Gore was signed by Chicago’s Cap Anson after playing for a local New England team in an exhibition against the White Stockings (later the Cubs). In 1880, his second season, Gore won the NL batting crown with a .360 mark (Anson’s .337 was second) and also led in slugging percentage (.463). Anson claimed that Gore was too much the playboy, however, and when Chicago lost the postseason championship series with St. Louis, the American Association pennant-winners, Gore was dispatched to the Gothams (later renamed the Giants).
Gore led the NL in runs scored in 1881-82, and in walks three times. Scoring over 100 runs seven times, with a high of 150 (1886), he finished his career with 1,327 runs in 1,310 games. Gore, Harry Stovey, and Billy Hamilton are the only players (4,000 at-bats) with more runs scored than games. Gore set a ML record on June 25, 1881, when he had seven stolen bases in a game. On July 9, 1885, he hit two doubles and three triples to set a since-tied ML record of five extra-base hits in a game, and he went 6-for-6 on May 7, 1880. He was called Piano Legs for his bulging calf muscles.