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Bowing out on Top JAMES D Thirty-six men batted .300 in their final season. Bowing Out On Top JAMES D. SMITH III I N THE EARLY MONTHS of1926, Ty Cobb recount, in my tombstone: 'here lies a man that batted .300.' " Pop his autobiography, My Life in Baseball, the great out- Anson, of course, had finished his career on that note, fielder was obliged to submit to eye surgery at the]ohns batting .302 at the ripe age of forty-six. Hopkins Clinic in Baltimore: "the dust of a thousand But how many have gone out that way, clearing that ballfields was in my eyes." Shortly before he was admit- time-honored barrier, satisfied with a strong effort at the ted, a poem appeared in one of the local papers: plate during their final major league campaign? And, for those closing theirbigleague careers in that manner, how The curtain's going to drop, old chap was such a decision made-what marked the end? These For Time has taken toll, two questions provide the starting point for a glance And you could never play a part backward into b. century of baseball history. Except the leading role. At the outset, four points must be made. As implied You might go on and play and play, above, our investigation does notbegin with any so-called But why go on for folks to say "modern era" ofbaseball (1893? 1900? 1901? 1903?). In "There's old Ty Cobb, still on the job, 1968, the Special Baseball Records Committee declared But not the Cobb of yesterday." that major league baseball has been played in America since 1876. Toapproach completeness, even with changes The record shows that the Georgia Peach not only played in the game and some records still being researched, out that season, but added two more with the Philadelphia story must begin at the beginning and recognize the A's before hanging up his spikes--batting over .300 each continuities. time. The point, however, is well taken: it has been said Second, since many players have appeared briefly for a that, amid all the physical and mental exertion, the "cup of coffee" on major league rosters, or played only toughest thing for a ballplayer is knowing when to quit. occasionally, some criterion of involvement is necessary. And, as does no other sport, baseball often provides a For our purposes, the measure ofa "regular" player is not decisive statistical indication of that moment when the number of games, but a number of plate appearances sun has dropped below the horizon of a career. equal to 2.5 times the scheduled games.That is, for a The storyis told ofanother Hall ofFarner, Adrian (Cap) 154-game season, 385 appearances provide a cut-off Anson, relating'an incident which occurred a few years point; for 1877, when the schedule called for 60 games, before his death in 1922. The old Chicago veteran was the figure becomes 150 plate appearances. involved in a Windy City accident which nearly claimed Next, not all players end their careers voluntarily- his life. This prompted a close friend, halfjokingly, to ask what he would like as an epitaph when the time came for him to be laid to rest. With little hesitation, the reply JAMES D. SMITH III is a Ph.D. candidate at Harvard and has came: "I guess one line will be enough-just write this on contributed to historical, religious, and sports publications. A REVIEW OF BASEBALL HISTORY 73 some do; most don't (1). Some leave the game for health Eight players played regularly in their final campaign, reasons (2). A few have been permanently suspended- batted .300, and retired voluntarily from organized barred from major league ball (3). Far more frequently, baseball. players have continued their careersinOrganizedBaseball Cap Anson has been above, retiringin1897 by catching on with a minor league team (4). after twenty-two legendaryseasons with Chicago. In An- Finally, there is a story behind each of the thirty-six son's obituary, Grantland Rice best summed up what lay regulars who batted .300 in his last major league season; behind his retirement: "The light in his batting eye was four of these-{)ne from each of the categories listed still carryinga bright glowwhen his ancient arms and legs above-will serve to epitomize the group. And within had at last given away and ended his career upon the each group, four others will have their tales told in brief. field." His involvement with baseball was to continue in a Some players are familiar, others obscure-but all reach . variety ofmanagement and business ventures, including beyond the statistics to provide a brief glimpse of the an unhappy stint as manager ofAndrew Freedman's New wealth of baseball history. York Giants. YEAR NAME (AGE, OCT. 1) G AB RH2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVEPOS. 