Honus Wagner

Played For
Louisville Colonels (1897-1899)
Pittsburgh Pirates (1900-1917)

Managed
Pittsburgh Pirates (1917)

Minor League Experience
1895: Steubenville (Inter-State League)
1895: Mansfield (Ohio State League)
1895: Adrian (Michigan State League)
1895: Warren (Iron-Oil League)
1896-1897: Paterson (Atlantic Coast League)

All-Time Rankings
Honus Wagner ranks #2 among the Top 50 all-time at SS. Rankings ⇒

Best Season: 1908
Wagner had a lot of great seasons, but we'll settle on 1908. The Bucs finished one game back in the pennant race, but Wagner did his share to keep them in the hunt. He won his sixth batting title (.354), paced the league in slugging, OBP, OPS, hits, total bases, doubles, triples, RBI and steals. He was at the top of his game. He had a similar season in 1909, winning the batting crown again.

Factoids
Honus Wagner pitched in two games: one in 1900 and the other in 1902. Though he walked six batters in his eight innings, Hans did not allow a run, leaving him with a nifty 0.00 career ERA.

In 1909, Honus Wagner appeared in a short film that showed him giving batting tips to a young baseball player. That youngster grew up to play "Moe" in "The Three Stooges" comedy team.

In 1905, Honus Wagner signed the first endorsement contract with a bat company. His deal with Hillerich & Bradsby, Co. called for them to supply Wagner with Louisville Slugger bats to his specifications. In return, the bat company branded Wagner's name on their bats and sold them to eager fans. Since Wagner's deal, more than 8,500 players have had their names on a Louisville Slugger.

Most Career Hits, Brothers
1. Paul and Lloyd Waner... 5,611
2. Felipe, Matty, and Jesus Alou... 5,094
3. Joe, Dom, and Vince DiMaggio... 4,853
4. Ed, Jim, Frank, Joe, and Tom Delahanty... 4,211
5. Hank and Tommy Aaron... 3,987
6. Cal Jr. and Billy Ripken... 3,858
7. Roberto and Sandy Jr. Alomar... 3,627
8. Joe and Luke Sewell... 3,619
9. Ken, Clete and Cloyd Boyer...3,559
10. Honus and Butts Wagner... 3,489
11. Bob and Roy Johnson... 3,343
12. Eddie and Rich Murray... 3,299

Description
Detroit sportswriter H.G. Salsinger wrote of Wagner's "long, beaked nose, the protruding cheekbones, the powerful and bowed legs, the ham-like fists that smothered groundballs."

Where He Played
Shortstop (1,887 games), outfield (372), first base (248), third base (209), second base (57), pitcher (2). Wagner is generally considered to be the greatest shortstop in major league history.

Born
John Peter Wagner was born on February 24, 1874, in Chartiers, PA.

Died
December 6, 1955, Carnegie, PA

Batted:  Right
Threw:  Right

Primary Position:  SS

Primary Team:  PIT

Major League Debut
July 19, 1897

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1897
Coming soon...

Nicknames
The Flying Dutchman, Dutch, Hans

Similar Players
Offensively, Nap Lajoie was a similar player.

Related Players
Fred Clarke, Ty Cobb, Pie Traynor

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1936 BBWAA 215 95.1% 1936 Veterans 5 %

Post-Season Appearances
1903 World Series
1909 World Series

Feats
Three times in his career Wagner stole second, third, and home in the same inning. He did it in 1902, 1907, and 1909... In 1914, on June 9th, Wagner hit for the cycle.

Milestones
On June 9, 1914, Wagner collected his 3,000th hit, a double off Philadelphia's Erskine Mayer.

Milestones

• June 9, 1914: 3000th Hit... Hit was a double off of Erskine Mayer.

Batting Feats

• June 15, 1902: Steal 2nd, 3rd, Home...


• September 25, 1907: Steal 2nd, 3rd, Home...


• May 2, 1909: Steal 2nd, 3rd, Home...


• August 22, 1912: Cycle...

Notes
Few awards existed when Wagner was at his peak. He did finish second in National League MVP voting in 1912, when he was 38 years old. Had there been an MVP award during his prime, he may have won as many as eight... Wagner was one of the first five inductees to the Hall of Fame in 1936.

Hitting Streaks
23 games (1901)

Transactions
In the winter of 1899-1900, the National League was reduced from 12 to eight teams. Louisville Colonels owner Barney Dreyfuss became Pittsburgh Pirates club president and was forced to build a team from the bottom up. To speed the process, Dreyfuss brought Wagner with him. Based on that information alone, the man must have been a genius.

Replaced
Wagner was a jack-of-all-trades in his first four seasons in the big leagues. In 1898 he ended up the Colonels regular first baseman half-way through the season, but the next year he was at third, filling in for the injured Tommy Leach.

Replaced By
Amazingly, at the age of 42 in 1916, Wagner was still a good starting shortstop for the Pirates, fielding 16 points above the league average in 92 games. The next season, Pittsburgh brought in 22-year old Charlie "Chuck" Ward to start at short. Ward his a meager .236 in 125 games and committed 50 errors for a .912 fielding average. He was traded to Brooklyn in a deal that brought over George Cutshaw and Casey Stengel. Ward never played regularly again in his six-year career.

Best Strength as a Player
Hitting, running, fielding, throwing.

Largest Weakness as a Player
None

Learn More about Honus Wagner
Search Amazon.com for Books about Honus Wagner ⇒
Search for Honus Wagner at Google ⇒
View a map of his hometown at Mapquest ⇒