A Ball Player's Career Part 20

It was one of those long, low, hard drives, and sailed about ten feet over the left fielder's head and in a direct line for Dixey. He couldn't have gotten out of the way had he tried, but the fact was that he didn't see it coming, and the first he knew of it was when he heard a sharp yelp at his side and saw poor "Dago" tumbling off his seat between the wheels.

The dog was dead when picked up, the ball having broken his neck.

Between the yellow buckboard, the dead canine, the frightened horses and Dixey's excitement the whole field was in an uproar and it was fully ten minutes before we could get down to playing again, but Dahlen, the cause of it all, didn't even see the affair and scored on the death of "Dago,"

his being the only genuine case of making a dog-gone run that has ever come under my observation.

Some time during the winter of 1892, I added "big Bill Lange," who has since become one of the stars of the League, and Irwin to my string of fielders, and cast about to strengthen the pitching department of the team as much as possible, Gumbert and Luby having been released. Having this object in view no less than eleven twirlers were signed, of whom all but four proved comparative failures, Hutchinson, McGill and Mauck having to do the greater part of the work in the box, the other eight men, Shaw, Donnelly, Clausen, Abbey, Griffith, McGinnins, Hughey and F.

Parrott being called on but occasionally. Of this lot Griffith was the most promising and he afterwards turned out to be a star of the first magnitude.

With these exceptions the team was about the same as that of the season before, and that it proved to be as great a disappointment to me as it did to the ball-loving public, I am now free to confess. It was a team of great promises and poor performances, and no one could possibly have felt more disappointed than I did when the end of the season found us in ninth place, the lowest place that Chicago Club had ever occupied in the pennant race since the formation of the League, we having won but 56 games during the season, while we had lost 71, a showing that was bad enough to bring tears to the eyes of an angel, let alone a team manager and captain.

The Bostons, whose team work was far and away the best of any of the League clubs, again walked away with the championship, that club winning 127 games and losing 63, while Pittsburg, which came second, won 81 games and lost 48. Cleveland was third with 73 games won and 55 lost, while Philadelphia, New York, Cincinnati, Brooklyn, Baltimore, Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville and Washington finished as named.

When the season of 1894 opened I was pretty well satisfied that my team of colts would make a much better showing than they had done during the previous year, but again I was doomed to disappointment. The team, with the exception of the pitching department, which had been very materially strengthened, was about the same as that with which I had taken the field the previous year, and that there was good enough material in it with which to win the pennant I was certain. It managed to fool me, however, and fool me good and hard, as well as several others who thought themselves good judges, and that before the season was half over.

We started out with seven pitchers, Griffith, Stratton, Hutchinson, Abbey, Terry, McGill and Camp, The last-named pitched in but a single game, which proved to be quite enough.

Our start was a bad one, in fact, the worst that we had ever made. We lost eight out of the first nine games that we played, and the end of May saw but one club between us and the tail end of the procession, that one being Washington. Until the month of August was reached we were never nearer than ninth in the race, but that month we climbed into the eighth position and there we hung until the finish came, leaving the Baltimore, New York and Boston Clubs to fight it out between them, which they did, the first-named carrying off the prize, winning 89 games and losing 39, against 88 won and 44 lost for Boston, after which came Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Cleveland, Pittsburg, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Washington and Louisville.

When the championship season of 1895 opened the Chicago Club had ten pitchers at its command, viz., Griffith, Hutchinson, Thornton, Parker, Friend, Stratton, Terry, McFarland, Dolan and Abbey; three catchers, Kittridge, Donohue and Moran, while I played first base, Stewart second base, Everett third base, Dahlen shortstop and Wilmot, Lange, Ryan and Decker the outfield. There were at least seven good twirlers in the bunch, at the head of which stood Griffith and Hutchinson. Thornton, Parker, Friend, Terry and Stratton were all better than the average when just right, and it was certainly not the fault of the pitchers if the team did not carry off the pennant honors. At late as September 7, and when the club was in the ninth place, predictions were freely made to the effect that the club would not finish in the first division, but this time the croakers proved to be all wrong, for the team made a grand rally in the closing weeks of the season and finished in fourth place, a fact that some of the newspaper critics seemed to have purposely lost sight of at the time of my enforced retirement, that being the same place they stood under Burns' management the first season.

The Baltimores again won the championship, they having 87 games won and 46 lost to their credit, as against Cleveland's 84 won and 46 lost, Philadelphia 78 won and 53 lost, and Chicago 72 won and 58 lost, Brooklyn, Boston, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, New York, Washington and Brooklyn following in order.

