| Bill Lange | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Center fielder | |
| Born:(1871-06-06)June 6, 1871 San Francisco, California, U.S. | |
| Died: July 23, 1950(1950-07-23) (aged 79) San Francisco, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 27, 1893, for the Chicago Colts | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 15, 1899, for the Chicago Orphans | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .330 |
| Runs batted in | 579 |
| Stolen bases | 400 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
William Alexander Lange (/ˈlæŋ/;[1] June 6, 1871 – July 23, 1950), also known as "Little Eva",[2] was an AmericanMajor League Baseballcenter fielder, who played his entire seven-year career for theChicago Colts and Orphans from1893 to1899. During his time in the Majors, he once led theNational League instolen bases, and was among the seasonal leaders in several other offensive categories includinghome runs, andbatting average.
Lange was noted for having a combination of great speed and power, especially for his size. His 6-foot-1-inch (1.85 m), 190-pound (86 kg) frame was considered large for his era.[3] He is best known for retiring from baseball during the prime of his career to get married, as his future father-in-law forbade his daughter to marry a baseball player. Despite the short-lived marriage, he refused all offers to return as a player.
He became a successfulbusinessman after his retirement from baseball. In addition to his success inreal estate andinsurance, he became a leading figure in Major League Baseball's efforts to generate interest in the game worldwide. He was enlisted by the leading baseball figures of the day to assist in establishing leagues in several European countries, that could eventually compete against American teams, while alsoscouting for undiscovered talent.
Born in thePresidio District[4] ofSan Francisco, California,[5] he ran away from home while still ingrammar school to live with his brother inPort Townsend, Washington.[4] It was from there that he moved up to playMinor League Baseball for the Seattle Reds of the Northwestern Baseball League in the early 1890s.[6] When the Northwestern League folded, Lange return the Bay area to play for the Oakland Colonels of the California League.[7] He played one season for the Colonels, then was signed by theChicago Colts of theNational League.[7]
Lange made his Major League debut on April 27,1893 for the Colts, and enjoyed a successful inaugural Major League season. He scored 92 times, hit eighthome runs, had 88runs batted in (RBIs), while also finishing seventh instolen bases with 47, andbatted .281. This was the only time he batted under .300 during his Major League career.[8] In the field that season, he played atsecond base, inright field andcenter field. He did not start playing center field exclusively until the following season.[5] Lange continued his success in1894 by raising his batting average to .328 and finishing fifth in the league with 65 stolen bases.[8]
Lange achieved his highest league rankings in1895. His .389 batting average was fifth in the league[8] and is still the top individual season average in Chicago Cubs history.[9] He also finished second in the league in stolen bases with 67, fifth in home runs with 10, fifth inon-base percentage with .456, hit 16 triples, scored 120 runs, and batted in 98 RBIs.[8]
Lange had several notable moments during the1896 season. On July 4, he stole five bases in one game against theLouisville Colonels,[10] although it was two stolen bases short of the record of seven set byGeorge Gore andBilly Hamilton.[11] During a game on August 31, he entered baseball lore with a feat that he never actually performed. The game was scoreless in the bottom of the 10thinning when Lange made a diving catch in center field to keep the game scoreless. Later in the inning, Chicago'sfirst baseman,George Decker attempted to field a thrown ball from third basemanBarry McCormick, but it bounced off and broke his wrist instead. In an effort to get Decker to the hospital adjacent theballpark, his teammates knocked down several wooden slats of the outfieldfence to expedite his journey. However, the two events were confused and it became legend that Lange had crashed through the fence making that acrobatic catch in tenth.[12] Lange finished the season with a .326 batting average, while also stealing 84 bases, second in the league, and finished eighth in league with 16 triples.[8]
His success continued into the1897 season, as he batted .340, scored 119 runs, and led the league in stolen bases for the only time in his career.[8] His production dropped his last two seasons in the Majors as his runs scored fell to 79 in1898 and 81 in1899, although he still kept his batting averages of .319 and .325 respectively.[5]
