALIA.
We played our first game at Melbourne on Saturday, December 22d, the second day after our arrival from Sydney, and in the presence of one of the largest crowds that ever assembled at the Melbourne Oval, the handsomest of their kind in Australia. The surroundings were of the most beautiful character and the day itself as perfect as any one could have desired for base-ball purposes. The lawn in front of the Club House was thronged with ladies in light attire, and the many-hued sunshades that they
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CHAPTER XXV. AFLOAT ON THE INDIAN SEA.
CHAPTER XXV. AFLOAT ON THE INDIAN SEA.
The "Salier," which was one of the German Lloyd line of steamers, sailed from Port Melbourne at daybreak on the morning of January 8th, 1889, and before many of us had put in our appearance on deck, although we were awakened long before by the cries of the sailors and the usual noise and bustle that precedes the departure of a steamer from her dock in all parts of the world. Long before we had left Port Melbourne out of sight, however, we had assembled at the rail to wave our last adieus to the
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CHAPTER XXVI. FROM CEYLON TO EGYPT.
CHAPTER XXVI. FROM CEYLON TO EGYPT.
We landed in Colombo on the steps of a pagoda-like structure containing the Custom House, and passing through found ourselves on a broad avenue that led direct to the Grand Oriental Hotel, said by travelers to be the finest south of the Mediterranean, and in their opinion I can certainly concur, as we found it to be everything that could be desired so far as our limited experience went. The rooms were large and carpetless, with latticed windows and high ceilings and the immense dining-rooms open
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CHAPTER XXVII. IN THE SHADOW OF THE PYRAMIDS.
CHAPTER XXVII. IN THE SHADOW OF THE PYRAMIDS.
The Hotel d'Orient, while not as fashionable as Shepard's or the Grand New, was a most comfortable house and set one of the best tables of the many that we encountered on the trip. It faced a big circular open space from which half a score of thoroughfares diverged like the spokes of a wheel, and was accessible from all parts of the city. In the big public garden opposite one of the Khedive's bands was playing at the time of our arrival, and on every hand were to been the open doors of cafes, ba
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CHAPTER XXVIII. UNDER THE BLUE SKIES OF ITALY.
CHAPTER XXVIII. UNDER THE BLUE SKIES OF ITALY.
The night we left Ismalia and started for Port Said, the port of entrance at the northernmost end of the Suez Canal, was a glorious one, the full moon shining down upon the waters and turning to silver the sands of the vast desert that stretched away to the horizon on either side. This canal through which we had passed had a mean depth of 27 feet and varies from 250 to 350 feet in width, its length from sea to sea being 87 miles. The banks on both sides were barren of verdure and there was but l
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CHAPTER XXIX. OUR VISIT TO LA BELLE FRANCE.
CHAPTER XXIX. OUR VISIT TO LA BELLE FRANCE.
It was some days after we left the beautiful city of Florence, with its wealth of statuary and paintings, before we again donned our uniforms, the lack of grounds upon which we could play being the reason for our enforced idleness. The day we left Florence we crossed over the border and that night found us on French soil, and in the land of the "parlevooers." The ride from Florence to Nice, which latter city was our objective point, was one long dream of delight, the road running for nearly the
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CHAPTER XXX. THROUGH ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND IRELAND.
CHAPTER XXX. THROUGH ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND IRELAND.
The first thing that impresses the stranger in London is the immensity of the city, and the great crowds that continually throng the streets night and day, for London never sleeps. The first day after our arrival I noted numerous changes that had taken place in various quarters since my visit of fifteen years before, during which time the city seemed to have grown and spread out in every direction. The hotel where we were quartered was in close proximity to the Strand, one of London's greatest a
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CHAPTER XXXI. "HOME, SWEET HOME."
CHAPTER XXXI. "HOME, SWEET HOME."
Our voyage back to "God's country," by which term of endearment the American traveling abroad often refers to the United States, was by no means a pleasant one, as we encountered heavy weather from the start, the "Adriatic" running into a storm immediately after leaving Queenstown that lasted for two days and two nights, during which time we made but slow progress, and as a result there were a good many vacant seats at the table when mealtimes came. A storm at sea is always an inspiring sight, a
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CHAPTER XXXII. THE REVOLT OF THE BROTHERHOOD.
