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Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (February 24, 1874 - December 6, 1955), nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage, was an American Major League Baseball shortstop who played in the NL from 1897 to 1917. In 1936, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members, receiving the second-highest vote total behind Ty Cobb and ahead of Babe Ruth. Although Cobb is frequently cited as the greatest player of the dead-ball era, some contemporaries regarded Wagner as the better all-around player, and most baseball historians consider Wagner to be the greatest shortstop ever. Cobb himself called Wagner "maybe the greatest star ever to take the diamond."
Honus Wagner was born on February 24, 1874 to German immigrants Peter and Katheryn Wagner, in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Chartiers, which is now a part of the borough of Carnegie, Pennsylvania. He was one of nine children, although only five lived past childhood. As a child, he was called Hans by his mother, which would later evolve 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 would go on to be professionals as well. Wagner's older brother Albert "Butts" Wagner, who had a brief major league career himself, is often credited for getting Honus his first tryout. Following after his brother, Honus trained to be a barber before becoming successful in baseball. In 1916, Wagner married Bessie Baine Smith and the couple went on to have three daughters.
Honus Wagner began his career with the Louisville Colonels in 1897. Legend has it that he was discovered by Ed Barrow who had watched him throw rocks across a creek. Soon afterwards, Barrow signed and sent him to play for the Paterson, New Jersey minor league team. He also played a short stint for the Steubenville, Ohio team before making it to Louisville. Honus was a solid hitter from the very beginning of his major league career, hitting .338 in 61 games in his rookie year, 1897. By his second season, Wagner was already one of the best hitters in the National League although he would come up short a percentage point from finishing the season at .300. After the 1899 season, the NL contracted from twelve to eight teams, with the Colonels one of four teams eliminated. Along with Wagner, owner Barney Dreyfuss took many of his other top players with him to Pittsburgh. Accompanying Wagner were stalwart stars; pitchers Deacon Phillippe and Rube Waddell, catcher Chief Zimmer, infielder Tommy Leach, and outfielders Fred Clarke and Dummy Hoy. Wagner would play the remainder of his career for his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates, 21 seasons in all.
In 1900, Wagner won his first batting championship with a .381 mark and also led the league in doubles (45), triples (22), and slugging (.573), all of which were career highs. In the early stage of his career, Wagner played several different positions, just to keep his potent bat and speed in the lineup. It was in 1901 that he finally got a chance fielding at shortstop. His first day at the position, replacing incumbent Bones Ely, Wagner committed 3 errors in one inning. "The Dutchman" would eventually be hailed as the best-fielding shortstop of his era, although he played in the outfield for over 300 games and played over 200 games at both first base and third base. He would eventually play every position except catcher, even making two appearances as a pitcher.
Wagner would lead the National League in batting average eight times. Only Ty Cobb, with eleven, and Tony Gwynn, with eight, have ever led a league in batting average that often. He also led the league in slugging percentage six times, on-base percentage four times, total bases six times, doubles seven times, triples three times, runs batted in five times and stolen bases five times. He was an outstanding runner despite being bow-legged to the point where a contemporary sportswriter described his running as "resembling the gambols of a caracoling elephant." His career totals include a .327 lifetime batting average, 640 doubles, 722 stolen bases, and a career total of 3,415 hits, a major league record until it was surpassed by Cobb in the 1920s and a National League record until it was surpassed by Stan Musial in 1961. He was the second player (since Major League Baseball officially began in 1876) to reach 3000 hits, joining Cap Anson as the only members of this exclusive offensive club. His career home run total of 101 is considered a good total for a player whose entire career was played in the "dead ball era" when home runs were relatively few.
Honus Wagner has been considered one of the very best all-around players to ever play baseball since the day he retired in 1917. Famed "sabermatician" Bill James rates him as the second best player of all-time, right behind Babe Ruth. Statisticians John Thorn and Pete Palmer rate Wagner as ninth all-time in their "Total Player Ranking". Many of the greats who played or managed against Wagner, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Walter Johnson, list him at shortstop on their All-Time teams.
In 1903 the Pirates played the Boston Americans (later renamed the Red Sox) in Major League Baseball's inaugural World Series. The Pirates were considered heavy favorites, as the American League had only completed its third season as a "major" league and was considered to have slightly lesser talent. Wagner, by this point, was an established star and much was expected of him, especially since the Pirates' starting rotation was decimated by injury. Wagner himself was not at full strength and hit only .222 for the series. The Americans, meanwhile, had some particularily rowdy fans, called the "Royal Rooters" who, whenever Wagner came to bat, would sing "Honus, Honus, why do you hit so badly?" to the tune of "Tessie", a popular song of the day. Pittsburgh lost in a 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" (poor in the clutch). This grieved the Dutchman deeply, for I don't know a ball player 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 and the Pirates were given a chance to prove that they were not "yellow" in 1909. The Pirates faced off against Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers, which would be the only meeting of the two superior batsmen of the day. Wagner was by this time 35 years old, while Cobb a mere 22. This time Wagner would not be stifled as he would out hit Cobb, .333 to .231, and steal 6 bases, which established a new Series record. The speed demon Cobb not only managed two steals, but 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 is also a story made famous in Lawrence Ritter's "The Glory of Their Times" in which Cobb bragged to Wagner that he was going to steal second and Wagner placed an especially rough tag to Cobb's mouth and the two exchanged choice words, although this story's accuracy has been debated. The Pirates won the series 4 games to 3 behind the pitching of Babe Adams, thereby vindicating Wagner and the Pittsburgh team.
Wagner served as the Pirates' manager briefly in 1917, but resigned the position after only 5 games. He returned to the Pirates as a coach, most notably as a hitting instructor from 1933 to 1952. Arky Vaughan, Kiki Cuyler, Ralph Kiner and player/manager from 1934-1939, Pie Traynor, all future Hall of Famers were notable "pupils" of Wagner. During this time, he wore uniform number 14, but later changed it to his more famous 33, which was later retired for him. (His entire playing career was in the days before uniform numbers were worn.) His appearances at National League stadiums during his coaching years were always well received and Hans remained a beloved ambassador of baseball.
In 1928, Wagner ran for sheriff of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania but lost. He was made deputy county sheriff in 1942. He also ran a well-known sporting goods company. In fact, a sporting goods store bearing the name "Honus Wagner" still operates in downtown Pittsburgh.
Wagner lived out 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 is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh.
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