While he was very popular, his career as a baseball player was not without controversy. He was ejected from a game on at least two occasions,[5] one of which occurred on May 23,1897 when he had an on-field fight withWashington Senators second basemanJohn O'Brien.[13] On September 16, 1899, in a game against theBrooklyn Superbas,umpireEd Swartwood called the game because of darkness with Brooklyn up by two runs. Lange, and other Chicago player surrounded Swartwood and proceeded to "knock him around", with Lange notably "tweaking" the umpire's ear.[14]
Lange finished his career on October 15, 1899, having announced a few days earlier his intention to retire after the season. His team played adoubleheader that day, winning 7–0 against theSt. Louis Perfectos, then losing to the Louisville Colonels later that day in a game shortened by darkness.[3]
He retired from the game at age 28, during the prime of his career, so he could marry a woman whose father forbade her to marry a baseball player.[3] In the eyes of the 19th century public, baseball players were popular, but were often looked upon as low class. Lange's future wife was from his hometown of San Francisco, and her family was very well-to-do. Also, with the prospect of entering into the world of real estate and insurance, he could make much more money than he did as a ball player.[15] Though the marriage ended in a divorce a short time later,[3] he would not take any offers to return to Major League Baseball, despite Chicago's salary offer of $3,500 that would have made him the highest paid player in the league.[15] Although his career lasted only seven years, he finished as the decade leader among 1890s Chicago players in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and stolen bases.[16]
In 813 games over seven seasons, Lange posted a .330batting average (1056-for-3202) with 691runs, 39home runs, 579RBI, 400stolen bases and 350bases on balls. He finished his career with a .932fielding percentage.[8]
Lange became successful in bothreal estate andinsurance in his hometown of San Francisco after he retired from baseball.[17] Lange is also credited in several sources, as being the person who discovered future Chicago Cubsfirst baseman,manager, andHall of Famer,Frank Chance, after having watched him play for the localFresno, California team during the off-season of 1897.[18] Lange had recommended Chance to the team owner,Jim Hart, but Hart disputed this claim, saying that Henry Harris had recommended Chance to him while Harris was an owner of a San Francisco team in the fall of 1897.[19]
In1907, the California State League, a minor league, was declared by organized baseball to be an "outlaw" league. Organized baseball accused the league of harboring players from the Majors Leagues who had violated thereserve clause to join a number of their teams.[14] The league had become a rival to the already establishedPacific Coast League (PCL), who, after being an "outlaw" league themselves, had signed the National Agreement with organized baseball, agreeing that they would not harbor blacklisted or banned players from the Major Leagues.[14] TheNational Commission decided that the best way to deal with this situation was to dissolve this outlaw league. They did this by lifting the blacklist on any player already in the State League, which would create competition among all known leagues, for these players. This commission enlisted Lange, who used his influence with the sports editors in the local area to speed up the process. The attempt worked as the PCL successfully lured theSacramento, California team into joining their league, with many of the players soon to follow.[14]
Later,John McGraw of theNew York Giants enlisted Lange as his chief European baseballscout, hoping to discover any hidden talent in that untapped market. In1919,Ban Johnson, theAmerican League president enlisted Lange as his chief organizer of baseball teams in Europe, mainly in England, France, Belgium, and Italy.[17] Johnson's plan was for Lange to evaluate talent and establish an International Baseball League that could compete against theAmerican Leaguepennant winning team in an effort to generate greater interest in the game.[17] Lange became part of the board of directors at theYMCA, which helped fund the expedition. Additionally,Washington Senators ownerClark Griffith donated $40,000 worth of equipment to assist in supplying the new league.
Lange died at the age of 79 in his hometown of San Francisco, and is interred at theHoly Cross Cemetery inColma, California.[5] Two of his nephews played Major League ball as well,Ren, andGeorge "Highpockets" Kelly.[5][20] George later gained induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in1973.[21]