page_title: Count Campau
section_title: St. Louis Browns
hierarchical_section_title: Count Campau / Professional baseball career / St. Louis Browns
caption_attribution_description: English: Drawing of Charles C. Campau
context_page_description: Charles Columbus "Count" Campau was an American professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball from 1888 through 1894 for the Detroit Wolverines, St. Louis Browns, and Washington Senators. He was the American Association's home run leader in 1890 and was also the Browns' manager for 41 games that season.
  Campau was also a player and sometimes a manager in minor league baseball for 19 years, including stints with the New Orleans Pelicans, Kansas City Blues, Detroit Tigers/Wolverines, Seattle Yannigans/Rainmakers, Grand Rapids Bob-o-links, Rochester Bronchos, and Binghamton Bingoes. Although minor league records from the 1880s and 1890s are incomplete, Campau is known to have tallied at least 2,115 hits, 1,305 runs, 597 stolen bases, 157 triples, and 125 home runs in his minor league career.
context_section_description: After beginning the 1890 season with Detroit, Campau returned to the major leagues with the St. Louis Browns of the American Association.  He appeared in 75 games for the Browns, all but one in the outfield.  Campau led the league with nine home runs and was among the league leaders with a .513 slugging percentage (2nd), .322 batting average (9th), 12 triples (8th), and 75 RBIs (9th).  He also stole 36 bases, contributing to his having the best sabermetric power-speed number in the league.  During the month of July, Campau established a major league record (still intact) with 15 consecutive multi-hit games.
  
  In July 1890, Campau was named player-manager.  In late July, team owner Chris von der Ahe praised Campau as "the best captain I have ever had", "a general on the field and a gentleman off of it."  Camapu compiled a 27-14 record as the team's manager but was stripped of the title in late August.  According to an account published at the time in the Sporting Life, Campau took seriously his responsibility to look after the players while they were off the field.  He stayed up late, watching over the club, and fined several players heavily for violations of the rules.  The fines caused dissent, and ultimately Campau's "resignation was asked for, more to make peace in the family than anything else."  At least one baseball writer perceived the unfairness of von der Ahe's removing Campau for enforcing rules established by von der Ahe
  There is gratitude for you. Von der Ahe tells his manager to do certain things and because he does it he is humiliated by being removed and a more 'agreeable' man put in his place. I know Charley Campau, and a bigger-hearted or more honorable man never lived.
  Shortly after being removed as manager, Campau hit an inside-the-park grand slam against the first-place Louisville Colonels that prompted a tremendous show of support from the St. Louis crowd.  When Campau stepped to the plate a fan called out for a home run, and Campau smiled and complied.  A fan threw a cigar to Campau, and "then the fun commenced."  The crowd of 13,000 showed their appreciation as it "rained cigars steadily for ten minutes.  Long ones, short ones, thin ones, thick ones, good ones and bad ones were all mixed up on the grass together."  Campau joked that he would pack them away and start a store of his own.
  After the season ended, St. Louis team owner von der Ahe released Campau in an attempt to cut costs, leading the Sporting Life to write
  The St. Louis Club has released that excellent player, Count Campau, to reduce expenses. Von der Ahe can't reach first place now, and is cutting off his highest salaried men. With Fuller, McCarthy and others missing next year, he'll regret letting such a man as Campau go.
  Three weeks later, Campau announced that he had secured a job as a brakeman with the Michigan Central Railroad.
caption: Charles C. Campau on the front page of The Sporting Life, October 4, 1890
exif: {}