Honus Wagner

At 81 years old, Honus Wagner has this physical status:

Professional career

Albert "Butts" Wagner, Honus' brother, was regarded as the family's ballplayer. When his Inter-State League team was in need of assistance in 1895, Albert suggested Honus. In that first year, Wagner appeared in three different leagues over the course of 80 games.

Edward Barrow, a member of Wagner's Wheeling Nailers team, decided to move Honus with him to his new club, the Paterson Silk Sox (Atlantic League). Barrow was a good choice scout because he could play wherever he was needed, including all three bases and the outfield. In 1896, Wagner scored.313 for Paterson and.375 in 74 games.

Barrow, who had finished last in the National League in 1896 with a record of 38–93, was aware that Wagner should be playing at the highest level. When Barrow persuaded club president Barney Dreyfuss, club secretary Harry Pulliam, and outfielder Fred Clarke to visit Paterson to see Wagner play, they did better in 1897. Dreyfuss and Clarke were not impressed with Wagner's bizarre appearance: he was 5 ft 11 in (1.80 kg), heavy arms, huge fingers, and remarkably bowed legs that denied him of any grace and several inches of height. Pulliam, on the other hand, persuaded Dreyfuss and Clarke to take a chance on him. Wagner debuted with Louisville on July 19 and finished in 61 games at.338.

Wagner was already one of the best hitters in the National League by his second season, but he fell short by a percentage point from finishing the season at.300. The NL went from twelve to eight teams in the 1899 season, with the Colonels as one of four teams to lose. Wagner and several of his other key players were sent with him by owner Barney Dreyfuss, who had half interest in the Pirates.

Tommy Leach recalled his impressions of joining the Louisville club in 1898 with the intention of winning the starting job at third base.

Wagner's ascension as a top hitter was reflected in his move to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wagner won his first batting championship in 1900 with a.381 record and also led the league in doubles (45), triples (22), and slugging percentage (.573), all of which were career highs. Wagner's average did not decline below.330 for the next nine seasons.

In 1901, the American League began to recruit National League players, sparking a bidding war that depleted the league of many talented players. Wagner was offered a $20,000 deal by the Chicago White Sox but decided against it and continued to play with the Pirates.

Wagner had worked various positions prior to 1904, but he took up the shortstop position full-time during the season, where he excelled as a competent fielder. BaseballLibrary.com's biography describes his gritty style: "Because."

Wagner won a distance race in Louisville in 1898 by tossing a baseball more than 420 feet (123 meters). In August 1899, he became the first player to be 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's most robbery of home (27), which was previously unbeaten by Greasy Neale in 1922.

Wagner signed a deal to produce the first bat with a player's name, the Louisville Slugger, in 1905; the Honus Wagner was to become a best-seller for years. Wagner fell short of a batting title match against Reds center fielder Cy Seymour one month earlier, with Seymour collecting four hits to Wagner's two as recent media outlets noted that the fans were much more concerned with the results than in the game's outcome.

Wagner died just shy of the 1908 season. Barney Dreyfuss, the owner of many years, paid him $10,000 per year in desperation, making him the highest-paid Pirate for many years. He returned to the Pirates early in the 1908 season, but he fell two home runs shy of the league's Triple Crown, leading the league in hitting (for the sixth time) hits total bases triples RBIs, and stolen bases. During a July 25 game against the Giants and their star pitcher Christy Mathewson, Wagner took over the bat lead from the Giants' flamboyant outfielder Mike Donlin. Wagner was 5-for-5 in the game; after each attack, he reportedly extended his hand to Donlin, who was injured but not in a "most popular player" poll.

Bill James names Wagner's 1908 season as the best single season for a player in baseball history. He notes that the league's ERA of 2.35 was the lowest of the dead-ball era and about half of the modern baseball ERAs. "If you had a Gold Glove shortstop like Wagner, who drove in 218 runs, what would he be worth?" Wagner asks in an environment where half as many runs were scored as today.

In 1908, Welshman George "Honey Boy" Evans made the first winner of the "World's Championship Batsman's Cup."

