Honus Wagner
Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, mostly with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Nicknamed "the Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage, Wagner was a prototypical five-tool player, known for being a versatile defender who could combine a strong throwing arm with the ability to play almost any defensive position as well as being capable of hitting for average and for power. He is widely regarded as the greatest shortstop of all time. In, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members.
At the age of 15, Wagner began his professional baseball career in the minor leagues in 1889. After being noticed by a talent scout, he made his MLB debut in 1897 with the Louisville Colonels. Wagner excelled at playing any position both in the infield and in the outfield, eventually becoming a regular shortstop by 1903. After the Colonels folded in 1899, club president Barney Dreyfuss bought the Pittsburgh Pirates and brought along Wagner with him, where he would spend the rest of his career. He quickly established himself as the National League's premier star. Wagner won a joint-record eight NL batting titles, led the league in slugging six times, stolen bases five times and RBIs four times. Wagner played at least ten career games at every position except pitcher and catcher. With Pittsburgh, Wagner appeared in two World Series, including the inaugural 1903 World Series and 1909 World Series, the latter of which was the Pirates' first World Series title.
After a brief stint as player-manager, Wagner retired in 1917 having set numerous MLB career records, extra-base hits, most runs scored, most games played, most hits, most total bases, and most at-bats, all of which would be broken by Ty Cobb in the following decade. He also retained many other NL career records for decades, including most triples, most stolen bases in the modern era until 1927, most runs scored until 1944, most doubles until 1958, and most hits until 1962. Wagner still ranks in the top 10 for hits, doubles, triples, stolen bases, and WAR among all major league players; and among National League record holders, he maintains his ranking in the top 10 players for games played, at-bats, runs scored, runs batted in, and total bases.
Wagner remained involved with baseball after retirement, serving as a coach for the Pirates. During his tenure, he helped tutor future Hall of Famers Arky Vaughan and Ralph Kiner. He was widely praised by contemporary players and journalists alike for his playing ability. Wagner is also the subject of the T206 Honus Wagner baseball card, one of the rarest baseball cards in existence. Its production ran from 1909 to 1911, leaving only about 50 known copies in circulation. In 2021, a T206 Honus Wagner sold for $6.6 million, making it the second-most expensive sports card in history.
Early life
Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner was born on February 24, 1874, to German immigrants Peter and Katheryn Wagner in the borough of Chartiers, in what is now Carnegie, Pennsylvania.Wagner was one of nine children. As a child, he was called Hans by his mother, which later evolved into Honus. "Hans" was also an alternate nickname during his major league career. Wagner dropped out of school at age 12 to help his father and brothers in the coal mines. In their free time, he and his brothers played sandlot baseball and developed their skills to such an extent that three of his brothers went on to become professionals as well.
According to Wagner's own testimony, the name "Honus" was a shortened form of "Johannes", adopted by baseball teammates as a nickname.
Wagner's older brother, Albert "Butts" Wagner, who had a brief major league career himself, is often credited with getting Honus his first tryout. Butts persuaded his manager to take a look at his younger brother. Following his brother, Wagner trained to be a barber before becoming successful in baseball.
In 1916, Wagner married Bessie Baine Smith, and the couple had three daughters: Elva Katrina, Betty Baine, and Virginia Mae.
Professional career
Early career
Honus' brother Albert "Butts" Wagner was considered the ballplayer of the family. Albert suggested Honus in 1895 when his Inter-State League team was in need of help. Wagner played for five teams in that first year, in three different leagues over the course of 80 games.In 1896, Ed Barrow played with Wagner with the Wheeling Nailers, and decided to take him with him to his next team, the Paterson Silk Weavers. Barrow proved to be a good talent scout, as Wagner could play wherever he was needed, including all three bases and the outfield. Wagner hit.313 for Paterson in 1896 and.375 in 74 games in 1897.
Louisville Colonels (1897–1899)
Recognizing that Wagner should be playing at the highest level, Barrow contacted the Louisville Colonels, who had finished last in the National League in 1896 with a record of 38–93. They were doing better in 1897 when Barrow persuaded club president Barney Dreyfuss, club secretary Harry Pulliam, and outfielder-manager Fred Clarke to go to Paterson to see Wagner play. Dreyfuss and Clarke were not impressed with the awkward-looking man, not surprising, as Wagner was oddly built: he was tall, weighed, and had a barrel chest, massive shoulders, heavily muscled arms, huge hands, and incredibly bowed legs that deprived him of any grace and several inches of height. Pulliam, though, persuaded Dreyfuss and Clarke to take a chance on him. Wagner debuted with Louisville on July 19 and hit.338 in 61 games.By his second season, Wagner was already one of the best hitters in the National League although he came up short a percentage point from finishing the season at.300. Following the season, the NL contracted from twelve to eight teams, with the Colonels one of four teams eliminated. Owner Barney Dreyfuss, who had purchased half ownership in the Pirates, took Wagner and many of his other top players with him to the Pittsburgh team.
Tommy Leach recounted his impressions of joining the Louisville club in 1898 with hopes of winning the starting job at third base:
Pittsburgh Pirates (1900–1917)
The move to the Pittsburgh Pirates signified Wagner's emergence as a premier hitter. In 1900, Wagner won his first batting championship with a.381 mark and also led the league in doubles, triples, and slugging percentage, all of which were career highs. For the next nine seasons, Wagner's average did not fall below.330.In, the American League began to sign National League players, creating a bidding war, which depleted the league of many talented players. Wagner was offered a $20,000 contract by the Chicago White Sox, but turned it down and continued to play with the Pirates.
