Happy 170 years, Cap "the Swede" Anson

[oldjudge]

Why honor the guy who was so instrumental in instituting the color barrier in baseball?

[G1911]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Why honor the guy who was so instrumental in instituting the color barrier in baseball?

It appears Mr. Anson is your profile picture?

Someone share their N162, I don't have one but it's my favorite 19th century baseball lithograph.

[pete zouras]

Anson.

[oldjudge]

You are exactly right. It is an old picture which I will change. Thank you for pointing that out.

[Seven]

I don't know how to feel about Anson.

He was a fantastic baseball player, he has some beautiful issues as well. He was also clearly a product of his time, and one of the main catalysts for instituting a color barrier in Major League Baseball.

I respect his talent, I do not respect the man. Would probably sum up my feelings the best.

[G1911]

If people object to posting pictures of cards of players who held views that are not in accord with present values (which will soon be out of date and anathema to the popular narratives themselves), then there will be very, very, very little we could possibly post about .

Can we just see some cards? I'm a poor armpit collector so I don't have any Cap's from his career, but I love the art style on his 2011 Goodwin:

[Seven]

Originally Posted by G1911

If people object to posting pictures of cards of players who held views that are not in accord with present values (which will soon be out of date and anathema to the popular narratives themselves), then there will be very, very, very little we could possibly post about .

Can we just see some cards? I'm a poor armpit collector so I don't have any Cap's from his career, but I love the art style on his 2011 Goodwin:

I don't object to the posting of his cards at all. I was speaking to more of him as a person, rather than as a player. I do not think a pre-war collection is complete, without having an Anson in it.

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by G1911

If people object to posting pictures of cards of players who held views that are not in accord with present values (which will soon be out of date and anathema to the popular narratives themselves), then there will be very, very, very little we could possibly post about .

Can we just see some cards? I'm a poor armpit collector so I don't have any Cap's from his career, but I love the art style on his 2011 Goodwin:

Great post and attractive looking card. I'd love an Anson, but would prefer an original photo to a card.

[skelly423]

Originally Posted by Seven

I don't know how to feel about Anson.

He was a fantastic baseball player, he has some beautiful issues as well. He was also clearly a product of his time, and one of the main catalysts for instituting a color barrier in Major League Baseball.

I respect his talent, I do not respect the man. Would probably sum up my feelings the best.

I think that's a fairly universal view of the man. I think his role in establishing the color barrier is so substantial that it (rightly) overshadows his on-field performance. Product of his time or not, he was a vile human, and plenty of collectors make the deliberate choice not to collect his cards.

[fkm_bky]

Originally Posted by skelly423

I think that's a fairly universal view of the man. I think his role in establishing the color barrier is so substantial that it (rightly) overshadows his on-field performance. Product of his time or not, he was a vile human, and plenty of collectors make the deliberate choice not to collect his cards.

+1

I have no issue with those who collect him or share his cards on the board. There are plenty of terrible human beings who have their pictures on little pieces of cardboard. With that said won't ever own one of his cards, but that's my choice.

Bill

[jthorst75]

I'll gladly show my only Cap

[robertsmithnocure]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Why honor the guy who was so instrumental in instituting the color barrier in baseball?

Why do you have him as your avatar?

Isn’t the best 19th century card the N172 Old Judge Anson in Uniform?

[Orioles1954]

What differentiates Anson from Cobb, Chase and other “men of their times” is that only one was instrumental in a “gentleman’s agreement” that barred thousands of Black ball players and denied them a livelihood. These days we sometimes read of institutional racism and it doesn’t really mean much. However, a 60-year ban is exactly what Anson perpetuated hook, line and sinker.

[GaryPassamonte]

Anson surely played a role in segregating baseball, but there is a lot of blame falling on those who ran baseball for the next 60 years. Is Anson any worse than those who came after him?

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

These days we sometimes read of institutional racism and it doesn’t really mean much.

The fact that black men in the US are now allowed to do things they were previously prevented by white men from doing does not mean that institutional racism in the US no longer exists.

[RUKen]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

What differentiates Anson from Cobb, Chase and other “men of their times” is that only one was instrumental in a “gentleman’s agreement” that barred thousands of Black ball players and denied them a livelihood. ...a 60-year ban is exactly what Anson perpetuated hook, line and sinker.

Anson was a player and team captain who refused to allow his team to play exhibition games against teams from other leagues who would put a black player on the field. Many professional ballplayers were bigots who would go out of their way to injure black players on opposing teams, but most did not have the financial security of Anson to refuse to play with or against a black man. The rules of organized baseball, written and unwritten, for league play were devised by executives and team owners, not players, who were generally powerless. There is little justification to pin the exclusion of African-Americans from organized baseball through the mid 1940s on Anson, who last played in 1897, last managed in 1898, and died in 1922.