The Chicago team of 1896 was a somewhat mixed affair, change following change in rapid succession. Hutchinson had retired from the game and the pitchers, seven in number, were, Griffith, Thornton, Briggs, Friend, Terry, Parker and McFarland; Kittridge and Donohue as catchers, myself and Decker alternating at first base, Pfeffer and Truby doing the same thing at second, and Everett and McCormick at third. Dahlen played shortstop, and Lange, Everett, Ryan, Decker and Flynn took care of the outfield.

The most of the pitching this season devolved upon Griffith and Friend, while Parker and McFarland both proved failures. Neither Pfeffer nor Decker were themselves for a great part of the season, and yet, in spite of all, the team played good ball and finished in the fifth place, the pennant going for the third consecutive time to Baltimore, which won go games and lost 39, while Cleveland came second with 80 games won and 48 lost, Cincinnati third with 77 games won and so lost, Boston fourth with 74 games and 57 lost, and Chicago fifth with 71 games won and 57 lost, Pittsburg, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Brooklyn, St. Louis and Louisville finishing as named.

The team with which I started out in 1897 was certainly good enough to win the pennant with, or at least to finish right up in the front rank, and that it failed to do either of these things can only be explained by the fact that underhanded work looking toward my downfall was indulged in by some of the players, who were aided and abetted by President Hart, he refusing to enforce the fines levied by myself as manager and in that way belittling my authority and making it impossible to enforce the discipline necessary to making the team a success. The ringleader in this business was Jimmy Ryan, between whom and the Club's President the most perfect understanding seemed to exist, and for this underhanded work Ryan was rewarded later by being made the team captain, a position that he was too unpopular with the players to hold, though it is generally thought he was allowed to draw the salary as per the agreement.

The Chicago players for that season were Briggs, Callahan, Friend, Griffith and Thompson, pitchers; Kittridge and Donohue, catchers; Decker and myself, first base; Connor, Callahan and Pfeffer, second base; Everett and McCormick, third base; Dahlen, McCormick and Callahan, shortstop; and Lange, Ryan, Decker and Thornton, outfielders.

Pfeffer was the only weak spot, he being handicapped by illness, and yet even he might have made a creditable showing had he not been handicapped my some of his a.s.sociates and most unmercifully criticized by the newspapers, whose unwarrantable attacks have, in many cases, to my certain knowledge, driven good men out of the business. Lack of discipline and insubordination began to show from the start. Fines were remitted in spite of all the protests that I could make, several members of the club being allowed to do about as they pleased. There could be but one result, as a matter of course, and that was poor ball playing.

When the April campaign ended we were in the eleventh place. At the end of May we stood tenth. At the end of June we had again dropped back to eleventh. At the end of July we had climbed up to eighth, and at the end of August we were sixth, having then climbed into the first division.

When the close of the season came, however, we had dropped back again to the ninth position, the margin between sixth and ninth places being a very small one. The race for the pennant that season between Baltimore and Boston was a close one, the latter club finally carrying off the honors of the season with 93 games won and 39 lost, while Baltimore came second with go games won and 40 lost, and New York third with 83 games won and 48 lost, Cincinnati being fourth, Cleveland fifth, Brooklyn sixth, Washington seventh, Pittsburg eighth, Chicago ninth, Philadelphia tenth, Louisville eleventh and St. Louis twelfth.

Late that fall the newspapers began to publish articles to the effect that I was to be released by the Chicago League Ball Club, but as no official notice to that effect had ever been served on me, arid as I was conscious of always having done my duty by the organization in which I was a stockholder, I for some time paid no attention to the matter. From mere rumors, however, these newspaper articles soon began to take on a more definite form and to be coupled with references to my management of the team that were, to say the least, both uncalled for and venomous, but still I heard nothing from headquarters that would lead me to suppose there was any truth in them.

On the contrary I was treated with the greatest consideration, Mr.

Spalding even going so far as to insist upon my attending the League meeting in my official capacity, where I made trades for players that were afterwards blocked by himself and President Hart, this action making my position a most humiliating one.

Still ignorant of the fact that I was to be dropped from the club's rolls, and that without warning after my long and faithful service, at Mr. Spalding's solicitation that spring I accompanied him on a trip to England, and while we were there he advised me not to worry about the club matters or the rumors that I had heard, as the thing would doubtless be all fixed up before our return. I then made a proposition to him that he and I together should buy the Chicago League Ball Club, a proposition that he partially acceded to, though in view of subsequent events I am now certain that such a plan was not in reality entertained by him for a moment.

Matters had indeed been "fixed up" on my return, and Tom Burns, my old third-baseman, had been brought on from Springfield, Ma.s.s., to manage the team, or, rather, to serve as a figure-head for the Club's President.

It was then that I was advised by Mr. Spalding to resign, which I refused to do, preferring to take my medicine like a man, bitter as the dose might be.