Prior to 1904, Wagner had played several positions but settled into the shortstop role full-time that season, where he became a skilled fielder. His biography on BaseballBiography.com describes his gritty style:
Bowlegged, barrel-chested, long-limbed... he was often likened to an octopus. When he fielded grounders, his huge hands also collected large scoops of infield dirt, which accompanied his throws to first like the tail of a comet.
In 1898, Wagner won a distance contest in Louisville by throwing a baseball more than. In August 1899, he became the first player credited with stealing second base, third, and home in succession under the new rule differentiating between advanced bases and stolen bases. He repeated the feat in 1902, 1907, and 1909. Wagner retired with the National League record for most steals of home, which was broken by Greasy Neale in 1922.
In September 1905, Wagner signed a contract to produce the first bat with a player's signature, the Louisville Slugger, becoming the first sportsperson to endorse a commercial product; the Honus Wagner was to become a best-seller for years. One month later, with one point separating him from Reds center fielder Cy Seymour for the batting title, Wagner fell short in a head-to-head matchup on the final day of the season, with Seymour collecting four hits to Wagner's two, as contemporary press reports stated that the fans were far more interested in the Seymour-Wagner battle than in the outcome of the games.
Shortly before the season, Wagner retired. In desperation, owner Barney Dreyfuss offered him $10,000 per year, making him the highest-paid Pirate for many years. He returned to the Pirates early in the 1908 season, and finished two home runs short of the league's Triple Crown, leading the league in hitting ‚ hits‚ total bases‚ doubles‚ triples‚ RBI‚ and stolen bases. Wagner took over the batting lead from the New York Giants' flamboyant outfielder Mike Donlin during a July 25 game against the Giants and their star pitcher Christy Mathewson. Wagner was 5-for-5 in the game; after each hit, he reportedly held up another finger to Donlin, who went hitless, and who had just beaten runner-up Wagner by a wide margin in a "most popular player" poll.
Bill James cites Wagner's 1908 season as the greatest single season for any player in baseball history. He notes that the league ERA of 2.35 was the lowest of the dead-ball era and about half of the ERAs of modern baseball. Since Wagner hit.354 with 109 RBI in an environment when half as many runs were scored as today, he asks, "if you had a Gold Glove shortstop, like Wagner, who drove in 218 runs, what would he be worth?"
He was the first winner of The World's Championship Batsman's Cup, in 1908, made by Welshman George "Honey Boy" Evans.
1903 and 1909 World Series
In, the Pirates played the Boston Americans in Major League Baseball's inaugural World Series. Wagner, by this point, was an established star and much was expected of him, especially since the Pirates' starting rotation was badly depleted by injury. Wagner himself was not at full strength and hit only.222 for the series. The Americans, meanwhile, had some fans, called the "Royal Rooters" who, whenever Wagner came to bat, sang "Honus, Honus, why do you hit so badly?" to the tune of "Tessie", a popular song of the day. The Rooters, led by Boston bartender Michael "Nuf Ced" McGreevy, even traveled to Pittsburgh to continue their heckling. Pittsburgh lost in the best-of-nine series, five games to three, to a team led by pitchers Cy Young and Bill Dinneen and third baseman–manager Jimmy Collins. Christy Mathewson, in his book "Pitching in a Pinch" wrote: "For some time after "Hans" Wagner's poor showing in the world's series of 1903... it was reported that he was "yellow". This grieved the Dutchman deeply, for I don't know a ballplayer in either league who would assay less quit to the ton than Wagner... This was the real tragedy in Wagner's career. Notwithstanding his stolid appearance, he is a sensitive player, and this has hurt him more than anything else in his life ever has."Wagner was distraught by his performance. The following spring, he refused to send his portrait to a "Hall of Fame" for batting champions, citing his play in the World Series. "I was too bum last year", he wrote. "I was a joke in that Boston-Pittsburgh Series. What does it profit a man to hammer along and make a few hits when they are not needed only to fall down when it comes to a pinch? I would be ashamed to have my picture up now."
Wagner and the Pirates were given a chance to prove that they were not "yellow" in. The Pirates faced Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers. The series was the only meeting of the two superior batsmen of the day, and the first time that the batting champions of each league faced one another. Wagner was by this time 35 years old, Cobb just 22.
This time, Wagner could not be stifled as he outhit Cobb,.333 to.231, and stole six bases, establishing the new Series record. The speed demon Cobb only managed two steals, one of which Cobb himself admitted was a botched call. Wagner recounted: "We had him out at second. We put up a squawk, but Silk O'Loughlin, the umpire, overruled it. We kept the squawk going for a minute or so, making no headway of course, and then Cobb spoke up. He turned to O'Loughlin, an American League umpire, by the way, and said, 'Of course I was out. They had me by a foot. You just booted the play, so come on, let's play ball.'"
There was also a story that was widely circulated over the years and famously recounted in Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times, that at one point Cobb was on first; he bragged to Wagner that he was going to steal second and threatened to assault him physically doing it; Wagner defiantly dared him to try it and placed an especially rough tag to Cobb's mouth; and the two exchanged choice words. Cobb denied it in his autobiography, and the play-by-play of the 1909 World Series confirms that the event could not have happened as stated: Cobb was never tagged out by Wagner in a caught-stealing.
The Pirates won the series in seven games behind the pitching of rookie Babe Adams.