In 1903, the Pirates defeated the Boston Americans in the inaugural World Series of Major League Baseball. Wagner, by this time, was a well-known star and a lot was hoped for him, particularly since the Pirates' starting rotation was shattered by injury. Wagner himself was not up to speed, with a series ending at.222. The Americans, on the other hand, had some followers named the "Royal Rooters" who, when Wagner came to bat, sang "Honus, Honus, why do you hit so badly?" To the tune of "Tessie," a common day song. The Roots, led by Boston bartender Michael "Nuf Ced" McGuire, travelled to Pittsburgh to continue their yelling. 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 Jimmy Collins. "For a time after "Hans" Wagner's poor showing in the world's series of 1903... it was announced that he was "yellow" (poor in the clutch), Christy Mathewson's book "Pitching in a Pinch" (poor in the clutch). I'm sure Wagner, not a ball player in either league, will say less quit to the ton than Wagner. This was Wagner's greatest failure in his career. Despite his stolid appearance, he is a sensitive guy, and his absence has affected him more than any other in his life."

Wagner was dissatisfied with his appearance. Following the spring, he refused to submit his portrait to a "Hall of Fame" for batting champions, citing his participation in the World Series. "I was too bum last year," he wrote. "I was a joke in the Boston-Pittsburgh series." When it comes to a pinch, does it profit a man to hammer along and make a few hits? "I'd be ashamed to have my picture up now."

Wagner and the Pirates had a chance to show that they were not "yellow" in 1909. The Pirates took on Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers. It was the first meeting of the two great batsmen of the day, and it was the first time the batting champions of any league met one another (this later occurred thrice more, in 1931, 1954, and 2012 World Series). Wagner was 35 years old at the time, Cobb was 22 years old, and Cobb was just 22 years old.

Wagner was not disappointed this time as he crushed Cobb,.333 to.231, and stole six bases, establishing a new Series record. Cobb only pulled two robbery attempts, one of which Cobb admitted was a botched call. "We had him out at second," Wagner recalled. We'd have a squawk, but the umpire, Silk O'Loughlin, overruled it. We stayed the squawk for a minute or two, with no headway, and then Cobb spoke up. By the time, O'Loughlin, an American League umpire, was on alert, and he said, 'Of course I was out.' They had me by a foot. You just booted the game, so let's play ball."

Cobb was also on first in Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times, that at one point; he bragged to Wagner that he would steal second and threatened to assault him physically doing it; and the two exchanged choice words; and the two exchanged choice words. Cobb denied it in his autobiography, and the 1909 World Series' play-by-play confirms that it may not have happened as expected: Cobb was never identified out by Wagner in a caught stealing attempt. In seven games, the Pirates won the series behind rookie Babe Adams' pitching.

Wagner's average dropped to 3.2 percent in 1910, his lowest level since 1898. Despite this, he aged well; Wagner's three best OPS+ seasons among any shortstop aged 35 or older came to him, and his age-41 season ranks eighth on the list.

Wagner claimed the 1911 batting title by a narrowest of margins. He was injured in a 1–0 win over the Cubs on May 30, but the Cubs' successful league protest wiped out the results (and Wagner's at-bats). Wagner edging Doc Miller of the Boston Rustlers by a score of 3.4 to 333. Until August, the Pirates were in contention, but Wagner's ankle injury sidelined Wagner for 25 games and the team was kicked out of the tournament.

Wagner hit his 3,000th birthday, his second in baseball history, after Cap Anson, and Nap Lajoie followed them three months later. This achievement came at a time when Wagner and the Pirates were in the midst of a downturn. Wagner's lowest average of his career was.252 in 1914, the lowest average of his career. He became the oldest player to reach a grand slam in July 1915, beating 43-year-old Tony Pérez, who was 43 years old. Wagner was the first player to win an inside-the-park home run in 1916.

Wagner returned in 1917 to his last, abbreviated season after another retirement. He was boosted in July and played sparingly for the remainder of the year, batting.265. He served as interim manager for a short time, but Wagner told owner Dreyfuss that the position was not for him. With 3,430, he resigned as the NL's all-time hit leader. (Subsequent analysis has since reduced the figure to 3,418.) Stan Musial of St. Louis took the top hit total after 45 years.