Mr. Burns that spring took up the reins that had been taken out of my hands, and how well he succeeded with the able (?) a.s.sistance of President Hart is now a matter of history.

The following table gives my batting and fielding record for the past twenty-three years, and I feel that it is one that I may well be proud of:

Years Games %Base hits %Fielding

1875 69 .318 .820 1876 66 .342 .826 1877 67 .335 .868 1878 59 .336 .818 1879 49 .407 .974 1880 84 .338 .977 1881 84 .399 .975 1882 82 .367 .948 1883 98 .307 .964 1884 111 .337 .954 1885 112 .322 .971 1886 125 .371 .949 1887 122 .421 .947 1888 134 .343 .985 1889 134 .341 .982 1890 139 .311 .978 1891 136 .294 .981 1892 147 .274 .971 1893 101 .322 .981 1894 83 .394 .988 1895 122 .338 .990 1896 106 .335 .982 1897 112 .302 .987

CHAPTER x.x.xIV. 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 the scene my relations with the club were most pleasant. Under the watchful eye of Mr. Hurlbut the club flourished, and not only maintained a higher average in the percentage column than it has since enjoyed, but, in contradistinction to the latter day methods of management, it annually returned a large balance on the right side of the ledger, this last feature being by no means the least pleasant of my memories. Now, the query arises, "If the team was so uniformly successful under Mr. Hurlbut, why has it not enjoyed the same measure of success since?" And the answer, short and sweet, can be summed up in one word, "mismanagement."

As I have already explained elsewhere my financial relations with Mr.

Spalding in regard to the around-the-world trip of the ball players, it is unnecessary for me again to go into that phase of the matter, but there was one little incident connected with that event that has not been told, and that accounts for Mr. Hart's desire to get rid of me as easily and as quietly as possible, even if he had to use underhanded measures in order to do so. When we started off on our trip in 1888 it was found necessary to get someone to check the receipts of the various exhibitions, see that we obtained our share, pay hotel bills, etc., etc., and generally look after the small financial details, and for some reason which I have never been able to understand A. G. Spalding made arrangements with James A. Hart to accompany us as far as San Francisco for that purpose, though the latter had no special qualifications for the work in hand. In fact, up to that time Mr. Hart, who had been connected as manager with Louisville, Boston and Milwaukee Clubs, had been an accredited failure, just as he has been since in Chicago, where the club under his management has steadily gone from bad to worse, such a thing as a dividend never having been heard of since he took the reins.

For his services on the trip he was paid a salary and his expenses, but this was seemingly not enough, for prior to our departure for Australia Mr. Spalding came to me with a subscription paper, stating that he was securing subscriptions from the members of our party for the purpose of presenting Mr. Hart with a pair of valuable diamond cuff-b.u.t.tons. Just why Mr. Hart should be made the recipient of a valuable gift under such circ.u.mstances was more than I could fathom, and I not unnaturally entered protests.

My protest went unheeded, however, and from this little acorn grew the oak of disagreement between James A. Hart and myself, an oak that has now grown to mammoth proportions.

It was while on the same trip around the world that my long term contract made with Mr. Hurlbut expired, and that I signed a new one under somewhat peculiar circ.u.mstances. Returning home and while in mid-ocean I was requested by Mr. Spalding, who was President of the Chicago Ball Club, to sign a contract, which was made for ten years at my request, with the club, as manager and captain, and by the terms of this contract it was stipulated that I should receive a certain salary and a contingent fee, amounting to 10 per cent. of the net profits of the club, as shown by the books of that organization, which, in 1890, amounted to little or nothing, owing to the troubles engendered by the Brotherhood revolt and the war between the National League and the American a.s.sociation, though during a portion of the time I was paid something in excess of my salary, presumably on the supposition that the laborer was worthy of his hire.

In 1891, greatly to my astonishment, Mr. Spalding retired from the presidency and James A. Hart was elected to the vacant position. At that time I received a long letter from Mr. Spalding, in which he took particular pains to a.s.sure me Mr. Hart was a mere figurehead, who would always be subject to his advice and control, and just so long as he, Mr.

Spalding, was connected with the club I should be retained by that organization. In the face of such an a.s.surance as that, and in view of the fact that I had been a.s.sociated so many years with Mr. Spalding in business, having first come to Chicago at his solicitation, I could see no reason for doubting his word, though subsequent events have shown me differently.

While in Philadelphia, after the recent League meeting held in New York, I called on John I. Rogers in reference to securing a contract to manufacture the league ball, and in the course of our conversation the subject of my treatment by the Chicago management came up. He then informed me that while presiding at a banquet given by the Philadelphia Club some two years ago, and at which both Mr. Hart and myself were guests, he had informed Hart that he was going to call on me for a speech. To this Hart had replied that he and I were not on the best of terms and then went on to tell him that when he, Hart, had joined the Chicago Club Spalding had agreed to release me at the end of my contract and place him, Hart, at the head of the Chicago Club.

