National Association Anson played on a number of competitive baseball clubs in his youth and began to play professionally in the
National Association (NA) at the age of 19, primarily third base for the
Rockford Forest Citys, one of the original teams of the Association. He was a large and powerful man, standing tall and weighing about . After being traded to
Philadelphia Athletics, in 1872 and 1873, Anson finished in the NA's top five in
batting,
on-base percentage (OBP), and
on-base plus slugging (OPS). He led the National Association in OBP in 1872. His numbers declined slightly in 1874 and 1875, but he was still good enough that
Chicago White Stockings secretary-turned-president
William Hulbert sought him to improve his club for the 1876 season. Hulbert broke league rules by negotiating with Anson and several other stars while the 1875 season was still in progress and ultimately founded the new
National League to forestall any disciplinary action. Anson, who had become engaged to a Philadelphia native in the meantime, had second thoughts about going west, but Hulbert held Anson to his contract and he eventually warmed to the Windy City.
Chicago White Stockings/Colts The White Stockings won the first league title, but fell off the pace the following two seasons. During this time, Anson was a solid hitter, but not quite a superstar. Both his fortunes and those of his team would change after Anson was named captain-manager of the club in 1879. His new role led to the nickname "Cap", along with variants such as (Anson's) White Colts and (Anson's) Broncos. When Blue Stockings Manager
Charlie Morton told Anson the White Stockings would forfeit the gate receipts if they refused to play, Anson backed down, but not before uttering the word
nigger on the field and vowing that his team would not play in such a game again. In 1884, Chicago again played an exhibition game at Toledo, which was then in the American Association, a major league. Walker sat it out, however, it is uncertain whether he did so to placate Chicago or due to injury;
Jimmy McGuire instead did the catching. Both had sore hands, the
Toledo Blade had said a few days earlier. Of the two catchers, Walker was seemingly the more injured, as he did not play in Toledo's second-most recent game. Among Anson's incidents, this one is unique in that private correspondence provides insight. Three months before the game, Chicago Treasurer-Secretary John A. Brown wrote Toledo manager
Charlie Morton that "the management of the Chicago Ball Club have no personal feeling about the matter," while "the players do most decisively object and to preserve harmony in the club it is necessary that I have your assurance in writing that [Walker] will not play any position in your nine July 25. I have no doubt such is your meaning[;] only your letter does not express in full [sic]. I have no desire to replay the occurrence of last season and must have your guarantee to that effort." Walker and his brother
Welday were released from their team later that year, Welday last playing on August 6 and Fleet on September 4. On July 14, 1887 the
Chicago White Stockings played an exhibition game against the
Newark Little Giants. African American
George Stovey was listed in the
Newark News as the scheduled Newark starting pitcher. Anson objected, and Stovey did not pitch. Moreover, International League owners had voted 6-to-4 at a 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. meeting in Buffalo on the morning of the game to exclude African-American players from future contracts.
Personal character Anson was authoritarian as a manager, marching his players onto the field in military formation and banning alcohol consumption during the playing season. On corruption in sports, he said the following in 1891: "The time may have been, and probably was, when base-ball was as rotten as horse racing, but that time has gone by. The men in control of base-ball matters are of the highest personal character, and no one will say anything against them. As to the charges against any individual player, I will believe them when they have been proved. Every thing [sic] possible has been done to protect the patrons of the National game, and efforts in that direction will never be abated. I don’t know of any crookedness in the ball field. If I did I’d undoubtedly say something about it." A chronological review of 162 reports of bets on regular season baseball by players, managers or club officials, from 1876 to 1900, tallied the sport's top bettors in that era as follows: • 1. Anson (57), Chicago's captain-manager; Hall of Famer • 2. (tie)
Jim Mutrie (9), mainly as manager of the
New York Giants, and his bets were mostly with Anson • 2.
Edward Talcott (9), millionaire stockbroker as treasurer of the New York Giants • 4. (tie)
King Kelly (7), mainly as Boston's captain; Hall of Famer • 4.
Frank Robison (7),
Cleveland Spiders owner
Albert Spalding and James Hart Anson first met
Albert Spalding while both were players; Spalding was a
pitcher for the
Rockford Forest Citys, Anson played for the Marshalltown, Iowa, team. Neither the Macmillan
Encyclopedia editions nor MLB itself at that time recognized the National Association as being a major league. This places Anson 25th on the all-time list. Other sources credit Anson with a different number of hits, largely because scoring and record keeping was haphazard in baseball until well into the 20th century. Beginning with the publication of the
Baseball Encyclopedia, statisticians have continually found errors and have adjusted career totals accordingly. According to the
Sporting News baseball record book, which does not take National Association statistics into account, Anson had 3,012 hits over his career.
Baseball Reference also credits Anson with 3,012 hits during his National League career; including his time in the NA, Anson is credited with 3,435 hits. This figure disregards games played in the NA, but includes the walks earned during 1887 as hits. ==Retirement==