Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner ( HAW-nəs WAG-nər; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955) was an American professional baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) 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 1936, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members.
At the age of 15, Wagner began his 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 (996), most runs scored (1,739), most games played (2,794), most hits (3,420), most total bases (4,870), and most at-bats (10,439), 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 (252, still a league record), most stolen bases in the modern era (703) until 1927, most runs scored until 1944, most doubles (640) 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. One specimen sold for $7.25 million, putting it on the list of most expensive sports cards.
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" (pronounced: "HAW-nus") 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 (b. 1918, stillborn), Betty Baine (1919–1992), and Virginia Mae (1922–1985).
Honus's 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 (Atlantic League). 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 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) tall, weighed 200 pounds (91 kg), 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 1899 season, the NL contracted from twelve to eight teams, with the Colonels one of four teams eliminated. Owner Barney Dreyfuss, who had also purchased half ownership in the Pirates, arranged a trade that sent Wagner and many of Louisville's other top players to the Pittsburgh club.
Tommy Leach recounted his impressions of joining the Louisville club in 1898 with hopes of winning the starting job at third base:
I hardly had time to get settled before it hits me that this guy the Louisville club had at third base was practically doing the impossible. I'm sitting on the bench the first day I reported, and along about the third inning an opposing batter smacks a line drive down the third-base line that looked like at least a sure double. Well, this big Louisville third baseman jumped over after it like he was on steel springs, slapped it down with his bare hand, scrambled after it at least ten feet, and fired a bullet over to first base. The runner was out by two or three steps.
I'm sitting on the bench and my eyes are popping out. So I poked the guy sitting next to me, and asked him who the devil that big fellow was on third base.