Honus Wagner

Baseball Player

• Born: February 24, 1874
• Birthplace: Mansfield (now Carnegie), Pennsylvania
• Died: December 6, 1955
• Place of death: Carnegie, Pennsylvania

Sport: Baseball

Early Life

Honus Wagner was born on February 24, 1874, in the town of Mansfield (now Carnegie), Pennsylvania. Called first Johannes, then Hans, and finally Honus by his family, he was one of nine children. His father worked eighteen hours a day in the coal mines, and at the age of twelve, Honus began loading two tons a day onto a boy’s car for the wage of seventy-nine cents a ton. During the winter, Honus never saw the sun; he reported to work in the early morning darkness and returned home at night. On the job, he learned to admire and respect rats, for he realized that they could sense an approaching cave-in. When they ran for safety, Honus ran too.

During the spring, his brothers brought a ball and glove to the mines and during lunch hour, the Wagner boys played catch. Thus encouraged by his older brothers, young Honus came to love baseball, and he occasionally walked the seven miles to Pittsburgh to watch the Pirates play. He dreamed of his future as a big-leaguer and began to play sandlot and semiprofessional baseball. Honus soon attracted attention and was offered a minor-league contract. Able to earn $35 a month playing ball, he bade farewell to the coal mines.

The Road to Excellence

When Honus reported to Steubenville, Ohio, of the Tri-State League, he was prepared to play any position. In the course of a month, he played them all because his remarkable hitting kept him in the lineup every day. Later in the season, he jumped to Warren of the Iron-Oil League for a raise to $75 a month. The rapidly developing Honus was spotted one day by Edward Grant Barrow, a future hall of famer, who in 1895, was the young owner of the Paterson, New Jersey, team. With a shrewd eye for baseball talent, Barrow recognized the potential of the long-armed, bow-legged, versatile Honus and bought his contract for $300.

In 1896, as a star with the Paterson team, Honus batted .349. His skilled fielding began to dominate the diamond. His huge hands easily compensated for the tiny fielders’ gloves of the time. In 1897, Barrow sold Honus’s contract to Louisville, then a member of the National League (NL). Honus played for Fred Clarke, the man who was to be his big-league manager for twenty years.

Louisville was not a strong ball club, floundering in the second division; nevertheless, in 1899, Honus hit .336 and began to intimidate opponents with his power, skill, and speed. While he continued to develop, however, the Louisville franchise did not prosper, and in 1900, with the withdrawal of the team from organized baseball, fifteen players—including Honus—were transferred to Pittsburgh. Honus’s boyhood dream, to play for the Pirates, had come true.

The Emerging Champion

Honus’s role as the new Pirates shortstop shot his career into full orbit. “The Flying Dutchman,” as Honus came to be called, began to dominate the league. In 1900, he won the first of his eight NL batting titles, hitting .381. He led the league in doubles and triples. The following year, hitting .353 and winning the stolen-base title, Honus led Pittsburgh to a pennant. He was recognized as the premier shortstop playing the game, an athlete with no weaknesses. His often acrobatic fielding prowess was complemented by powerful hitting and dedicated team play. He led the league in batting in 1903 and 1904 and from 1906 through 1909.

In the World Series of 1909, Honus hit .333 as the Pirates defeated the Detroit Tigers, with star player Ty Cobb, in seven games. Along the way, Honus stole 6 bases, a record that stood until 1967. When the aggressive Cobb called the genial Honus “Krauthead” and came sliding hard into second base with spikes flying high, he found the “Dutchman” waiting to tag him in the mouth.

Alongside Honus’s acclaimed athletic ability was his outstanding spirit of sportsmanship on and off the field. A model of clean living, Honus withdrew his baseball card from circulation because it was distributed by a cigarette company. Although he was fiercely competitive, he never disputed the decision of an umpire. His life and career reflected the highest values of a gentleman-athlete. Throughout the United States, Honus was regarded as a hero.

Continuing the Story

For seventeen years with the Pirates, Honus continued his outstanding, productive career. He led the league in hitting eight times, in slugging percentage six times, and in stolen bases five times. By 1914, however, the arthritis in his legs, a condition that had been aggravated by his early years in the dank coal mines, began to pain him greatly. He could no longer speed along the base paths with the skill and artistry of the past. However, each time he talked about his inevitable retirement, Pirate management persuaded him to come back one more time. Although he could no longer generate league-leading statistics, Honus’s intangible contributions were important to the club, especially his inspirational value to the young players. Honus played his last major-league game September 17, 1917. He managed the team briefly, then left professional baseball altogether.

Turning down many lucrative business offers, Honus became the baseball and basketball coach at Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie-Mellon University) in Pittsburgh. He organized a semiprofessional baseball team called the Honus Wagner All-Stars. In 1933, however, when he was fifty-nine, Honus was called back by his Pittsburgh Pirates; he was coach, teacher, dugout presence, and role model.

In 1936, Honus was in the first group of players elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. At the time of his death in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, on December 6, 1955, he was still the NL all-time leader in games played, times at bat, hits, singles, doubles, and triples.

Summary

By acclamation, Honus Wagner is regarded as one of the greatest shortstops ever to have played. Some experts will even assert that he was the greatest player at any position. Revered for his awesome talent, acclaimed for his athletic accomplishments, and beloved for his sterling character, Honus was simultaneously a hall-of-fame ball player and a hall-of-fame human being. Overcoming the hardships of his youth, he came to symbolize the real possibilities in the American Dream for those children of immigrants who aspired to success and who worked hard to achieve their goals.

Bibliography

DeValeria, Dennis, and Jean B. DeValeria. Honus Wagner: A Biography. New York: Henry Holt, 1996.

Hageman, William. Honus: The Life and Times of a Baseball Hero. Champaign, Ill.: Sagamore, 1996.

Hittner, Arthur D. Honus Wagner: The Life of Baseball’s “Flying Dutchman.” Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1996.

O’Keeffe, Michael, and Teri Thompson. The Card: Collectors, Con Men, and the True Story of History’s Most Desired Baseball Card. New York: William Morrow, 2007.

Peterson, Richard F. The Pirates Reader. Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2003.

Wagner, Honus, and William R. Cobb. Honus Wagner: On His Life and Baseball. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Sports Media Group, 2006.