Adrian “Cap” Anson was a dominant player for 26 seasons during the early days of baseball in the latter part of the 19th century and his career totals in RBI, runs, hits, singles and doubles, are still Chicago Cubs’ franchise records to this day in the early 21st century. Four months after retiring from the Cubs (who were then known as the Chicago Colts) in 1897, Anson was presented with this exquisite sterling silver bat to honor his numerous contributions as one of the game’s premier players of that era by his alma mater Notre Dame. 19th century baseball items are extremely rare and Goldin Auctions is proud to present this truly historical piece of early baseball history.

     Inscribed on the barrel of this sterling silver bat is “Presented to Adrian C. Anson by the Students of Notre Dame University as a testimony of their pride in him as one of the earliest and greatest athletes of their Alma Mater, February twenty second Eighteen Hundred and Ninety Eight”. There are intricate design patterns that surround the upper and lower barrel and an image of Anson in full uniform standing with his left hand on his hip and his right hand leaning on a bat adding to the detail of this item adds to the uniqueness of this bat. This presentation bat was obtained directly from the Anson family, more specifically the great-grandson of Cap Anson Darryl Sherwood, as part of Cap Anson memorabilia sold in 2005 and 2006. This item comes from the Anson Estate and a LOA from PSA/DNA (1B02069) that details this information accompanies this item.

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