1877 Hall, George (28) 61 269 53 87 15 8026 12 19 --- .323 0 1884 Moore, Harry (?) 111 461 77 155 23 5 1 --- 19 --- --- .336 0 1886 Lewis, Fred (27) 77 324 72 103 14 62--- 20 --- --- .318 0 1890 Orr, Dave (31) 107 464 89 173 32 13 6 124 30 11 10 .373 1 1890 Roseman, Chief (34) 82 310 47 105 26 02--- 30 --- 7 .339 0 1893 Wise, Sam (36) 122 521 102 162 27 17 5 77 49 27 20 .311 2/3 1893 Larkin, Henry (30) 81 319 54 101 20 3473 50 5 1 .317 1 1894 Ward, Piggy (27) 98 347 86 105 11 7 0 36 80 31 41 .303 2 1895 Tebeau, George (32) 91 337 57 110 16 6068 50 28 12 .326 0/1 1897 Anson, Cap (46) 114 424 67 128 17 3375 60 --- 11 .302 1 Werden, Perry (32) 131 506 76 153 21 14 5 83 40 --- 14 .302 1 1899 Lange, Bill (28) 107 416 81 135 21 7158 38 --- 41 .325 0 1901 Dungan, Sam (35) 138 559 70 179 26 12 1 73 40 --- 9 .320 0/1 Waldron, Irv (25) 141 598 102 186 22 9051 38 --- 20 .311 0 1902 Beck, Erve (24) 89 349 42 105 14 3342 7 --- 5 .301 1/2 1903 Keister, Bill (29) 100 400 53 128 27 7363 14 --- 11 .320 0 1915 Campbell, Yin (27) 127 525 7/:l 163 18 10 1 44 29 --- 24 .310 0 Evans, Steve (30) 151 556 94 171 34 10 4 67 63 --- 15 .308 0 1920 Chapman, Ray (29) 111 435 97 132 27 8349 52 38 13 .303 S Felsch, Happy (29) 142 556 88 188 40 15 14 115 37 25 8 .338 0 Jackson, Joe (33) 146 570 105 218 42 20 12 121 56 14 9 .382 0 Weaver, Buck (30) 151 630 104 210 35 8275 28 23 19 .333 3 1924 Pratt, Del (36) 121 429 56 130 32 3177 31 10 6 .303 1/2 1926 Youngs, Ross (29) 95 372 62 114 12 5443 37 19 21 .306 0 1927 Tobin, Jack (35) 111 374 52 116 18 3240 36 9 5 .310 0 1928 Cobb, Ty (41) 95 353 54 114 27 4 1 40 34 16 5 .323 0 1930 Sisler, George (37) 116 431 54 133 15 7 3 67 23 15 7 .309 1 Walker, Curt (34) 134 472 74 145 26 11 8 51 64 30 4 .307 0 1931 Arlett, Buzz (32) 121 418 65 131 26 7 18 72 45 39 3 .313 0 1933 Hodapp, John (28) 115 413 55 129 27 5354 33 14 1 .312 2/1 1945 Cuccinello, Tony (37) 118 402 50 124 25 3249 45 19 6 .308 3 Dickshot, John (35) 130 486 74 147 19 10 4 58 48 41 18 .302 0 1960 Williams, Ted (42) 113 310 56 98 15 0 29 72 75 41 1 .316 0 1962 Ashburn, Richie (35) 135 389 60 119 73728 81 39 12 .306 0 1972 Clemente, Rob (38) 102 378 68 118 19 7 10 60 29 49 o .312 0 1979 Brock, Lou (40) 120 405 56 123 15 4538 23 43 21 .304 0 74 THE NATIONAL PASTIME Bill Lange stands as the finest everyday, all-around player to retire from baseball at the peak of his career. Born in San Francisco, he developed there both his base- ball skills and a lifelong attachment to the Bay Area. In 1893, aged twenty-one, he began his seven-season major league career with the Chicago Colts. By the time player-manager Anson retired, Lange was already being hailed by some as "the greatest player of the age." His physical tools were impressive. In an age of gen- erally smaller players, he stood 6'2" and weighed over 200 pounds. Moreover, he was lightning fast as a runner, as well as being agile in the outfield .. The 1897 season was vintage Lange. In the spring, he was helping to coach the Stanford baseball team. On March 5, he received a telegram summoning him to the Colts' training camp in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Deter- mined to remain in the West until local favorite Gentle- man Jim Corbett's fight with Bob Fitzsimmons in Nevada, his first stalling tactic was to send a wire refusing to report until he received a $500 raise. But the raise was quickly granted (provided he come immediately and tell no one of the bonus). The fight was scheduled for March 17. So he managed to "sprain his ankle," wiring the news on March 12 that it should be all right in a week.
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