CHAPTER XXXII. THE REVOLT OF THE BROTHERHOOD.
The playing strength of the League teams of 1889 was remarkably even; that is to say, on paper. Detroit had dropped out and Cleveland had taken its place in the ranks, four of the old Detroit players going to Boston, one to Philadelphia, three to Pittsburg, and the balance to Cleveland. The Boston Club had been the greatest gainer by the deal, however, and the majority of the "fans" looked for it to carry off the pennant. Once more the unexpected happened, however, and, though it took the games
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CHAPTER XXXIII. MY LAST YEARS ON THE BALL FIELD.
CHAPTER XXXIII. MY LAST YEARS ON THE BALL FIELD.
The season of 1891 proved to be almost as disastrous, when viewed from a financial standpoint, as was the seasons of 1890, owing to the war for the possession of good players that broke out between the National League and the American Association, that was caused by a refusal on the part of the last-named organization to stick to the terms of the National Agreement, the result being the boosting of players' salaries away up into fancy figures. This state of affairs proved to be exceedingly costl
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CHAPTER XXXIV. IF THIS BE TREASON, MAKE THE MOST OF IT.
CHAPTER XXXIV. IF THIS BE TREASON, MAKE THE MOST OF IT.
Experience is a mighty dear teacher. This is a fact that has been generally admitted by the world at large, but one that I have never fully realized until within the last few years, though just how much it has cost me in the matter of dollars-and-cents it is hard to say. It is but natural, I presume, after twenty-two years connection with a corporation for one to have well-defined opinions of certain of its officials, and it is pleasant to record here that prior to the advent of James A. Hart on
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CHAPTER XXXV. HOW MY WINTERS WERE SPENT.
CHAPTER XXXV. HOW MY WINTERS WERE SPENT.
How do the members of the base-ball fraternity spend the winter seasons? If I have been asked that question once I have been asked it a thousand times. The public, as a rule, seem to think that because a man is a professional ball player and therefore employed but seven months in the year he must necessarily spend the other five in idleness, and there are doubtless some few ball players that spend their winters in that way, but, be it said to the credit of the craft, there are not many of them.
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CHAPTER XXXVI. WITH THE KNIGHTS OF THE CUE.
CHAPTER XXXVI. WITH THE KNIGHTS OF THE CUE.
There is no more fascinating game in existence at the present day than billiards, and no game that is more popular with gentlemen, and for the reason that it can be played indoors and in all kinds of weather and that it does not require the frame of an athlete nor the training of one 1111 to play it successfully, though it may be set down as a fact that the experts at billiards are few and far between, for the reason that it takes not only natural ability and constant practice to be even a moder
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CHAPTER XXXVII. NOT DEAD, BUT SLEEPING.
CHAPTER XXXVII. NOT DEAD, BUT SLEEPING.
The proposed New American Base-Ball Association, of which so much was heard during the fall and winter months of 1899 and 1900, is not dead, as some people fondly hope, but only sleeping. That the National League fears the birth of a new rival has been time and again shown, and in my judgment without good and sufficient reason, for I hold that "competition is the life of trade," and that with a strong and healthy competitor in, the field the rivalry would be of benefit to both organizations. Fro
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AMOS RUSIE'S PITCHING.
AMOS RUSIE'S PITCHING.
Amos Rusie, who, for several years has probably come nearer being the premier pitcher of the country than any other man, gives some ideas of pitching to the New York Evening Journal. He says: "In delivering a straight, swift ball, when my object is to obtain the utmost speed at my command and to cut the plate, so that an umpire can have no doubt as to its being 'over,' I grasp the ball firmly with the two first fingers, with the thumb not clutching the ball too tightly. It is not my intention to
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APPENDIX. SOME NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.
APPENDIX. SOME NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.
With the retirement of Captain Anson baseball loses its most dignified and courageous figure—a man who has striven through a number of years to preserve the national game in all its best phases and a man who has fought for decency and gentlemanly conduct on the field, and by whose efforts the club of which he has been typical for a long time has come to be known as one of the most dignified organizations on the National League diamond. His retirement from the leadership of the Colts is received
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