Wagner has been dubbed one of the best all-around players to ever play baseball since his time in 1917. Honus Wagner was rated as the second-best player of all time by baseball historian and statistician Bill James, who also named him as the best major league player in 1900 and 1908. In their "Total Player Ranking," statisticians John Thorn and Pete Palmer rank Wagner as the ninth all-time in their "Total Player Ranking." Many of Wagner's greats, such as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Walter Johnson, all-Time teams, have him listed at shortstop.

After his release from major league baseball, Wagner was still playing baseball. He managed and competed for a semi-pro team. Wagner served with the Pirates as a mentor for 39 years, most notable as a hitting instructor from 1933 to 1952. Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor, and Hank Greenberg (though Greenberg was in his last major league season with the Pirates in 1947, and also the current Hall of Famers) were among Wagner's "pupils" of the sport. He wore uniform number 14 during this period, but later changed it to his more popular 33, which was later the number retired for him. (His entire playing career was during the days before uniform numbers were worn.) Wagner's appearances at National League stadiums during his coaching years were always well received, and he has remained a heralded ambassador of baseball. Wagner also coached baseball and basketball at Carnegie Institute of Technology, which is now part of Carnegie Mellon University.

Wagner ran for Sheriff of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, but failed. In 1942, he was first appointed as a deputy of the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office. He also owned a well-known sporting goods business. For 93 years, a sporting products store called "Honus Wagner" in downtown Pittsburgh operated before closing permanently in 2011.

The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Forbes Field. Wagner was nominated to be an honorary coach for the National League squad for the first time in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game.

Wagner lived the remainder of his life in Pittsburgh, where he was well-known as a friendly figure around town. He died on December 6, 1955, at the age of 81, and he is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in Pittsburgh's South Hills neighborhood.

Wagner, as well as his well-known baseball card, was one of the first celebrities to make the switch to pop culture film. In 1919's Spring Fever with Moe Howard and Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges, he was depicted as the subject of The Winning Season (2004) and in a brief scene in Cobb (1994).

Wagner finished second in the 1936 ballot with Babe Ruth, trailing Cobb. A 1942 Sporting News poll of 100 former employees and managers revealed this fact, with Wagner finishing 43 votes behind Cobb and six ahead of Ruth, respectively. In 1969, on the 100th anniversary of professional baseball, a vote was held to honor the best players ever, and Wagner was named the all-time shortstop. Wagner was voted number 13 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Players in 1999, 82 years after his last game and 44 years since his death, where he was once the top-ranking shortstop. After losing out in the popular vote to Cal Ripken Jr. and Ernie Banks this year, he was named by the oversight committee to the Major League All-Century Team.

Wagner was the only one he faced that did not have a weakness, according to Christy Mathewson. Mathewson figured that the only way to prevent Wagner from striking was not to pitch to him.

William J. Hartz wrote "A stirring march and two-step" as "Husky Hans" and "fully dedicated to Hans Wagner, Three-time Champion Batsman of The National League" in 1904.

Bill James says Wagner is by far the best shortstop of all time, noting that the difference between Wagner and the second greatest shortstop, according to James Vaughan, is roughly the same as the gulf between Vaughan and the 20th greatest shortstop.

In the poem Line-Up for Yesterday by Ogden Nash, Wagner is mentioned.

A life-size statue of Wagner swinging a bat, atop a marble pedestal depicting admiring children, was crafted by a local sculptor named Frank Vittor and placed outside Forbes Field's left-field corner gate. On April 30, 1955, it was dedicated to Wagner, who, at the time, was fit to attend and wave to his many followers. Since being relocated twice since then, the Pirates have been relocated, and the statue has followed them. It now stands outside PNC Park's main door. Wagner has come full circle in the case of the Pirates' original home, Exposition Park.

Wagner is honoured on Washington Avenue in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, as a small stadium located behind Carnegie Elementary School. The stadium houses Carlynton High School varsity sports. The Honus Wagner Sports Museum in Carnegie History Center houses numerous Wagner collectibles and memorabilia. Visitors are sent replicas of the famous card.

