Honus Wagner Biography - Born In Western Pennsylvania, Breaks Into Major Leagues, Retires From The Pirates In 1917, Chronology
baseball player inductees time
1874-1955
American baseball player
Considered by many baseball experts the greatest shortstop of all time, Honus Wagner was one of the National Baseball Hall of Fame's five original inductees in 1936. Among his fellow inductees were Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. At first glance, Wagner looked somewhat ungainly and awkward. Stocky, barrel-chested, and bow-legged, he nevertheless exhibited great speed, which, in tandem with his heritage, earned him the nickname of "The Flying Dutchman." Wagner compiled a lifetime batting average of .326 and managed to top .300 for an incredible fifteen consecutive seasons. John McGraw, the legendary manager of the New York Giants for more than thirty seasons, said of Wagner: "While Wagner was the greatest shortstop, I believe he could have been the number one player at any position he might have selected. That's why I vote him baseball's foremost all-time player."
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Wagner was born in Mansfield, Pennsylvania, on February 24, 1874, one of nine children born to Peter and Katheryn (Wolf) Wagner, who had immigrated to western Pennsylvania from Germany's Bavaria in 1866. Big, clumsy, and bowlegged from birth, Wagner was called Honus (a German term often applied to awkward children) by his family. He also acquired the nickname "Dutch," a corrup…
On July 19, 1897, Wagner made his major league debut for the Louisville Nationals, playing center field, and occasionally filling in at second base. In the sixty-one games he played for Louisville in 1897, Wagner compiled a batting average of .338. His batting average slipped a bit in 1898, falling to .299, but Wagner proved his versatility, playing first, second, and third base. His batting avera…
Wagner played for the Pirates until 1917, when he was forty-three years old. In the latter years of his baseball career, he struggled against the effects of aging and multiple injuries but still managed to perform impressively. He last compiled a batting average of .300 or better during the 1913 season, although his average never dropped lower than .252 in his remaining years of play. In 1916, Wag…
American Decades CD-ROM. Detroit: Gale Group, 1998. Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement 5: 1951-1955. American Council of Learned Societies, 1977. Encyclopedia of World Biography Supplement. Volume 20. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. Hageman, William. Honus: The Life and Times of a Baseball Hero. Champaign, IL: Sagamore Publishing, 1996. Hittner, Arthur D. Honus Wagner: The Life of Baseball&#x…
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