Norwegian-born American baseball player (1873?1949)
Baseball player
John Joseph Anderson
(December 14, 1873 ? July 23, 1949), nicknamed "
Honest John
", was a Norwegian-born American
professional baseball
first baseman
and
outfielder
. He played fourteen seasons in
Major League Baseball
(MLB) for the
Brooklyn Grooms/Bridegrooms
,
Washington Senators
,
Brooklyn Bridegrooms/Superbas
,
Milwaukee Brewers/St. Louis Browns
,
New York Highlanders
,
Washington Senators
, and
Chicago White Sox
between 1894 and 1908.
[1]
Anderson was the
first of only three
Major League baseball players to have been born in Norway. He first appeared in the National League in
1894
, when he signed with the
Brooklyn Grooms
. He spent the next three full seasons with Brooklyn and was primarily used as an outfielder, and
batted
over .300 in both
1896
and
1897
.
During the
1898
season, he was sold to the
Washington Senators
, only to be sold back to Brooklyn four months later. Nevertheless, he managed to have one of his best seasons, leading the National League with 22
triples
and also leading the league in
slugging percentage
and
extra-base hits
. Anderson stayed in Brooklyn for the
1899
before being purchased by the
Milwaukee Brewers
of the newly formed American League.
Anderson was one of the league's best hitters in the AL's first year as a Major League in
1901
. (In
1900
, the American League was still considered a
minor league
.) As the Brewers' first baseman, he finished second in the league in
base hits
and
doubles
, trailing only
Nap Lajoie
in both categories, ranked third in
runs batted in
behind Lajoie and
Buck Freeman
, and was sixth in the league with a .330 average.
He stayed with the franchise when it relocated to
St. Louis
in
1902
to become the Browns. He played two seasons in St. Louis and recorded virtually identical .284 batting averages in those years.
On September 24, 1903, Anderson tried to steal second base when the base was already occupied. This particular mistake was often referred to as a "John Anderson play" in the early part of the century
[1]
Anderson was dealt to the
New York Highlanders
before the
1904
season in exchange for
Jack O'Connor
. He played one full season in New York and batted .278 with the club. He started the
1905
season in New York but was waived after a slow start. The
Washington Senators
(officially a different franchise from the team he played for in 1898) claimed him off of waivers, and he recovered to bat .279 on the season, good enough for ninth in the AL in the midst of the
dead-ball era
.
He remained in Washington for the next two seasons. In
1906
, Anderson tied for the American League lead in
stolen bases
with
Elmer Flick
. He left Washington after his contract was purchased by the
Chicago White Sox
for the
1908
season. Late that season, when the White Sox faced the
Cleveland Naps
with both involved in a tight pennant race, Anderson would prove to be the last out in the
second ever perfect game
in MLB's modern era, pitched by
Addie Joss
in a tight pitching duel that also saw Anderson's future Hall of Fame team mate
Ed Walsh
strikeout 15 and allow only one run. Anderson retired from the Major Leagues at the conclusion of the 1908 season.
Anderson retired with a .290 career average, 50 home runs, and 978 runs batted in. He also finished his career with 124 triples, currently tying him for 91st place all-time in that category.
He died at the age of 75 in
Worcester, Massachusetts
.
See also
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