Indisputably great ballplayer, rightly an inner-circle hall of famer. He played in an era where the sport was more violent and rough, and was an intense competitor who wouldn't back down from anyone.
Off the field, I think he was a product of his era. Raised in the post civil war south, he was probably on some level a white supremacist. I'm not sure his views on race were any worse than most of his teammates or peers. I've heard interviews where he spoke highly of Willie Mays, and have seen the famous picture of him speaking to Hank Aaron about hitting. That said, I don't think he was a saint either.
I think he was a complicated man, probably a cold and unfriendly person, but not the monster portrayed in Al Stump's biography. In terms of baseball villains, I certainly wouldn't raise him to the level of Cap Anson
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