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-buttons. Just
why Mr. Hart should be made the recipient of a valuable gift under such
circumstances 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 circumstances. 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 Association, 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 assure 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 assurance as that, and in view of
the fact that I had been associated 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
participation in base-ball games. Upon entering they will subscribe to
the rules and regulations of the institution, 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 pass an examination
made by Captain Anson as to their natural aptitude 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.
Engagements.--As soon as students are sufficiently developed and display
skill to justify, efforts will be made by the college management to
secure lucrative engagements for those who desire to enter the
professional field. Arrangements will be made with the various
professional and semi-professional clubs throughout the country by which
students of the college will come into contact with managers and be
enabled to make known their merits.
Application for Admittance.--Persons who desire to become students of the
college will be required to fill out and sign the regular application
blank provided by the college, which must give information regarding the
applicant, such as name, place of residence, height, weight, various
measurements, past vocation, habits, state of health, etc., etc.
Charges.--Accepted students will be required to pay a tuition of $2 per
week, at least five weeks tuition to be paid in advance, and must supply
their practice uniform. The college will provide all team uniforms for
use in games and all materials and utensils necessary for practice.
Then followed a showing of financial possibilities that would have done
credit to the brains of a Colonel Sellers.
It is unnecessary for me to say that this scheme never emanated from me,
or that it never received any serious consideration at my hands, the
real plan being to create a real-estate boom and enable Mr. Spalding to
dispose of some of his holdings, using me as a catspaw with which to
pull the chestnuts out of the fire.
All this time I was busily engaged in perfecting plans by which I might
get possession of the Chicago League Ball Club, in which I already had
130 shares of stock, and finally I succeeded in obtaining an option on
the same from A. G. Spalding, a facsimile of which appears on another
page. Armed with this document I worked like a Trojan in order to raise
the necessary funds, which I certainly should have succeeded in doing
had not my plans been thwarted time and again by A. G. Spalding and his
agents, and this in spite of the fact that our probable war with Spain
made the raising of money a difficult matter. More than once when
engaged in the task I was informed by friends that I was simply wasting
my time, as the option that I possessed was not worth the paper it was
written on, and that there was never any intention on the part of A. G.
Spalding and his confreres to let me get possession of the club. It was
not until several men who had promised to aid me backed down squarely
that I realized that there was an undercurrent at work, and that the
option, which it was often denied at that time that I had, had been
given to me in bad faith and just for the purpose of letting me down
easily, but when once convinced that such was really the case I gave up
making any further effort in the matter.
Later I accepted a position as manager of the New York Club, being
assured that I should have full control of the team, but at the end of a
month finding that there were too many cooks to spoil the broth I
resigned, accepting only the amount of salary due me for actual
services, though offered a sum considerably in excess of the same. This
ended my actual connection with National League base-ball, and its
mismanagement.
In spite of the fact that I have been connected with the Chicago
Base-Ball Club for twenty-two years as an active player and for
twenty-four years as a stockholder, I have never attended a meeting of
that organization until recently, and then Mr. Hart and myself were the
only stockholders present. Again, in spite of the fact that my contingent
fees were to be paid on the showing made by the books, these books I
have never been allowed to see, nor have I ever been able to get any
statement as to my standing with the Club, and that in spite of the fact
that I have several times made a demand for the same.
That being the case, how can I be sure that I have had all that was
coming to me, or that I have been honestly dealt with by that
organization?
In all of my club dealings I trusted implicitly to Mr. Spalding, at
whose solicitation I left Philadelphia and came to Chicago, and that I
made a mistake in so trusting him I am now confident, as it is a poor
plan for any man not to look closely after his own business interests.
In regard to my financial dealings with the Club I might be much more
explicit, but I feel that it is not a matter of great public interest,
and I therefore refrain from doing so, believing that what I have
already said will serve to show how I stand and how I feel in the
matter.