Wagner was mentioned in the 1992 episode Homer at the Bat. Mr. Burns has three ringers he wants for his company's baseball team, but they are Honus Wagner, Cap Anson, and "Mordecai 'Three Fingers' Brown." His aide must explain that they are not only retired, but also long-dead... Anson played in the late 19th century.

In 2000, Wagner was given a postage stamp in the United States. The stamp was released as part of a "Legends of Baseball" series that honored 20 all-time greats in association with MLB's All-Century team.

Since only 57 copies are known to exist, the T206 Honus Wagner baseball card is one of the world's most rarest and most expensive baseball cards. The card was developed and published by the American Tobacco Company (ATC) from 1909 to 1911 as part of its T206 series. Although reports claim that Wagner, the nonsmoker, refused to authorize the manufacture of his baseball card, the more likely explanation was that ATC was able to pay Wagner. The ATC stopped manufacturing the Wagner card and only 57 to 200 cards were ever distributed to the public, relative to the "tens or hundreds of thousands" of T206 cards, which were not available to any other player in 16 brands of cigarettes. In 1933, the card was first listed in Jefferson Burdick's The American Card Catalog, making it the most expensive baseball card at the time.

The T206 series's standard card had a width of 1+716 inches (3.7 cm) and a height of 2+58 inches (6.7 cm). Any cards were awkwardly cut or poorly sized, leading to the belief that many of the cards in the series had been modified at one point or another. Scot A.'s book Inside T206: A Collector Guide to the Classic Baseball Card Set was published in his book. "It is not at all uncommon to find T206 examples that have been changed at any time during their nearly half-century of existence," the author said. "Card doctors" who trimmed corners and dirty edges to improve the card's appearance were taken advantage of. A lithograph of the player was created by a multi-stage printing process in which a variety of colors were printed on top of each other to produce a lithograph with the appropriate pattern on the front of a T206 series card, as well as the Wagner card. The cards' backs were printed in monochromatic colors of the 16 tobacco brands for which the cards were produced. The Wagner cards, in particular, were sold at Factory 25 in Virginia, and as such, the factory stamp was imprinted on the back of the cards.

The ATC began seeking permission from baseball players for inclusion in the T206 series, which featured 524 major league players, 76 of whom were later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Wagner had been at the top of his games for the past ten years, and he was also voted the game's best player at the time. He had appeared in advertisements for a variety of other items, including chewing gum, gunpowder, and soft drinks. The ATC asked Wagner's permission to have his picture on a baseball card, which was unexpected. Wagner did not offer his permission to play on the baseball card in a September 12, 1912 edition of The Sporting News. Wagner, a Pittsburgh sportswriter employed by the ATC to request Wagner's permission, wrote: "I did not care to have his picture in a box of cigarettes," in reaction to his authorization request letter. If ATC went forward and printed his baseball card, he threatened to sue ATC.

In 2007, a near-mint condition T206 Wagner card was sold for $2.8 million, the highest price for a baseball card ever. In 2010, a previously unknown copy of the card was donated to the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Baltimore. In November 2010, the card, which was in poor shape, sold to a collector for $262,000, much more than the $150,000 that was expected at auction. "Although damaged, the value of this baseball card should continue to increase exponentially throughout the 21st century," Sister Virginia Muller's brother wrote on the card.

A New Jersey resident purchased a VG-3 graded T206 Wagner card for more than $1.2 million on April 20, 2012.

Honus Wagner's 1909-11 T206 baseball card sold at auction on April 6, 2013.

A T206 Wagner card graded PSA-5 sold for $3.12 million on October 1, 2016, tying for the highest price paid for a baseball card ever.

A Honus Wagner T-206 sold by SCP Auctions in Southern California on May 29, 2019. The same card had been auctioned for $657,250 in 2014 and $776,750 in 2016. On a scale from 2 to 10.

One example sold for a new record $3.75 million in May 2021. It was the second most expensive baseball card to be sold at auction at the time, in doing so.

Another example of the most valuable sports card at the time, $6.6 million dollars, in August 2021, above the previous record for the most valuable sports card at the time.

A T206 Honus Wagner was sold in a private auction for a sport card record high of $7.25 million, eclipsing the previous record of $6.6 million.

In the plot of Nickelodeon film Swindle, the card was included.

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