Bill Lange
William Alexander "Bill" Lange ( /ˈlæŋ/; June 6, 1871 – July 23, 1950), also known as "Little Eva", was an American Major League Baseball center fielder, who played his entire seven-year career for the Chicago Colts and Orphans from 1893 to 1899. During his time in the Majors, he once led the National League in stolen bases, and was among the seasonal leaders in several other offensive categories including home runs, and batting 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. 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 successful businessman after his retirement from baseball. In addition to his success in real estate and insurance, 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 also scouting for undiscovered talent.
Read more about Bill Lange: Early Life, Major League Career, Retirement, Post-career
Famous quotes containing the words bill and/or lange:
“The first year was critical to my assessment of myself as a person. It forced me to realize that, like being married, having children is not an end in itself. You don’t at last arrive at being a parent and suddenly feel satisfied and joyful. It is a constantly reopening adventure.”
—Anonymous Mother. From the Boston Women’s Health Book Collection. Quoted in The Joys of Having a Child, by Bill and Gloria Adler (1993)
“We do not regard Englishmen as foreigners. We look on them only as rather mad Norwegians.”
—Halvard Lange (b. 1918)