Wagner, Honus, 1874-1955

Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner ( HON-əs WAG-nər; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), was an American 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 professional 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. 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 manager, Wagner retired in 1917 having set numerous MLB career records, including most Wins Above Replacement (WAR; 131.0), 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 up to nearly half a century or more, 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 in the top 10 for games played, at-bats, runs scored, runs batted in and total bases in the NL. 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. Its production ran from 1909 to 1911, leaving only about 50 known copies in circulation. In 2021, a T206 Honus Wagner sold for $6.6 million, making it the second-most expensive sports card in history.