John Anderson (outfielder)

John Anderson
Outfielder/First baseman
Born: (1873-12-14)December 14, 1873 Sarpsborg, Norway
Died: Worcester, Massachusetts
Batted: Switch Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 8, 1894, for the Brooklyn Grooms
Last MLB appearance
October 2, 1908, for the Chicago White Sox
MLB statistics
Batting average	.290
Home runs	49
RBIs	976
Stolen bases	338
Teams
Brooklyn Grooms/Bridegrooms (1894–1898) Washington Senators (1898) Brooklyn Bridegrooms/Superbas (1898–1899) Milwaukee Brewers/St. Louis Browns (1901–1903) New York Highlanders (1904–1905) Washington Senators (1905–1907) Chicago White Sox (1908)
Career highlights and awards
AL stolen base leader (1906)

John Joseph Anderson (December 14, 1873 in Sarpsborg, Norway – July 23, 1949) was a Major League outfielder and first baseman. Nicknamed "Honest John", Anderson played for six seasons in the National League from 1894 to 1899 and then in the American League from 1900 to 1908.

Anderson was born in Sarpsborg, Norway; he was the first of only three Major League baseball players to have ever been born in the country. 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. He played for one season with the Pale Hose to end his career in the Major Leagues.

Anderson retired with a .290 career average, 49 home runs, and 976 runs batted in. He also finished his career with 124 triples, currently tying him for 90th place all-time in that category.

He died at the age of 74 in Worcester, Massachusetts.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball players with 100 triples
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
• List of Major League Baseball stolen base champions
• List of Major League Baseball triples champions

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
• John Anderson at BaseballLibrary.com.
• John Anderson at Retrosheet.