Baseball Hall of Famer who played a record 27 consecutive seasons, and was regarded as one of the greatest players of his era and one of the first superstars of the game. He still holds several Chicago Cubs franchise records, including most career RBI, runs, hits, singles, and doubles. Rare ALS signed “A. C. Anson,” one page both sides, 5.75 x 8.5, January 31, 1907. Letter to Carroll E. Cherry and Adele, Anson’s daughter. In full: “Enclosed you will find check for two hundred dollars. I have an appointment with W. I. McCray of People’s Gas Light Co. who I hope to get some money from and I will then send you the other three hundred. I think you will be able to hold the wolves off for a time with the $200.00. Drop me a line and let me know the worst and I will try and meet it. I had my banker out to my house looking at it to see if it with the stock and bonds in the Colts…would be a nough [sic] so they would release my … property so I could use it to borrow the money to build a grandstand. I believe I will put through the ball scheme.” Scattered light soiling, and show-through from writing on opposing sides, otherwise fine condition.
Two years earlier, a financially strapped Anson cashed in his shares in the Cubs and settled some debts, using the additional funds to acquire a semi-pro ball club in Chicago that came to be known as Anson’s Colts. By 1907, Anson’s financial situation was still tenuous, but he had a plan—the “ball scheme” mentioned here to his daughter that included raising sufficient funds to build a grandstand at the small ballpark he had constructed on Chicago’s south side, and appearing in a few games in 1907 in an attempt to boost attendance. In the end, however, the independent City League proved to be no match for big league ball game, and Anson filed for bankruptcy in 1908, selling the Colts in 1909. Handwritten material of any kind from Anson is scarce, with the topics referenced here—his financial predicament and his fledgling ball club—making the piece all the more desirable. Pre-certified Steve Grad/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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