Cap Anson: The Grand Old Man of Baseball

Cap Anson's plaque at the Baseball Hall of Fame sums up his career with admirable simplicity: "The greatest hitter and greatest National League player-manager of the 19th century." Anson helped make baseball the national pastime. He hit over .300 in all but three of his major league seasons, and upon his retirement in 1897, he held the all-time records for games played, times at bat, hits, runs scored, doubles and runs batted in. For much of his career, he also served as manager of the National League's Chicago White Stockings (now known as the Cubs), winning five pennants and finishing in the top half of the league in 15 of his 19 seasons. Anson's career coincided with baseball's rise to prominence. As the sport's first superstar, he was one of the best known and most widely admired men in the United States. He took advantage of his fame, starring in a Broadway play and touring on the vaudeville circuit. He toured England, Europe, Egypt, and Australia, introducing baseball throughout the world. Regrettably, he also vehemently opposed the presence of African Americans in the game and played a significant role in its segregation in the 1880s. From Marshalltown, Iowa, to superstar status, this work traces the life and times of Anson and the growth of the national pastime.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents Acknowledgments      Introduction      1. Beginnings      2. From Marshalltown to Rockford      3. The Philadelphia Athletics      4. Across the Ocean      5. William Hulbert and the White Stockings      6. Manager in Training      7. Captain of the Chicagos      8. Champions of the National League      9. Controversy      10. Back on Top      11. King of Kickers      12. A New Beginning      13. Second Place      14. Around the World      15. The Brotherhood War      16. A Disputed Pennant Race      17. The Grand Old Man      18. Anson and His Colts      19. Cap Anson on Broadway      20. The Final Season      21. An Unemployed Manager      22. Baseball, Business, and Politics      23. “The Best I Can”      24. Epilogue      Appendix A: Cap Anson’s First Professional Baseball Contract      Appendix B: Cap Anson’s Statistical Record      Appendix C: Cap Anson's Statistical Record (Projected to 162–Game Seasons)      Chapter Notes      Bibliography      Index     

About the Author :
David L. Fleitz is a web developer and database analyst who lives in Troy, Michigan. A longtime SABR member, he has written nine other books on baseball history.

Review :
“prodigiously researched...[Fleitz] helps us understand how the game of baseball both shaped and embodied American culture in what Mark Twain called the ‘raging, tearing’ 19th century.”—Edward Achorn, Providence Journal; “well-researched and well-written volume”—SABR Deadball Committee Newsletter; “definitive”—Chicago Cubs Official Website; “David Fleitz has become something of a chronicler of the flawed idols of a century ago. Cap Anson, the Grand Old Man of Baseball is a worthy successor to his fine biographies of Shoeless Joe Jackson and Louis Sockalexis...instructive…pleasurable”—Elysian Fields Quarterly; “this is a fine biography...excellent”—Miami Herald.