Adrian 'Cap' Anson was a great baseball player for the Cubs, but he wasn't a man of integrity

When the Sun-Times listed its top 50 Chicago Cubs players of all time on March 24, it listed Adrian “Cap” Anson, the Cubs’ all-time leader in average, hits, runs, runs batted in and doubles. One cannot argue with including Anson in the top 50, but one can strenuously argue with the Sun-Times’ statement that “Anson was known for his integrity [and] dignity.”

Not exactly.

Anson was grumpy and irascible. Around the National League, lots of players, managers, umpires and fans couldn’t stand him — and loved it when his team lost.

Anson argued with umpires more than other managers did. He enjoyed gambling, a pastime that Major League Baseball frowns upon for managers and players alike (Shohei Ohtani take note).

Among the other National League teams, Anson was “not at all popular,” the Boston Evening Record noted in 1891. The resentment towards Anson led to speculation that when the Cubs (then known as the White Stockings) collapsed in 1891 (yes, the 1969 collapse was not the first), the league wanted it that way. That year, fans wondered why the teams who played in late September against Boston, the club that overtook Chicago, looked so bad. Anson’s personality was a possible reason for other National League teams’ lackadaisical play against Boston.

But the biggest reason one cannot call Anson a man of integrity and dignity is because Anson is considered by baseball historians to have been the driving force in segregating professional baseball in the 19th century. While many players and managers of that era were prejudiced against Black players, Anson took it a unique step further by prohibiting the Chicago team from taking the field against teams that included Black players.

Because Anson was one of the top player/managers of his day, professional baseball took notice and began banning Black players.

Despite all his Cub records, Anson is not in the Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame, and never will be because of his leadership in segregating professional baseball, showing his lack of integrity and dignity.

William S. Bike, Clearing

Don’t let the Bears bear down on Chicagoans

Thank you to the Sun-Times Editorial Board for the clear-eyed response to the Bears trying to bulldoze a new major development of the lakefront with seemingly the mayor and city showing no leadership and vision — rather riding on the coattails of what a multi-billion dollar organization is pitching.

The public deserves better leadership on this issue. Why should we be subsidizing the Sox and Bears with public money when economists show this money would be terrible investments?

Andrew Burnham, South Loop