If Mr. Hart told the truth when he made that statement, then Mr.

Spalding certainly deceived me, but that is a matter of veracity for them to settle between themselves.

In 1893 the Chicago Ball Club was reorganized under the name of the Chicago League Ball Club, and by the terms of an agreement made with Mr.

Spalding I was allowed to take a certain number of shares of the stock, in addition to those which I held in the old organization, to be paid for out of my contingent fee, which, by the terms of our agreement, it was guaranteed should be large enough to pay for the same, and which came to me under those conditions. At the same time, having six years more to serve under the terms of the old contract, I was given a new one, which I signed without reading, and which was only for five years instead of six, a discrepancy that I did not discover until I came to read it over at home that same evening to Mrs. Anson, and then, having still the most implicit confidence in Mi. Spalding, I said nothing about it, relying on his promise to protect my interests.

In the meantime the grounds now used by the club on the West Side had been purchased, and I presume a payment on them made, and I was informed by Mr. Spalding that I might either swing the deal myself or else sign away my interest, which amounted to a little over one-eighth, but that in case I took the latter course, the club would pay dividends instead of putting the money into real estate. It seemed a little strange to me that I should be asked to swing a deal that A. G. Spalding and John R.

Walsh were unable to handle, and being unable myself to do so I signed away my interest, but, alas! those promised dividends are still in the dim and misty distance, and my confidence in A. G. Spalding has dwindled away to nothing, and not unnaturally, as I shall have no difficulty in proving.

After I had been released by the club Mr. Spalding still posed as my best friend, and the affection that Damon had for Pythias was not greater than that I bore for him. I had not then learned the full nature of his duplicity, nor was it until some time later that it dawned upon me. In the meantime Mr. Spalding had set on foot a project to give me a money testimonial, and had called a meeting at the Chicago Athletic Club for the purpose of perfecting plans for the same. This I refused to accept for the reason that I was not a pauper, the public owed me nothing, and I believed that I was still capable of making my own living. At that meeting A. H. Pratt, who represented me, read the following letter that I had written for the occasion:

To My Friends--The kind offer to raise a large public subscription for me, the first notice of which I received by a chance meeting with Mr.

Spalding the afternoon preceding its publication in the daily papers, is an honor and a compliment I duly appreciate. Implying as it does the hearty good will and close fellowship of the originator of the movement, A. G. Spalding, causes me to regard it higher. There are times when one hesitates to receive favors even from friends, and at this hour I deem it both unwise and inexpedient to accept the generosity so considerately offered. A. C. ANSON.

This testimonial, had I accepted it, would doubtless have been a great success, as it was endorsed by all of the League magnates, by the press generally, and by the lovers of base-ball all over the country, but to me it appeared to be something too much in the nature of a charity gift for me to accept, and I felt that I should stultify my manhood by so doing, and that I should sacrifice that feeling of independence that I had always possessed. To the many friends who urged it upon me at the time I am still deeply grateful, but I feel that in declining to accept it I did a wise thing, and I am confident that very many of them now agree with me in that opinion.

Just at this stage of affairs my plans for the future were apparently a matter of great interest to both press and public, and if the statements made by the former were to be believed, I had more schemes on hand than did a professional promoter, and every one of them with "millions in it." I was to manage this club and manage that club; I was to play here and play there, and, in fact, there was scarcely anything that I was not going to do if the reporters' statements could be depended upon. One of the most senseless of these was the starting of the A. C. Anson Base-Ball College, the prospectus for which was typewritten in the sporting-goods store of A. G. Spalding, and read as follows:

Location.--The school will be located on what is known as the A. G.

Spalding Tract, covering the blocks bounded by Lincoln, Robey, 143d and 144th streets, upon which Mr. A. G. Spalding will erect suitable structures, fences, stands, dressing-rooms, etc. The site is in the celebrated Calumet region and is easy of access.

Membership.--All accepted applicants for membership will be required to submit to a thorough physical examination and go through a regular and systematic course of training, calculated to prepare them for actual partic.i.p.ation in base-ball games. Upon entering they will subscribe to the rules and regulations of the inst.i.tution, which will demand obedience and provide for discipline, abstemious habits, regular hours, proper diet, in fact everything which tends to improve the health and physical condition will be required. They must also pa.s.s an examination made by Captain Anson as to their natural apt.i.tude for becoming proficient in the game of base-ball.

Instruction.--The course of instruction will consist of physical training by the latest and most approved methods, with the special intention of developing the body and mind, so that the best possible results may be obtained looking to perfection of base-ball playing. Daily instruction will be had in the theory and practice of the game.