Uncle Anson

[Brian McKenna]

did you know that anson wasn't referred to as cap until well after he was retired? - he was called uncle or pop during the latter part of his career - in fact newspaper articles in 1915 still refer to him as pop

[Buzzaldrin]

When i was a kid, actually, my first baseball books all referred to him as Pop. That's how I still think of him.

[csh19792001]

When i was a kid, actually, my first baseball books all referred to him as Pop. That's how I still think of him.

Has anyone read or gotten ahold of "A Ballplayer's Career", Anson's autobiography from (I believe) the year 1900?

Apparently much of it centers on that incredible "World's Tour" the White Stockings (and others) embarked on a decade previous.

[RuthMayBond]

did you know that anson wasn't referred to as cap until well after he was retired? - he was called uncle or pop during the latter part of his career - in fact newspaper articles in 1915 still refer to him as pop

Rocky Balboa was the only one who was allowed to call him that one name. He'd say, "Yo..", now what was that ?

[hellborn]

did you know that anson wasn't referred to as cap until well after he was retired? - he was called uncle or pop during the latter part of his career - in fact newspaper articles in 1915 still refer to him as pop

I used to call him "Sonny".

[TonyK]

I didn't know.

Many 19th century players had two or three nicknames. One from their amatuer or minor league days, perhaps a new one once they reached the majors, and often a different one if they were traded to a new club.

One good example is Archibald "Moonlight" Graham. Forget what the movie said he was called when he played...he was called Doc Graham by many minor league reporters because he was attending medical school to be a doctor. He may have been called Moonlight while with the NY Giants, but that wasn't where he played most of his pro career.

[Buzzaldrin]

What I find remarkable is that there were TWO players nicknamed "Death to Flying Things." How do you even get that nickname in the first place? I mean, one of them, Bob Ferguson, hit exactly one homer in 3,468 career at bats. I would imagine it could also come from a throwing arm rather than a bat, but he played 90 percent of his career at either 2nd or 3rd, and they'd have to be awfully low flying things to get within range. The other guy, Jack Chapman, hit no career homers whatsoever, but at least he had the decency to be a crappy outfielder and make 49 errors in 116 career games.

[Brian McKenna]

many were just from the flamboyant nature of newspaper journalism - i think death to flying things at times was used in reference to honus wagner - there were probably as many nicknames as reporters - and that goes for teams as well - reporters gave them all kinds of nicknames and many were related to the manager's name - all clark griffith's teams were the griffmen - there were mackmen and so on

there were different level of nicknames to - you know his teammates or friends never called him death to flying things - that was just a newspaper nickname like three fingers when everyone called brown miner or brownie - another example only reporters called paul dean daffy

[Buzzaldrin]

You know who has my favorite nickname in baseball history?

Dots Miller. You wanna know why?

Dots came up as a shortstop with the Pirates in 1909. Only problem was they had a starting shortstop named Wagner. Anyhow, at spring training, Miller was showing his stuff and performing brilliantly. So, some reporter comes over to Wagner on the sideline and asks who that hot new kid trying to steal his job is. Wagner says "that's Miller." However, with Wagner's thick accent it comes out "Dots Miller". The paper guy dutifully writes this down and it appears in the papers the next day, and Miller was stuck with it the rest of his career.

[SABR Steve]

did you know that anson wasn't referred to as cap until well after he was retired? - he was called uncle or pop during the latter part of his career - in fact newspaper articles in 1915 still refer to him as pop

That's not true. I found "Cap" Anson in the Chicago Daily Tribune, May 2, 1891 edition. I saw variations such as Cap'n and Cap't as well.

[Brian McKenna]

That's not true. I found "Cap" Anson in the Chicago Daily Tribune, May 2, 1891 edition. I saw variations such as Cap'n and Cap't as well.

all managers were referred to as captain

bet i can find 50-1 references for pop or uncle instead

[SABR Steve]

all managers were referred to as captain

bet i can find 50-1 references for pop or uncle instead

It's probably even 100-1, but the article put "Cap" in quotation marks instead of the usual "Capt." or "Cap'n." That caught my eye as I thought the same thing, that "Cap" was a post-career nickname.

[Digby Bell]

"Cap" Anson

Originally Posted by bkmckenna
did you know that anson wasn't referred to as cap until well after he was retired? - he was called uncle or pop during the latter part of his career - in fact newspaper articles in 1915 still refer to him as pop

My reply:
It is indeed true that Anson was hardly called "Cap" in newspaper articles. However, there would seem to be little doubt that "Cap" is what teammates most often called him, from 1879 to 1897.

For example, one day in 1888, Anson was showing first-year player Charley Farrell where to put his feet in the batter’s box. "The big Captain had just seized Farrell’s ankle, intending to place the foot in position, when [pitcher Tod] Brynan broke the big Captain all up by shouting: 'Hold on, Cap, his feet are not mates [they do not match, like a mixed-up pair of shoes].'" (New York Sun, July 12, 1888)

[Bill Burgess]

What I find remarkable is that there were TWO players nicknamed "Death to Flying Things."

His nickname came from his ability to catch balls. Bob Ferguson we're talking about here.

[hubkittel]

Has anyone read or gotten ahold of "A Ballplayer's Career", Anson's autobiography from (I believe) the year 1900?

Apparently much of it centers on that incredible "World's Tour" the White Stockings (and others) embarked on a decade previous.

Anson's autobiography is online at Project Gutenberg here. It's a good read.