Bill Lange - Major League Career

Major League Career

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 eight home runs, had 88 runs batted in (RBIs), while also finishing seventh in stolen bases with 47, and batted .281. This was the only time he batted under .300 during his Major League career. In the field that season, he played at second base, in right field and center field. He did not start playing center field exclusively until the following season. Lange continued his success in 1894 by raising his batting average to .328 and finishing fifth in the league with 65 stolen bases.

Lange achieved his highest league rankings in 1895. His .389 batting average was fifth in the league and is still the top individual season average in Chicago Cubs's history. He also finished second in the league in stolen bases with 67, fifth in home runs with 10, fifth in on-base percentage with .456, hit 16 triples, scored 120 runs, and batted in 98 RBIs.

Lange had several notable moments during the 1896 season. On July 4, he stole five bases in one game against the Louisville Colonels, although it was two stolen bases short of the record of seven set by George Gore and Billy Hamilton. 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 10th inning when Lange made a diving catch in center field to keep the game scoreless. Later in the inning, Chicago's first baseman, George Decker attempted to field a thrown ball from third baseman Barry McCormick, but it bounced off and broke his wrist instead. In an effort to get Decker to the hospital adjacent the ballpark, his teammates knocked down several wooden slats of the outfield fence 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. 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.

His success continued into the 1897 season, as he batted .340, scored 119 runs, and led the league in stolen bases for the only time in his career. His production dropped his last two seasons in the Majors as his runs scored fell to 79 in 1898 and 81 in 1899, although he still kept his batting averages of .319 and .325 respectively.

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, one of which occurred on May 23, 1897 when he had an on-field fight with Washington Senators second baseman John O'Brien. On September 16, 1899, in a game against the Brooklyn Superbas, umpire Ed 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.